What are some of your relamping (and reballasting) stories? I think this deserves it's own topic...
I'll list some of mine
I've changed household bulbs all my life, but I'm getting into the harder stuff, like:
In my school there are these rapid start F40T12 2 lamp wraparound-like fixtures with an opaque white plastic diffuser that hangs from the sides of the fixture (fixture body is like a regular wraparound, without the endplates).
These are a "PITA" to relamp because first you have to remove the diffuser by pushing it up toward the ceiling (and keep in mind relamping in general is tricky when you're at the top of a ladder) then slide it off.
The lamps aren't all that hard to remove but putting new ones back in is hard because they have these strange "Y" slot lampholders that have a squarish body (never seen these anywhere else except these strange early 1980s fixtures) and it sometimes litterally takes two people to install a tube. Then you have to re-install the diffuser, which is even more of a pain than removing it. If you think regular wraparound diffusers are tricky than these are even worse, only with these lights they are loose but are still a pain to remove/install. Several have cracks where someone got one corner loose and had to yank the whole thing down! The corners come loose often (sagging down and you can see the tubes) and I bet one day one of them will fall on someone's head (maybe mine), but thankfully they're light plastic.
In another wing of the same building I helped re-ballast a wraparound that was in a bathroom. That thing took a lot of time to fix, as even with a new ballast, tubes, AND one new lampholder it STILL didn't work at first.
I'm currently replacing stuff like GE Chroma 50 (both GENERAL (GE) ELECTRIC) and meatball etch), lots of GE Watt-Miser (1995-2003 and 2003-EcoLux) versions, the occasional Sylvania Cool White Plus, etc. with, GET THIS: NOS Norelco F40CWs! No idea how they ended up there (I didn't donate them like some other cool white Norelcos without a case and the warm white MainLighters I'm currently bringing home) but I'm happy to be installing good quality, full wattage, full mercury lamps! These have the modern Sylvania endcaps which I also see on some Philips florescents. The ones I donated (and they're all in use now I think) had GE-ish endcaps that didn't have the rounded off edge though. The one thing I've noticed about them is they render wood (this place is full of wood paneling and that 70s looking paneling with the random width "planks" slightly greenish instead of it's true color like the non-halophosphate cool white.
There is a mix of lamp ages/wattages/color temperatures/replacement ballasts, which is actually kind of interesting! In service are: GE Chroma 50, GE Watt-Misers, True Value F40T12s, Sylvania Cool White Plus, Westpointe F40T12s, Norelco F40CWs, and even the occasional GE Warm White MainLighter lamp that got mixed in! Plus possibly True Value 34w lamps, ACE F40T12s, and GE F40CWs. Pretty Cool! If they ever do a T8 retrofit I'd love to do some of the work and keep the removed ballasts and lamps. I love working on those lights, even if it is a bit of a pain to do. I'm also the one who recycles the dead lamps, and I sort through them whenever I move the dead lamps around. I'm considering getting permission to take some of the really old ones even if they are at EOL.
I usually replace both lamps in a fixture, so I guess some get wasted but maybe I'll get to keep those!
Other stories:
Once I was installing tubes in a light at my house and had one in, was installing the other, and they BOTH fell out in my hands! Let's just say I got off the ladder until my heart rate returned to normal!
I hate heights, but I'm getting over that. I just don't do lights 20+ feet off the ground...
I'll post more when I think of them...what are your guys' stories?