Another shop light....

Wetstuff · 01-19-07, 06:10

I have a bunch of old, 8' fluorescent lamps in my business and am slowly switching over to the new T-8's. Thery're brighter, lighter and the ballasts are not such a PITA. However, I snuck this little beauty into the invoice.. It's a 4' high bay fixture with teeny T-5 bulbs that quite simply Kick-A__s. They're supposed to be used on ceilings over 10' high ..but I figure at an angle; Hey - they're 10' away! I set it up on chains so I can change the angle. It's also the right spectrum ..look at the Cool White bulbs in the fixture at the top of the pic!

I, like most of you, have the two-500w-on-a-pole back burners I move around. Sure they're bright - and cheap - but this new lamp does away with the feeling that I'm working in dark in front of a pair of headlights. In the ceiling of my 2-car garage I have five, fluro fixtures ..and one fixture with 4 of those little 55w Halogen lamps directly over the hood of one car. The Halogens work great but the beams are narrow.

The downside to this fixture (Lithonia mdl. IB454L) ...it's $170. w/bulbs at your local electrical wholesaler. (xtra bulbs are dirt cheap...)

j i m

MorBid · 01-19-07, 10:28

Is yours something like this one?

I've been doing some research on better lighting for the garage which I use for both detailing and autobody work.

I really want to move away from Halogen work lights for a number of reasons

1) The floor space some take up (tripod)
2) The heat they generate (very bad for me when I'm painting)
3) The light they put out is sorta yellow and changes the color of the paint on the panels (makes blending hard)
4) After polishing a panel, you need to use some other type of light to check the final finish for hologramming or buffer swirls (this is mostly with using a Rotary Polisher)
5) At 1200 or 1500 watts or more they suck the amps off a circuit (10A or 12.5A respectively)

A couple of weeks ago I put up a 4 bulb T8 fixture to see what the overall effect would be. I'm happy so far but will need to get a mess of them to get it as bright as the 1200W Halogens

MorBiD

Wetstuff · 01-19-07, 11:11

Ya M-B, it's almost exactly the same. ...those may be re-boxed versions of the same thing. The carton says; "half the juice of a 400w metal halide fixture". Mine is a P/N: IB 454L

Here's the link for the line: Lithonia Lighting - The best value in lighting* -- Product Catalog

I'm going to check to see if they have a shorter, two bulb setup like this. It would be good to make a portable unit you could set down to about bumper level.

j i m

landcruiser · 01-19-07, 11:26

Looks a lot like the ones Griot's sells for a lot more than $170

MorBid · 01-19-07, 12:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wetstuff

....I'm going to check to see if they have a shorter, two bulb setup like this. It would be good to make a portable unit you could set down to about bumper level.

j i m

K, your stealing all my ideas

I was thinking of hooking up something like that too for up close work on the sides and esp down low.

I saw these over at Top Of the Line (other places sell them) but the cost seems a bit high for what they are.

MorBiD

Coupe · 01-19-07, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by MorBid

K, your stealing all my ideas

I was thinking of hooking up something like that too for up close work on the sides and esp down low.

I saw these over at Top Of the Line (other places sell them) but the cost seems a bit high for what they are.

MorBiD

That looks like it would get in the way.

MorBid · 01-19-07, 12:30

I guess it could, would depend on how much space you have where your working and how you try to position it.

MorBiD

MorBid · 01-19-07, 12:41

Maybe mounting one of these to a stand would be better?

Wetstuff · 01-19-07, 01:12

Cruiser ...that's the problem retailers/mailorder houses have these days. We can Google anything made anywhere in 30sec. Hell, I bought two cases of plastic jaw clamps from God-knows-where in China for 60cents a pop. I paid more for the DHL..

I suspect the future is people like Jeffs and Zaino, as an example, simply maklng a direct link to the buyer. I frequently check Amazon ..Hell, free shiping is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, what store can you go to where you can choose new or used for the same item in some cases?

M-B ...just run over to Lowes and snag some 1x6, bit of ply and a plastic cover: you got a Light Box in an hour. Besides, those things on that site are only single tubes anyway. We need LIGHT! (my wife said: "That's too bright!" ....you wouldn't understand.)

Anyway, on to other things. Have a good one all.

j i m