One or two of you may remember that I was bitching about the lack of a
decent T8 shop light. I gave up and just made my own.

Bought 10 of the Simkar WLD-4 shop lights ($20 each). These are the
"mid-grade" shop lights at blue borg, but frankly still crap. But the
shell is OK, and really all I needed. Found an inexpensive source
(goodmart.com) for a solid T8 ballast (Sylvania QT2X32/120IS-SC) for $13
per. Ordered up a box of 10 along with a box of 30 Sylvania
FO32/835/XP/ECO lamps ($2.69 per).

Dropped in the new ballasts and fired it up. It's just beautiful.
Instant-on, very bright and the lamps are CRI 82 and 3500K, so they're
reasonably close to incandescents. I am in shop light nirvana for under
$35 each.

This also means that I have a pile of T12 ballasts that are of no use to
me. I haven't converted two of the fixtures while I use up the last of my
T12 lamps, so I have 8 Advance Transformer HB-234-TP magnetic ballasts
laying around. Honestly the power and ballast factors both suck, but
they're free to anyone willing to pay shipping. Or if you're in the St.
Louis area, I'll deliver them. Hate to see them just go into the trash,
they're brand new. E-mail me if interested.

--
Joe Wells

So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy T8
shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out anything.

Am I missing something here?

Joe Wells wrote:
One or two of you may remember that I was bitching about the lack of a
decent T8 shop light. I gave up and just made my own.

Bought 10 of the Simkar WLD-4 shop lights ($20 each). These are the
"mid-grade" shop lights at blue borg, but frankly still crap. But the
shell is OK, and really all I needed. Found an inexpensive source
(goodmart.com) for a solid T8 ballast (Sylvania QT2X32/120IS-SC) for $13
per. Ordered up a box of 10 along with a box of 30 Sylvania
FO32/835/XP/ECO lamps ($2.69 per).

Dropped in the new ballasts and fired it up. It's just beautiful.
Instant-on, very bright and the lamps are CRI 82 and 3500K, so they're
reasonably close to incandescents. I am in shop light nirvana for under
$35 each.

This also means that I have a pile of T12 ballasts that are of no use to
me. I haven't converted two of the fixtures while I use up the last of my
T12 lamps, so I have 8 Advance Transformer HB-234-TP magnetic ballasts
laying around. Honestly the power and ballast factors both suck, but
they're free to anyone willing to pay shipping. Or if you're in the St.
Louis area, I'll deliver them. Hate to see them just go into the trash,
they're brand new. E-mail me if interested.

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 03:57:48 +0000, Mapdude wrote:

So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy T8
shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out anything.

Am I missing something here?

Shrug Your borg must stock different fixtures than the ones around here.
I wasn't able to source any T8 fixtures that I'd actually trust to not
start a fire, let alone have a decent ballast.

--
Joe Wells

In article ,
says...
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 03:57:48 +0000, Mapdude wrote:

So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy T8
shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out anything.

Am I missing something here?

Shrug Your borg must stock different fixtures than the ones around here.
I wasn't able to source any T8 fixtures that I'd actually trust to not
start a fire, let alone have a decent ballast.



What lead to your assessment that some of the fixtures you saw were
fire hazards?

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 05:05:50 +0000, Mark & Juanita wrote:

What lead to your assessment that some of the fixtures you saw were
fire hazards?

Just very flimsy sockets, poor switches and so on. The sort of
quality that I wouldn't trust in my home. But then, I didn't find any
"good" quality T8 fixtures, only the ultra-cheap $10 ones. If I had been
able to find a solid T8 fixture, even in the $20 - $30 range, it probably
would have been just fine.

--
Joe Wells

I think you got screwed. I spent $20 for INSTANT on, sub zero start
fixtures. Granted they have regular shop type bulbs but I have plenty
of natural light for color critical work in sunny CA.

dave

Joe Wells wrote:

One or two of you may remember that I was bitching about the lack of a
decent T8 shop light. I gave up and just made my own.

Bought 10 of the Simkar WLD-4 shop lights ($20 each). These are the
"mid-grade" shop lights at blue borg, but frankly still crap. But the
shell is OK, and really all I needed. Found an inexpensive source
(goodmart.com) for a solid T8 ballast (Sylvania QT2X32/120IS-SC) for $13
per. Ordered up a box of 10 along with a box of 30 Sylvania
FO32/835/XP/ECO lamps ($2.69 per).

Dropped in the new ballasts and fired it up. It's just beautiful.
Instant-on, very bright and the lamps are CRI 82 and 3500K, so they're
reasonably close to incandescents. I am in shop light nirvana for under
$35 each.

This also means that I have a pile of T12 ballasts that are of no use to
me. I haven't converted two of the fixtures while I use up the last of my
T12 lamps, so I have 8 Advance Transformer HB-234-TP magnetic ballasts
laying around. Honestly the power and ballast factors both suck, but
they're free to anyone willing to pay shipping. Or if you're in the St.
Louis area, I'll deliver them. Hate to see them just go into the trash,
they're brand new. E-mail me if interested.

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 15:52:32 +0000, Bay Area Dave wrote:

I think you got screwed. I spent $20 for INSTANT on, sub zero start
fixtures. Granted they have regular shop type bulbs but I have plenty of
natural light for color critical work in sunny CA.

Mebbe, but I don't think so. T8s are the way to go. No hum, no flicker.
And since I selected the ballasts myself, I know that they have excellent
ballast and power factors.

--
Joe Wells

just like my fixutures. NO hum, NO flicker. hey, were both happy
with what we've got. I was just messin' wit ya!

dave

Joe Wells wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 15:52:32 +0000, Bay Area Dave wrote:


I think you got screwed. I spent $20 for INSTANT on, sub zero start
fixtures. Granted they have regular shop type bulbs but I have plenty of
natural light for color critical work in sunny CA.


Mebbe, but I don't think so. T8s are the way to go. No hum, no flicker.
And since I selected the ballasts myself, I know that they have excellent
ballast and power factors.

The model selling at HD for about $17 (bulbs not included) works great. It
was cold (like really cold) here this winter but they started up immediately
even before the Kero heater started doing its thing. Although I had my
doubts about quality based in the thickness of the dust on the boxes, I'm
quite impressed. Three of them in 1/2 of my 18'sq garage throw off more
than enough light for most things (and where they don't I supplement with
the halogen floods).



"Joe Wells" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 15:52:32 +0000, Bay Area Dave wrote:

I think you got screwed. I spent $20 for INSTANT on, sub zero start
fixtures. Granted they have regular shop type bulbs but I have plenty
of
natural light for color critical work in sunny CA.

Mebbe, but I don't think so. T8s are the way to go. No hum, no flicker.
And since I selected the ballasts myself, I know that they have excellent
ballast and power factors.

--
Joe Wells

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 00:31:30 +0000, Bay Area Dave wrote:

just like my fixutures. NO hum, NO flicker. hey, were both happy
with what we've got. I was just messin' wit ya!

Ah, when you said "regular shop type bulbs" I thought you meant T12s. OK,
so *where the hell were you when I was askin' for help!!* ;^) Well, if
nothing else, I know they're wired right. I can't believe how loose some
of the connections were in these fixtures.

--
Joe Wells

Man if one of those shop lights I bought at HD causes a fire in my shop
I am gonna be one PO's Mofo and HD is gonna be paying to replace it all.

Joe Wells wrote:
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 03:57:48 +0000, Mapdude wrote:


So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy T8
shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out anything.

Am I missing something here?


Shrug Your borg must stock different fixtures than the ones around here.
I wasn't able to source any T8 fixtures that I'd actually trust to not
start a fire, let alone have a decent ballast.

I hear you! I bought my house new in '73. So far there have been 3
burnt out connections, one caused an exciting flash fire, due to poorly
tightened twist connectors inside of some outlets. and it's not even
aluminum wiring! Whenever I have an electrical failure in one room
I start looking and smelling for burnt wiring at all the outlets. When
I find a white outlet cover marked with soot, I know I've found the
source of the problem...

dave

Joe Wells wrote:
I can't believe how loose some
of the connections were in these fixtures.

I hear you! I bought my house new in '73. So far there have been 3
burnt out connections, one caused an exciting flash fire, due to poorly
tightened twist connectors inside of some outlets. and it's not even
aluminum wiring! Whenever I have an electrical failure in one room
I start looking and smelling for burnt wiring at all the outlets. When
I find a white outlet cover marked with soot, I know I've found the
source of the problem...

dave

Joe Wells wrote:
I can't believe how loose some
of the connections were in these fixtures.

go after the mfgr; not HD. you'll not win a settlement from HD.

dave

Mapdude wrote:

Man if one of those shop lights I bought at HD causes a fire in my shop
I am gonna be one PO's Mofo and HD is gonna be paying to replace it all.

Joe Wells wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 03:57:48 +0000, Mapdude wrote:


So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy T8
shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out anything.

Am I missing something here?



Shrug Your borg must stock different fixtures than the ones around
here.
I wasn't able to source any T8 fixtures that I'd actually trust to not
start a fire, let alone have a decent ballast.

In article ,
says...
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 05:05:50 +0000, Mark & Juanita wrote:

What lead to your assessment that some of the fixtures you saw were
fire hazards?

Just very flimsy sockets, poor switches and so on. The sort of
quality that I wouldn't trust in my home. But then, I didn't find any
"good" quality T8 fixtures, only the ultra-cheap $10 ones. If I had been
able to find a solid T8 fixture, even in the $20 - $30 range, it probably
would have been just fine.



Thanks. So your main concern was arcing and such from potentially
poor connections?

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 05:38:07 +0000, Mark & Juanita wrote:

In article ,
says...
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 05:05:50 +0000, Mark & Juanita wrote:

What lead to your assessment that some of the fixtures you saw were
fire hazards?

Just very flimsy sockets, poor switches and so on. The sort of quality
that I wouldn't trust in my home. But then, I didn't find any "good"
quality T8 fixtures, only the ultra-cheap $10 ones. If I had been able
to find a solid T8 fixture, even in the $20 - $30 range, it probably
would have been just fine.



Thanks. So your main concern was arcing and such from potentially
poor connections?

Actually, the heat produced by the additional resistance present in a poor
connection. That or something coming loose that shouldn't and creating a
short.

Truthfully, I doubt that the cheap fixtures were really a
significant fire hazard. I've been ripping out some of the wiring in my
pre-WWII home. Some of the stuff that I've found (and corrected) sends
chills down my spine. But I'm sure it's been that way for decades without
incident.

When I started to figure out what I needed for lighting, I just treated it
as I would any tool in the shop. That is, nearly obsessive
research. I learned a lot about fluorescent fixtures over the past month.
Sometimes that's a bad thing. Now, knowing what I know, I couldn't settle
for flimsy fixtures with lousy, flickering, dim, loud, power-sucking,
lamp-eating ballasts. I knew that even if I "went cheap" that I'd spend
$200 plus just for fixtures. It didn't seem wise to me to lay out that
kind of cash without being comfortable with the purchase. So I figured out
how to get what I wanted without making my checkbook scream (too much). In
any case, the shop has never been brighter! ;^)

--
Joe Wells

In article ,
says...
go after the mfgr; not HD. you'll not win a settlement from HD.

Mfgr is in China; Good Luck!
--
When Replying Remove "thepin" From Return Address

Mapdude wrote:
So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy T8
shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out anything.

Just bought 10 T8 48" fixtures at HD for $4 each and $3 for each package
of two lamps. I think it was a new store opening offer but the regular
prices looked to only be about $7 or 8 for the fixtures. They work much
better than my older ones with T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts.

These new fixtures have electronic ballasts made by Sunpark, Torrance,
CA, Model SL15.

RB


Am I missing something here?

Joe Wells wrote:

One or two of you may remember that I was bitching about the lack of a
decent T8 shop light. I gave up and just made my own.

Bought 10 of the Simkar WLD-4 shop lights ($20 each). These are the
"mid-grade" shop lights at blue borg, but frankly still crap. But the
shell is OK, and really all I needed. Found an inexpensive source
(goodmart.com) for a solid T8 ballast (Sylvania QT2X32/120IS-SC) for $13
per. Ordered up a box of 10 along with a box of 30 Sylvania
FO32/835/XP/ECO lamps ($2.69 per).

Dropped in the new ballasts and fired it up. It's just beautiful.
Instant-on, very bright and the lamps are CRI 82 and 3500K, so they're
reasonably close to incandescents. I am in shop light nirvana for under
$35 each.

This also means that I have a pile of T12 ballasts that are of no use to
me. I haven't converted two of the fixtures while I use up the last of my
T12 lamps, so I have 8 Advance Transformer HB-234-TP magnetic ballasts
laying around. Honestly the power and ballast factors both suck, but
they're free to anyone willing to pay shipping. Or if you're in the St.
Louis area, I'll deliver them. Hate to see them just go into the trash,
they're brand new. E-mail me if interested.

Just did a Google search on Sunpark's SL15 and found that with these
ballasts the lamp can be overdriven to 170% of normal illuminance.

This fellow must be growing "special" plants to go to this much trouble.

RB

RB wrote:


Mapdude wrote:

So you got $33 per light so far plus bulbs and I can go to HD and buy
T8 shop lights for $27 each plus bulbs and not have to change out
anything.


Just bought 10 T8 48" fixtures at HD for $4 each and $3 for each package
of two lamps. I think it was a new store opening offer but the regular
prices looked to only be about $7 or 8 for the fixtures. They work much
better than my older ones with T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts.

These new fixtures have electronic ballasts made by Sunpark, Torrance,
CA, Model SL15.

RB


Am I missing something here?

Joe Wells wrote:

One or two of you may remember that I was bitching about the lack of a
decent T8 shop light. I gave up and just made my own.

Bought 10 of the Simkar WLD-4 shop lights ($20 each). These are the
"mid-grade" shop lights at blue borg, but frankly still crap. But the
shell is OK, and really all I needed. Found an inexpensive source
(goodmart.com) for a solid T8 ballast (Sylvania QT2X32/120IS-SC) for $13
per. Ordered up a box of 10 along with a box of 30 Sylvania
FO32/835/XP/ECO lamps ($2.69 per).

Dropped in the new ballasts and fired it up. It's just beautiful.
Instant-on, very bright and the lamps are CRI 82 and 3500K, so they're
reasonably close to incandescents. I am in shop light nirvana for under
$35 each.

This also means that I have a pile of T12 ballasts that are of no use to
me. I haven't converted two of the fixtures while I use up the last
of my
T12 lamps, so I have 8 Advance Transformer HB-234-TP magnetic ballasts
laying around. Honestly the power and ballast factors both suck, but
they're free to anyone willing to pay shipping. Or if you're in the St.
Louis area, I'll deliver them. Hate to see them just go into the trash,
they're brand new. E-mail me if interested.

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 08:32:54 -0500, RB wrote:

Just did a Google search on Sunpark's SL15 and found that with these
ballasts the lamp can be overdriven to 170% of normal illuminance.

That ballast also has a power factor of 0.50. Which means that about
half of the power consumed by the ballast is wasted. You can confirm this
by comparing the rated Line Amps of the ballast. The SL15T is 1.07, a
ballast with a good (.95 or better) power factor will be around .50 - .60
Amps.

--
Joe Wells

Do you still have any of these ballasts for sale