Author Topic: Workshop and Task LED Lighting  (Read 10781 times)

Offline GWRdriver

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #15 on: September 01, 2018, 09:31:12 PM »
Pete,
I'm very happy to hear that my experience may have some benefit for others . . . that's the whole point innit?   Here are a few additional notes and details of my installation and in the interim some things may have changed:

The reason only one direct-wire LED tube was available locally was because they had no demand.  According to one supplier, very soon there would be a wave of LED re-lamping, but at the moment building owners/occupants were choosing to keep existing ballasts as long as there was any life left in them.  The benefits of change-over had not yet become greater than the cost of doing away with ballasts, so there was no demand.  That may be different in your area.

Googling "TopStar #L48T8-840-18P-G4-BP" will take you to online distributors for TopStar, and the closest one for me was in Atlanta.  The other benefit I discovered was that this particular 4000K bulb was rated for 2350 Lumens which was significantly more than the typical 5000K bulb.  Fixture rewiring was a doddle, and there was something cathartic about ripping all that old stuff out of the fixtures.  Rewiring to "direct" was done with the existing wire and tombstones (the plastic lamp holders) although in some light fixtures the tombstones would have to be replaced or modified.  For direct-wire LEDs  power is fed from only ONE end, the far end is dead.  There is a ton of instruction online, but you have to be sure to keep the terminology straight because a lot of that instruction is how to install LEDs to work with existing ballasts.  Different animal than direct-wire.
Also, I had to purchase a "case" quantity of 24 pcs, but that was OK as I had 22 slots to fill.

I can't emphasize enough that thoroughly cleaning all the light-reflective surfaces and lenses of the fixtures was time very well spent.  I used various common kitchen & bath cleaners and In a couple of places, where the white paint had been yellowed by Ozone (or whatever) beyond retrieval, I shot the reflectors with Appliance White rattle-can paint.  Operation is silent, no hum, no buzz.

Now for what has changed . . . a year or so I was diagnosed with cataracts which sometime in the future would require surgical correction.  I'm OK for the immediate future, but recently I talked with a couple of friends who had this surgery done and they said "It was like someone came into the room and turned on the lights."
Hmmm . . . maybe what I needed was to have my eyes done, and not the LEDs?  Nah!  I want them both.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2018, 09:35:41 PM by GWRdriver »
Cheers,
Harry

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #16 on: September 01, 2018, 09:46:58 PM »
More good info, Harry! I've had cataracts removed from both eyes and other than the usual issues with having the correct specs made everything is sooo much better. Get it done sooner than later. If you're retired then Medicare pays for all.

Out local stores just don't have anything yet plus to get at most of my fixtures I will need to move stuff to get at each one. So that slows me down.

Thanks,
Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #17 on: September 01, 2018, 10:32:54 PM »
I'm glad to get this information too.

I'm using task lighting and somewhat satisfied with it but the overall shop lighting is crap.
Another case of not listening to inner self. When we renovated last year (and I got a shop!) I wanted more lighting but the contractors convinced me I less was more.

The more light you have the better you can see. It's not about the light so much as it causes your eyes (irises) to close up and things are more sharp. Much like a lens.

Ever use just a hole in a piece of paper as a magnifying glass?

Hm.  :thinking: Was this discussed on this forum?
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline GWRdriver

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #18 on: September 02, 2018, 02:24:52 AM »
Our local stores just don't have anything yet plus to get at most of my fixtures I will need to move stuff to get at each one. So that slows me down. - Pete

I had to deal with that in a couple of areas also, but I managed work-arounds without too much difficulty.
Cheers,
Harry

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #19 on: September 02, 2018, 01:15:12 PM »
Hello every one,

Thanks to this thread I decided to buy some LED shop lights instead of the old florescent lights. Went online and found these units at Lowe’s and they are perfect for my application. They are 4-foot long and have a pull chain switch for the On / Off and they come pre-wired with a 115v plug. Even with the existing lighting in my shop there was not enough good light at either the Mill or the Lathe, I would have had to use a gooseneck at each station. Now as you can see from the photos I have really good lighting at both stations.

The only drawback is I might have to wear sunglasses while machining.

Thanks guys for all the good information shared on this thread.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline Kim

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #20 on: September 02, 2018, 04:27:22 PM »
That's excellent, Thomas!  You can never have too much light :)
I added a bunch of LED lights with my recent shop renovation.  They are noticeably brighter than the high output florescent that I use in the rest of the shop.  Even considered replacing the old ones.  But I decided to wait till the tubes start going.

The 8' LED fixtures that I purchased have no ballast and are direct wired, but the bulbs are 'built in' to the fixture. There is no replaceable LED bulb.  Guess I'll be replacing the whole fixture when those LEDs start going.  I didn't realized that when I purchased them, but that's what it is.  Found that a bit odd, but they work very well.

Kim

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #21 on: September 02, 2018, 04:56:29 PM »
Hi Kim,

The box that the lights came in state "No bulb" , intergrated LED. I can not see any way to replace the "bulbs" so I assume if and when the LED's burn out that you simple replace the entire fixture. No problem, the unit only cost $30 and LED's are supposed to last a really long time. The light is really clean and white and as you can see, lights up the equipment really well. I think I will replace the 8-foot units in the center of my shop when the bulbs burn out.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Online Twizseven

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Re: Workshop and Task LED Lighting
« Reply #22 on: September 02, 2018, 07:35:53 PM »
About two years back I replaced all my workshop lights with LED.  I had 10 off 8ft fluorescent lamps but the tubers were all going.  A friend of mine whose business is industrial lighting came to have a look and said I could used way less lights due to the increase in power of the LED.  I like my light where where they are as they act as worklights over each machine so I replaced 10 fluorescents with 11 LED. IIRC they are 48 watt 5Ft vapour proof IP 65 rated lamps.  The lighting is fantastic.  I rearranged the switching so I can be more selective over which lamps are on or not on.  I can now work for instance at the bench with one single lamp lit rather than the previous 3 lamps.  I have to say it wasn't cheap at around £85 per lamp.  Thing is there are no shadows.  I still need some minor task lighting but that is down to cr.p eyesight.

Because all my lamps were 8ft there were no LED conversions available for them.

Colin

 

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