Shed Lighting

[doug1]

If you are worried about this you should perhaps use leading and or lagging ballasts as this is what they were designed for. they light the lamp at a different point in the waveform (the 240 v power) It would still be a good idea to user something to light spinning items(lathe etc, but this could be done with LED style downlight lamps

Jaycar have the LED lamps of various types

[kiwigeo]

Lighting a big issue in my luthiers shop..started with in-ceiling halogens but found the intensity and colour of light was totally unsuitable. I now have double banks of fluros as well as the halogens on same circuit and lighting is much better. I also have 3-4 incandescant desk lamps which can be clamped to the benches and some of the jigs I use.

[Ashore]

The strobing effect of fluros as I was once informed can be reduced / eliminated by using honeycomb diffusers, those hard many faceted covers that fit over the tubes. Always fitted them in ships engine room workshops and never had a problem with lathe work and strobing.




The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[zenwood]

I've got a 6m x 6m shed with 4 double fluoros on each side (& white painted walls). Heaps of light and never had any strobe effects.

[Hennie]

Interesting discussion.

Latest lighting technology to the rescue use T5 fluorescent lamps (just becomming available here in South Africa, so should already be freely available in Aussieland... T5 fluoros are VERY bright (at least double the luminance of normal tubes), have very good CRI (that's colour renditioning index), similar to the Tri-phosphors, and run off high frequency electronic balasts, thus no visible flickering.

Alternatively, I would suggest using high frequency electronic ballasts with either power compact fluorescents or normal T8 tubes - one would still get the flicker free light, albeit with reduced intensity...

Regards,
Hennie Landman

[Redgy]

The strobing effect of fluros as I was once informed can be reduced / eliminated by using honeycomb diffusers, those hard many faceted covers that fit over the tubes. Always fitted them in ships engine room workshops and never had a problem with lathe work and strobing.

Also worth having as a safety item....if you swing a long piece of wood around & hit bare tubes....glass everywhere. Also they should be hung from chain for the same reason.

I've got 7 double fluros in my shed all with difusers, no flicker probs once tubes are warmed up. Also when I wired it I put a sensor light in that's right in the middle of the shed & if I'm just messing around (not playing with sharp things) this is plenty of light.

Reg

[numbat]

OK I will admit that I am new to this fluorecent lighting thing and am rather interested as I need to select fittings and tubes from my new workshop. It seems that people are recommending either Tri-phosphor or T5 tri-phosphor tubes.

I had a look at one suppliers site http://www.thornlight.com.au/ and it seems that the tri-phospor tubes are available in a range of colours 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, 5000K and 6000K. The T5 tri-phosphor dont have any colour choices. I would presume that the T5's are the premium choice with an associated high price? Am I correct? I dont mind paying extra if the benefits are worthwhile.

Should I be looking for any special light fittings and diffusers or will any old fitting do? Can you give me a specific model number to help me out so I know what I need to buy.

Redgy - I believe that you are a sparky. If I or anyone else were putting in 2 banks of double fluoros would you wire them in one circuit or 2 - my space is 6m x 6m.

Cheers

[JDarvall]

I've got only a couple of fluros.......but I've got 4 of those cheap flexible arm ones from ikea,bunnys etc, evenly distributed about the shed that I mostly use....... probably shouldn't suggest this but instead of using 60 watt light bulbs in the flexible arm lights , use 150 watt $5 numbers.....those big spotlight ones people use at the front of their houses to scare people off.....well, they fit,,, just... usually at the socket it says something like 'max 60 watts' which is why I probably shouldn't suggest it.....still my shed hasn't burn down yet, touch wood, and I have been using them the best part of a year......I don't see why its a problem, the heat build up from these spotlights doesn't seem to be significantly more that regular bulbs.........somebody no doubt knows better on this.........anyway the point is they bring so much more light into exactly where you want it........its made all the difference for me, especially when sharpening......

[Ashore]

[QUOTE=apricotripperstill my shed hasn't burn down yet, touch wood, and I have been using them the best part of a year......I don't see why its a problem, the heat build up from these spotlights doesn't seem to be significantly more that regular bulbs...[/QUOTE]Mate
I think the problem is the current you draw through the flex from the power point to the bulb it will cause the flex to harden and fail over time , rather than the heat from the 150 watt bulb being the problem


Rgds
Russell


The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[JDarvall]

I think the problem is the current you draw through the flex from the power point to the bulb it will cause the flex to harden and fail over time , rather than the heat from the 150 watt bulb being the problem

Thanks Russell
Does that mean all I should do is replace the flex with thicker power cord now to solve the problem ?

[Ashore]

Thanks Russell
Does that mean all I should do is replace the flex with thicker power cord now to solve the problem ?

I would think so something to carry the current.which shouldn't be too hard if there the type of adjustable i'm thinking of.
I have one in the center of my machine bench and I swing it over whatever m/c im using for better light but I think now i'll re-wire it and use a bigger bulb as you do , will have to modify the guard cto keep it out of my eyes though ......


The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[soundman]

Heres a story about a 60 Watt marked work lamp.
I was working at expo88. One of the projectionists stuck a 100 watt lamp in a cheap work light clearly marked "MAX 60 WATT". I chalenged him about this & he told me where to get off. I was much amusment that I was watching him deal with some problem deep in the bowels od a 70mm projector when the afore mentioned worklight spat the hot 100 watt globe right in his ear.
These chaep lamp bases are not made of the "best" plastic. They do fail with heat. They are also not up to supporting heavier lamps.
There is no legal 240 Volt electrical cable in australia under 7.5 amp, the current rating of the cabling will not be a problem.

[Redgy]

Numbat...no probs on one circuit. How you want to switch them though is up to you. My 7 are as such....4 for general lighting (2 banks of 2 with 2 switches) 2 over my long workbench which goes the full 6m width at the back of the shed, both lights switched & one over the TS & woodworking bench with it's own switch. All these lights are on one circuit. If I wasn't a sparky doing it myself I would just have the setup you are thinking of & one switch for the lot. You could run about 2 dozen or so double 36w fluros from a 10amp breaker....maybe not all switched on at once though. Allow about 5 times the current draw at start up per fitting....so 4 double 36w = approx 300watts times 5 =approx 1500w....10amp breaker= 2400w full load...no probs.

I'm waffling a bit...

Cheers
Reg

PS I'm an industrial sparky/electronics control type person ( in a pinus crapiata mill of all places ) so I'm not completely 100% up with current regs in AS3000 where there are tables for working out all this maximum loading of circuits stuff....

[numbat]

Thanks Redgy.

Can anyone help me with the difference between the tri-phospor tubes are available in a range of colours 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, 5000K and 6000K and the T5 tri-phosphor.

Also is there some kind of special fixture required for the T5 tube?

Cheers

[JDarvall]

Heres a story about a 60 Watt marked work lamp.
I was working at expo88. One of the projectionists stuck a 100 watt lamp in a cheap work light clearly marked "MAX 60 WATT". I chalenged him about this & he told me where to get off. I was much amusment that I was watching him deal with some problem deep in the bowels od a 70mm projector when the afore mentioned worklight spat the hot 100 watt globe right in his ear.
These chaep lamp bases are not made of the "best" plastic. They do fail with heat. They are also not up to supporting heavier lamps.
There is no legal 240 Volt electrical cable in australia under 7.5 amp, the current rating of the cabling will not be a problem.

I would have loved to been there to see that globe explosion......

I don't mean to contradict but it must shorely depends on the circuitry involved.....my lamps haven't failed yet......4 of them......your right about the extra weight, they do weigh down a little more ......but all I did was tighten up the little bolts and nuts that run along those flexible arms with a little locktite and no problem ......so????......I originally thought any problem would be in the plastic socket as well.....but like I said before the heat from these 'flood' (found out what there called) light bulbs doesn't seem to be significantly more.......but hang on......whats that smell........oh, **** my sheeed !!!!!!