Gallery of Lights

Lanterns/Fixtures => News about Lanterns/Fixtures => Topic started by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 07:44:19 PM

Title: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 07:44:19 PM
Well, a highway near me needs relamping from the west startign point to Exit 1B. The 250w M-250R2s were relamped a few years back and the highway is black again. >:( They said between 30-90 days so lets see how long it takes.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 09:24:42 PM
I've noticed that some highmasts that were apparently relamped last month were already out.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 09:41:21 PM
It's always the same areas that end up with dead lamps too. The rest of the highway is lit with OVM, M-400R2 on the main highway and M-250R2 and OVS on the ramps and those are well mantained. i don't get it.  ???
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 10:28:20 PM
I've seen the same thing too, a stretch of road here burns out so fast it's almost like the lumes eat lamps.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 10:30:50 PM
That's cuz you guys feed the fixtures altos. The fixture needs more protein to keep it full. :P :D
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 10:32:16 PM
I've noticed most of the posts today are from us. O_o anyways my bet is on those 250w OVXs.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 10:35:28 PM
I noticed we both became lighting collectors now too. ;D I'm glad the utility here and RIDOT aren't Cooper fans.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 10:37:16 PM
I wish my area are GE fans or even better requested that Powerlite designs were still made.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 10:38:27 PM
GE is king here.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 10:39:18 PM
MTO still like using GE but to a lesser extent than before.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 10:43:13 PM
RIDOT used Cooper OVF like crazy around the 2007-2009 era. The OVF are being spot replaced as they fail by FCO M-400. I personally think the OVF looks better than the M-400 FCO, but the quality difference is huge between the two.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 10:50:57 PM
MTO used to use mainly Powerlites, then GEs, then GE and Cooper, now GE, Cooper and AE.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 10:52:46 PM
RIDOT bassically used whatever Narragansett Electric and National Grid have used. The Grid of course doesn't use FCO though. Onlt the state does.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 10:56:20 PM
Peel region for the most part is drop, my area is drop/FCO, Richmond hill is FCO, MTO is drop/FCO, Toronto is drop.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 29, 2011, 10:57:40 PM
When Blackstone Valley electric existed, they used FCO lights.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 29, 2011, 11:07:45 PM
FCO lights always looked odd to me.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 30, 2011, 12:03:34 PM
Why are you mad? :P

anyways, they've been replacing the M-250R2s in Interstate 295 with FCO M-400 like crazy. Maybe they'll replace these M-250R2s. RI has a timer in the relay that shuts off the lights at 1AM and turns them on at 5AM. The M-250R2s are controlled by indivisual PCs, so they're on all night. They might upgrade the R2s that are burned out with new M-400s that are hooked up to the new relay systems.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 30, 2011, 12:05:09 PM
Ontario uses a huge relay cabinet(see my pics) to control the streetlights.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on October 30, 2011, 12:16:46 PM
We do to. They're about the size of traffic signal controller boxes.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on October 30, 2011, 12:22:49 PM
I guess you didn't see this (http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2782) eh? Ours are even bigger than a signal control box.
Title: .
Post by: Mike on October 30, 2011, 12:24:14 PM
you're right, i didn't. :o That's about twice the size of the boxes here.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Silverliner14B on October 31, 2011, 11:42:28 PM
Did whole pockets go out at the same time, completely dark, or do you see lots of cycling lamps?

BTW, most of California's state lighting system operate on relays too. They have service panels for the lights with built in photocontrols, sometimes you can see a single PC on top of a light pole controlling several lights.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on November 01, 2011, 04:20:56 PM
This is an older installation. It has 250w HPS M-250R2 on 8 foot truss arms. See here: Here's a link. (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=route+37+at+phenix+ave+cranston+ri&hl=en&ll=41.756615,-71.475731&spn=0.000002,0.001316&safe=active&hq=route+37+at+phenix+ave+cranston+ri&radius=15000&t=h&z=20&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=41.756602,-71.47585&panoid=2R56yuAbxwCBlGGvHAEt-A&cbp=12,265.31,,0,-9.17) most lights are out, some are dayburning like you see in the link (BTW, the one on in the link is now out), some are cycling, and less than 5 are working fine.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on November 01, 2011, 06:25:02 PM
It might be because they're using 250w in small lumes.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on November 01, 2011, 07:35:27 PM
That's probably it, there were a lot of day burners. I think the lamps ran continuously until they failed. Some lights have no PC in the socket, but I think those blew out sa it's random. Poles have been struck, and soem R2s have lost their doors along with the reflector/socket/lamp. Other lights just wait to be relamped, totaly unharmed.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on November 01, 2011, 08:48:02 PM
Did you report this yet?
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on November 28, 2011, 10:20:42 PM
UPDATE: All the lights are working great now! About 10 new lumes thoiugh.....
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: joe_347V on November 28, 2011, 11:25:37 PM
Hmm I guess the ignitor died from cycling too long so they replaced them
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on November 28, 2011, 11:32:23 PM
Probably. Some of the lights has the black plactic bases of PC in them too. i guess they didin't want to mess with those...
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on September 27, 2014, 08:09:35 PM
EDIT/UPDATE:

Well it's been just under three years since these fixtures were fixed and most are still working great! NGrid still hasn't fixed a lot of the ramp lights or the interstate lights, just the ones on the Rte 37 freeway.  This is a map of the interchange. The median-mounted trusses that got fixed up in 2011 are from where Oaklawn Ave (Rte 5) is towards the right side of the screen (it runs vertically) to the left until Rte 37 splits just before the end of the freeway (why a 50MPH freeway ends at a traffic signal, I'll never know. Before 2004, the freeway ended at a 1-way stop sign!) The median-mounted trusses are still going great since they were fixed in late 2011 but NGrid STILL hasn't gotten all the ramp lights or the I-295 lights working. I think I need to send RIDOT an email regarding the lights because I keep reporting them out directly to NGrid and I'm not getting any results. >:( :8) Maybe RIDOT can get NGrid into gear, as they're the ones who pay for the lights.

RIDOT is very good with maintaining their lights. The only thing is, RIDOT doesn't number their poles so i can't report them as being burnt out. So I only report RIDOT lights if there's a string out. With NGrid, all the pole have (supposed to have at least) numbers on them. The pole numbers on I-295, for instance, are "295 106", "295 89", etc. Lights on I-95 are "95 14", "95 42", etc. The route number is first followed by the actual pole number. When there is a ramp, the order of the poles follows the ramp to the end and then picks up just after the ramp again. So the last pole before the ramp might be pole "295 81" and the next one after the ramp will be "295 89". Also, one side of the freeway is odd numbers and the other side is evens. (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7554117,-71.4809505,1144m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en)
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on December 24, 2014, 10:20:00 AM
EDIT/UPDATE:

NGrid has confirmed the lights out that I reported and has issued a "multiple lights out work order" as opposed to issuing 30+ individual "light out" work orders. Anyway, customer service said that it will take longer than the typical 7-10 business days because a police detail is required and if there are electrical issues (which I believe there are, since lights that they recently fixed have gone out in groups) it will take "several weeks" to troubleshoot those issues as well. So let's see what happens. I noticed a bunch of construction cones alongside the shoulders of the freeway (lights are on both sides of the shoulder in an alternating fashion) so maybe they're actually going to try and fix these this time.
Title: Re: Rhode Island Rte. 37 in need of relamping
Post by: Mike on March 20, 2017, 07:25:39 PM
Anyway, most of these lights were fixed in 2015. NGrid spent like two weeks with their wiring trucks snaking new wiring between many of the poles and installing lots of brand-new M-250R2s. They had gotten most of the lights working and replaced a few poles but many poles were still left missing and some lights were never fixed.

BUT... Sometime in 2016 one of the ramps went totally out. Then another. Then after a recent snow storm last week, virtually the entire interchange went BLACK! I emailed RIDOT and they said to allow several weeks for planning and more favorable weather conditions. I also reported a string of RIDOT-owned LEDs that were failing on Rte 37. I noticed today that RIDOT was already fixing the LEDs that they owned. No progress on the NGrid lights though. RIDOT's gotta contact them, they'll drag their feet, come out and take a look at what is wrong, come back a month or two later and actually fix the lights, and then next storm we get water will get inside a manhole or something and short the circuit out again. Happens EVERY time! Fortunately most of what they rewired is still working, but they only rewired maybe a quarter to a third of the interchange.