Shop lighting

Ken Schweim

Member
Messages
38
Location
Madison Lake, Mn
Not sure if I'm in the right thread area but....I'm having a real problem with my fluroscent(sp?) lighting. I always buy the very cheapest dual bulb units and when one light goes out I know its the fixture and not the bulb. My shop is 10 years old and I've replaced all the fixtures at least once. At this time about 1/3 of all my lights have one bulb out which means fixture replacement. I do all my wood cutting in the section of my shop with no heat so lighting is a bit more challenging (sometimes it gets a little cold here in Minnesota....table saw won't start until I turn it by hand for a while to free up the grease....eye glasses fog over almost instantly....faster than instantly if you wear a face mask for dust protection). The lights seem to have the same life span whether in heated area or unheated. I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions for another type of lighting for shop use...some kind of hanging light? Am I better off by just buying more expensive fluorescent lights?
 
I'm just curious, you are trying new bulbs in the fixtures right? And the sockets aren't just loose or cracked right? As those can be easily replaced.

I spent a few years working in an office park working on florescent fixtures and rarely had many go bad, just usually a bulb out (black on one end) or a bad socket. As you said, they may have been just cheap ballasts or something. Are the ballasts making a whining noise by chance?
 
1. Not sure I agree with your "one bulb out - it's the fixture" opinion. I've replaced a lot of single bulbs over the years, without needing new fixtures.

2. The cheap 'shop light' fixtures usually are fairly temperature sensitive - it's the cheap ballasts.

Better quality light fixtures are well worth the extra cost in the long run. Some (many?) are cold weather tolerant, and will allow the tubes to fire at below freezing temperatures.

I upgraded my 26 X 32 shop lighting a couple years ago, using 8 foot fixtures. I have three rows of two-tube fixtures, spaced a tad over six feet apart. Each row has three fixtures (24 running feet, and six tubes), and each row is switched separately. With all nine fixtures lit, it's brighter than daylight in there!
 
Bad light

In every case, and there have been a lot of them, I tested the bulbs and they would work fine in another fixture. I replaced the fixture, installed the same bulbs and both bulbs worked fine. Keep in mind these are the cheapest fixtures I could buy and I think someone told me once that they don't have a ballast. I also have had more than one person tell me that if one bulb goes out you have to trash the fixture. I have four 4-bulb units in the same shop area salvaged from a commercial office remodel and the bulbs seem to last forever. Maybe I should try one good quality 2-bulb unit and see if that will make a difference.
 
I use the $18 ones from Lowe's with electronic ballast and T-8 lamps. They say they will start when cold but it never gets that cold in SoCal. I have been running the same ones since day one (fixtures, not lamps).
 
Tip: For the colder climates it's been suggested to run the 40 watt bulbs instead of the 34 watt bulbs, tends to make the ballast warm up faster and stop flickering. We used to do this at the office park for the storage areas, seemed to work. In the freezing weather, you had that dim light for about 30 seconds, then they kicked in.
 
I use the 27.00 4 ft 2 bulb, and 45.00 8 ft 4 bulb units from HD. Granted, it doesn't get that cold here in TX, but I've been out in sub zero temps before, and the lights came on fine...maybe at about 80% to start with, then warmed up pretty quick. Usually I couldn't stay out there very long myself. ;) These aren't the most expensive units, but seem to hold up fine. I do have one unit that hums. But it's not noticeable when the stereo is running.:rofl::rofl:
 
I've run into the same experience as Ken. I've got the cheapest 2-tube fluorescent fixtures I could find, and have two right now that are only burning one tube, even with new replacement tubes in place. I've got one cheap replacement fixture left in stock, but after that, I'm going to try moving up the food chain a bit and trying better quality fixtures.
 
Another source

I went to Lowe's yesterday and found a young man that seems to really know his stuff in the light fixture dept. There actually was a couple of guys there and they said they have never heard of the bad fixture problem I'm having. So I think the answer is, as some have suggested, kick it up a notch on the replacement fixtures so I can concentrate more on using the shop rather than fixing the shop.
 
Incandescent lighting (the screw in light bulbs) will be a cheap solution to your problem, As they create heat, they are less effected by cold, easy to replace etc. Just need more of the less expensive fixtures. Porcelain fixtures are easy and cheap to install (keeping with your budget needs)

Another option would to be to step up (not in fixtures but in bulbs) to the newer (Green tipped) T12 bulbs, smaller in diameter, brighter per wattage and better suited to adverse conditions.

I hacve the cheapest fixtures in my garage and they flicker when cold untill they warm themselves, are used daily in the winter and yet they have been there unchanged for at least 20 years (when I rigged up to restore my daughter's VW Convertable.)

In my S-I-L's garage (Cold as a witch's heart and then hot as a wedding bed when he gets the stove fired up) conditions that are nore damaging than cold alone. He was plagued with lamp failure untill my Electrician son switched out to the T12s. Now, no flicker and better lighting.
 
I too have had inconsistent results with 'shop lights'.

In my next shop, I'm going to go with compact fluorescents mounted in keyless bulb holders.

My utility subsidizes these and I can get 100w equivalents for 25 cents each.

The trick will be to make sure I've got a reflector for them.
 
When i kitted my shop out i bought electronic balast units for my shop. I have what they call tandem fixtures. Its two sets of 4 ft tubes length ways. So you get a 8 ft fixture all in one. These came from HD. And like Bill said i use the T12 tubes and i got them in two temp ranges to be able to mix the color spectrum. Have not had an issue yet. Been working for a couple of years now. Even in winter although i have heat in my shop when i aint in it, the heat is real low just to stop condensation and freezing. When i go in at these times the lights come on with no issues. I think you should also just check what your voltage is doing.

I chose electronic balast type for the reason that i did not want the hum when the cheap transformer laminations start to vibrate. :D

This is one time i am happy i sprung for the better units.
 
Top