Flourecent Light Fixtures...Need Help???

[rbertalotto]

Here's the deal. In my shop I have 5, eight foot , double bulb light fixtures. Four of the fixtures use the bulbs with the round pin on each end. The fifth fixture uses bulbs with a flat blade. The Flat Blade fixture has a ballast that says "Cold Weather Operation"...........Can I simply replace the four bulb sockets with the round pin type so all the fixture use the same bulbs. The sockets are available at Lowes for only $4

This is the contact on the odd fixture

http://www.buylightfixtures.com/ProductImages/T12-HO-Large.gif

The bulbs are F96T12 High Output

Can this ballast run standard T12 bulbs.................??

[Shuswap Pat]

This is a high output fixture - more light, and works at cold temperatures. It is better, but tubes are a little more money.

[gary350]

You can not swap the sockets unless you swap the ballast and light bulbs too.

The F96T12 High Output bulbs produce more light than the other bulbs. They work better is cold weather. If you shop is heated you will not noticed the difference but if you turn on the light and the shop is cold some of the lights will not come on the lights that do come on will flash and flicker for 30 minutes until they warm up enough to work properly.

I have the low output lights in my shop on a cold morning before I get the heat turned on and warmed up it would be a great place for an LSD party all those strobe lights flashing and flickering would be a trip, far out man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4pIxnuUG1k&NR=1

[macona]

No, the ballast will not run standard slimline lamps. So you will have to change everything, ballast, lamps, and tombstones.

Dont worry about the cold weather stuff. We have the same inside at work.

If I remember a HO lamp is 110watts and a standard t12 slimline is around 60.

[lbhsbz]

Don't know if it's worth the effort...you can by a complete standard t12 fixture for about $6.99....

[rbertalotto]

THANKS FOLKS!

What a great resource this site is!

I think the best advise is to simply replace the whole fixture...........

The shop is heated so there is no issue with cold weather ballasts.

Thanks again!

[bborr01]

If you are going to replace the fixtures, you may want to consider the fixtures with electronic ballasts.

I just bought a bunch of them to replace the 8' high output fixtures that I currently use.

The new ones will start instantly at temps. down to 0 degrees F. They use T8 bulbs.

One of my brothers sells lighting (mostly industrial and institutional) and tells me that I can expect to save about 50% on power with no loss of light.

He also advised me to use bulbs that are 5,000 to 5,500 K light temperature.
These bulbs are closer to natural sunlight that the 2,800 or 4,100K bulbs.

I was staying in a hotel for a couple nights, and the lamp next to the bed had both types of bulbs in it. One bulb was very yellow looking and the other one had a more blue tint. The blue tint was much nicer for reading, etc.

I am looking forward to installing the new fixtures when the weather warms up. They are in my un-heated shop.

Brian

[gary350]

New fixture is cheap buy a new one. Look at the watt rating printed on each light bulb. HO produces more light. I painted my new shop white it reflects a lot of light so standard light bulbs work great. My old shop was dark even with HO lights it was still dark.

[JoeFin]

Wish I could find these reflectors in a "High Polish Aluminum". I already have the lights just need the reflectors and so far they have been impossible to find

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/14/1469584e-eb5a-4e33-8795-fa021643109f_400.jpg

The "High Polish Aluminum" reflectors essentially "Double your Luminous Output" without ANY increase in power consumption

[macona]

They also create a harder, more specular light. I used them in my aquarium.

We used to get retrofit fits from Precision Reflector in Long Beach and they did have the polished aluminum reflectors.

[JoeLee]

I had both the HO 2 pin bulbs and the single pin bulbs in my paint shop. The HO bulbs I think were about 75 watts. The 2 pin bulbs were only 40 watts and I would go blind working under them. The 2 pin used to come in 75 as well but since the govt. tightened up the standards all I could find was the 40's. The way to go now is the energy effic. T-5 fixtures, but they are around $150 for a 6 bulb fixture. Sylvania still makes some higher wattage tubes in the old style as I used color corrected ones in my paint booth.

JL...............

[Silverback]

Wish I could find these reflectors in a "High Polish Aluminum". I already have the lights just need the reflectors and so far they have been impossible to find

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/14/1469584e-eb5a-4e33-8795-fa021643109f_400.jpg

The "High Polish Aluminum" reflectors essentially "Double your Luminous Output" without ANY increase in power consumption

Am I the only one that thinks those reflectors look a lot like gutters? Maybe take a roll of aluminum flashing to your local seamless gutter guy and then a little bit of creativity and you've got what you want.

on a similar note, I lined the box that holds the light on top of my blast cabinet with aluminum tape to reflect more light into the cabinet... worked well...

[macona]

I had both the HO 2 pin bulbs and the single pin bulbs in my paint shop. The HO bulbs I think were about 75 watts. The 2 pin bulbs were only 40 watts and I would go blind working under them. The 2 pin used to come in 75 as well but since the govt. tightened up the standards all I could find was the 40's. The way to go now is the energy effic. T-5 fixtures, but they are around $150 for a 6 bulb fixture. Sylvania still makes some higher wattage tubes in the old style as I used color corrected ones in my paint booth.

JL...............

Just looked it up. 8' HO's are 110 watts. 8' slimlines are 75.

In my garage I have one 8" HO fixture with daylight lamps. one 4' HO fixture, two 175w metal halide low bays, one 70w metal halide spot over the lathe, and one 150w metal halide spot over another area. I like light and believe you can never have too much.

Oh yeah, I have a 4 lamps f54t5 fixture in my electronics lab.

[Rich Carlstedt]

To see if the aluminum reflectors really work, Just wrap the reflector with some Reynolds Wrap. It comes in very wide widths.
If it stays, its about as cheap as fast a cure as anything
Rich