Gallery of Lights


Home Login
Album list Last uploads Last comments Most viewed Top rated My Favorites Search
Home > Public Albums > Indoor Fixtures
Arrow 2x40 Preheat Shoplight (1950's)
Special thanks to Mike for this fixture.  It's a real beauty and if I'm not mistaken he partially restored it, as well as rewired much of it, though the ballast and sockets and pullchain switch and starter sockets are indeed original as far as I can tell.  

It's not as heavily built as a late '40s Mitchell I have but it is in better condition.

Whenever I see the modern garbage T8 shoplight fixtures at box stores now I just think "I wonder if this will be a universally adaptable piece of usable technology in another 50 or 60 or 70 years I can just run to Walmart to buy lamps and starters for?"  
Keywords: Indoor_Fixtures

Arrow 2x40 Preheat Shoplight (1950's)

Special thanks to Mike for this fixture. It's a real beauty and if I'm not mistaken he partially restored it, as well as rewired much of it, though the ballast and sockets and pullchain switch and starter sockets are indeed original as far as I can tell.

It's not as heavily built as a late '40s Mitchell I have but it is in better condition.

Whenever I see the modern garbage T8 shoplight fixtures at box stores now I just think "I wonder if this will be a universally adaptable piece of usable technology in another 50 or 60 or 70 years I can just run to Walmart to buy lamps and starters for?"

IMG_3693.JPG IMG_3694.JPG IMG_3696.JPG 20180417_202715[1].jpg 20180401_004906[1].jpg
File information
Filename:IMG_3696.JPG
Album name:GEsoftwhite100watts / Indoor Fixtures
Keywords:Indoor_Fixtures
Company and Date Manufactured:Arrow
Wattage:2x40
Filesize:548 KiB
Date added:Apr 21, 2018
Dimensions:2250 x 3000 pixels
Displayed:181 times
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=23032
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 1 to 6 of 6
Page: 1

streetlight98   [Apr 21, 2018 at 09:58 PM]
Looking good! Yep all the wires except for the ballast leads are new. The ballast, pull-chain, and sockets are all original. The white part of the reflector was repainted but the rest of it is all original paint (I did thoroughly wash the light though; a lot of black soot from years of being in a mill before being semi-retired to use in the Craigslist seller's grandfather's basement). The seller's grandfather passed away and this and five other lights were removed and I bought them! This was the only one of it's kind. There were two Westy units which are VERY heavy and robust. There was also an Allied Fluorescent fixture (made in Providence!) and I also got two nice beefy industrials that had no labels.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Apr 21, 2018 at 10:14 PM]
Interesting! Knowing how the housing stock back east is often much older in general it doesn't surprise me that a homeowner acquired these secondhand decades ago, probably when that place put in slimlines or something in the 70s or 80s. What were the oldest lamps or starters they had, if they had any, if you remember? That can often date a residential installation if the lights are hardly ever used.
streetlight98   [Apr 21, 2018 at 10:55 PM]
The bulbs were all sorts of brands and all sorts of age. Same for starters. My guess is the guy took the lamps too. The only tubes that were sorta consistent were the red etch GE F34s, which I assume were used as spot-replacements. The starters were all old as heck looking lol. The wiring on each was ratty too. Apparently the guy just chained them up as-is when he got them. The reflectors were cleaned/repainted on them too but he used latex paint and a roller. The paint was flat too (like wall paint) so it was all dirty and when I washed the lights the paint washed off a lot, which made a mess of the reflector so I repainted all of them. The two westy lights have porcelain reflectors, and they were the only ones not repainted. Some elbow grease and those reflectors came out mint!
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Apr 22, 2018 at 04:57 AM]
These had red-etch Watt-Misers? Shocked
joe_347V   [Apr 22, 2018 at 07:55 AM]
Yeah, but I've never seen one in person. Shocked

I always thought of using shelf brackets to wall mount some industrials too but never found the need to at the moment.

I have a similar looking light that I got from Mike (but different brand) when we briefly met for a trade a few years ago. Not sure what it had before Mike got it but I used some used /CW CGE mainlighters in it for a while, I think it now has a pair of Westy /WW lamps. The mainlighters got moved to the CGE turret. Razz
streetlight98   [Apr 22, 2018 at 09:35 PM]
Yep! The 34W tubes were GE red etchers. Everything else was 40W. At least one Westy tube, a Sears tube, a couple mainlighters, and a duro-Test come to mind. They're all boxed up in storage now.

Yep Joe got one of the two Lehrolite shop lights from my aunt's basement. Joe's had a broken socket and no lamps (wasn't even hooked up to power!) and had a vacat mouse nest in it. It was fully restored. Ballast worked great though! I noticed it was a little more flickery and dimmer than a typical preheat ballast of the era. I have the other Lehrolite shop lights restored with an NOS 1980s Bonusline preheat ballast since the Ad-Lite died. When my aunt and uncle first bought the house, it would only light one lamp. I gave them a pair of lamps and starters for it but the fixture still only lit one lamp. Then I guess it died completely and my aunt gave it to me to fix up (and keep). Unsure what went on with that ballast but it was a weird failure mode.

Comment 1 to 6 of 6
Page: 1