Gallery of Lights
The Site => General discussion => Topic started by: Mike on January 03, 2013, 04:44:55 PM
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I remember always wanting a blackender fluoro when i started getting into fluorescent lights. Now i have 3 NOS Westie AGRO-LITEs, one slightly used Westie F40CW, and an NOS Westie F40CW! I would've had four AGRO-LITE tubes but one emploded while sticking it back in the box it was sealed in (it was going in on an angle and got stuck so i pushed it with more force and the etch end of the lamp turned to dust. The box probably has mercury all inside it too but i'm still living aren't i? :-\ :P i'm not really too worried about it since i usually wash my hands before and after handing my lights and lamps as to not get them dirty (and so if there is any mercury or toxic stuff, i get it off me ASAP.)
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Ever get that "dirty" feeling on your hands after handling old florescent bulbs?
I have...and these are my "collector" lamps...
A Norelco F40CW (in use but I'm considering removing it)
-a dozen GE warm white MainLighters (and can get several dozen more); three are in use
Seven post-'95, pre-'03 34w Watt-Misers; one is in use
An ACE F40CW
A Sears "Soft Brite"; I should fire it up next to a warm white MainLighter and see what difference, if any, there is.
A Sylvania "Workshop F40"
A pair of Sylvania "Cool White Plus"
And many more lamps in use at my house...
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I tend to bounce back between HID/street lighting and vintage fluorescent lighting for whatever reason. I guess it depends on what i can find at a particular time. Right now i'm in fluorescent mode because that trip the ReStore and to my grandpa's doubled my fluorescent collection maybe tripled it. LOL. Plus it's easier for me to get vintage fluorescents because my family has a bunch of "hand-me-down" fluorescent lights from their work places. I guess they were too cheap to buy new lights LOL. I can't say i blame them though since I'd do the same! I like the saying "Why spend a penny when you can save a penny?"
Of course I don't let this compromise safety in any way though. In fact i'm almost paranoid about testing used lighting equippement when i first get it to a degree since I've heard all the wild things that go on. Even if an old light worked when it was removed (even if i removed it) it gets tested outside in the middle of the yard with a fire extinguisher or the hose nearby (of course in the winter when there is snow on the ground i test in the garage with a GFCI outlet and a power strip when the car is pulled out.
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Mike, I do that too! I've been known to test stuff across the room from me with a fire extinguisher handy on multiple occasions!
Much of my florescent collection is from my school, the rest from various junking finds.
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AHH off topic alert! :8) :P :o ;D
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Just what happened with the funny pictures thread when I mentioned RadioShack...
Joe, do you have light testing procedure similar to mine and Mike's?
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Well, you always like to post off topic stuff in threads, so......
Not much specific testing procedures, I only use a GFCI on older and suspect lights which I test in the garage. If the ballast looks dodgy then maybe I'll monitor the current being drawn.
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Yeah, I think that's another instance in which a Kill-A-Watt would be handy!
A GFCI sounds like a good idea, too. I don't have any GFCI outlets in my house, though...there should probably be one next to my bathroom sink and in my kitchen on the same counter of the sink, though. Another code violation (I'm sure there's a few) at my house...
I like the idea of current monitoring, though! It's also nice knowing what things SHOULD draw, for example a vintage 2XF40T12 shoplight with a .8 amp ballast should draw around 96 watts; a 175w MV yardlight should draw about 210 watts, etc.
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i think the cheaper yardblaster ballasts run at about 200 watts.
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I would measure both a .8 amp ballast and a MV yardlight if I had a Kill-A-Watt, as well as the (suspect) hertz/cycles/frequency on one of my generators...on that one the lights continuously flicker slightly in a very rhythmic pattern...