Accupro Customer Service T8 ballasts WOW!!!

[tdkkart]

I recently installed 9 2 lamp T8 Lithonia fixtures in my shop. As many have experienced, the RF emissions from these fixtures totally wiped out any chance of listening to a radio in the shop.

So, I wrote down the info off the ballasts, model# AP-RC232IP-120-1.

First, Emailed Lithonia, got an almost immediate response back, however they wanted me to contact the ballast manufacturer, AccuPro. They also stated that if the lights and/or ballasts were labelled "residential" that I should not be having this problem.

Called Accupro a few minutes ago, with no drama whatsoever they are shipping me 9 "better grade" ballasts, which they say should eliminate the problem.

I'm impressed, no questions asked, just fix the problem, end of story.
There are some reputable companies left out there.........

Only issue is that now I have to climbback up and replace all the ballasts. Could be worse, I could have to change the all the fixtures.

[Bigrhamr]

Good to know.. Keep us posted on how the fix works.

[Steevo]

Let us know if all of the ballasts you replace are the same model, so we know what to watch out for.
I am about to buy 14 Lithonia 8ft, 4-bulb fixtures, and would be interested in whether they use the same ballast.

[tdkkart]

I'd stay away if you're buying from Home Depot, I THINK.
Mine came from Home Depot, and I've seen something mentioned about a "Home Depot Specified" ballast.
When I talked to the customer serrvice guy today he asked where I bought them and kinda grunted when I mentioned HD.

[tdkkart]

Originally Posted by Steevo

Let us know if all of the ballasts you replace are the same model, so we know what to watch out for.

I bought 9 fixtures, hooked them up in 3 banks of 3 on seperate switches.
The interference is the same no matter which row is on, gets worse as each row is turned on. So I suspect I've got all the same ballasts.

[Wandering]

I built a fairly large house recently and am now in the process of building a 1600 square foot of “playroom for myself” while building the house there were times when I made the trip down to the local Home Depot and bought a some fixtures. The only electrical equipment that failed to deliver as promised was purchased from Home Depot. I also purchased about one dozen Edison based style halogen bulbs the ones with the long guarantee. Within 4 months one third of them failed.

[tdkkart]

New ballasts arrived yesterday, installed them this morning, no more RFI issues!!

Old ballast model #AP-RC-232IP-120-1
New ballast model AP-RS-232IP-120

Problem solved for me. Anyone want to check the Menards version of this light to see which ballast they use??

[JohnMcD348]

So is this just a HD brand unit and /or ballast issue? Is it related to the T8 units as opposed to the T12? Reason I ask, is I'm looking at a few from Lowes to put in my garage and Really don't want to go through the trouble of installing all those lights going through the attic (in Central Florida) only to have to uninstall them due to RFI.

[Chris Adams]

Originally Posted by JohnMcD348

So is this just a HD brand unit and /or ballast issue? Is it related to the T8 units as opposed to the T12? Reason I ask, is I'm looking at a few from Lowes to put in my garage and Really don't want to go through the trouble of installing all those lights going through the attic (in Central Florida) only to have to uninstall them due to RFI.

It is a brand thing, not a T8 thing. I get GREAT radio reception AM/FM, Cell, Cordless phone, in my shop under ten Walmart T8 fixtures. No buzz, no crackle. Those are the super cheap ones, at 10 bucks a unit.
The HD and Lowe's T8's I have purchased were much more expensive and noisy, unreliable units.
Brand problems. Hopefully they will get that fixed someday.

[NUTTSGT]

Glad to hear you got your problem fixed, I'd go crazy if I couldn't listen to the radio in the shop.

[rocco]

Typical Lithonia customer service - thats why i rep them.
the issues that you've had with the HD lithonia product is exactly why i always preach to buy from a wholesale electrical distributor and purchase "commercial grade" products.

[tdkkart]

Originally Posted by rocco

the issues that you've had with the HD lithonia product is exactly why i always preach to buy from a wholesale electrical distributor and purchase "commercial grade" products.

Problem is, had I bought a "commercial" duty light, I may have had an even worse problem. From my understanding, "Commercial" lighting ballasts have a looser RFI spec than residential ballasts so they may have made even more RFI interference.

Commercial is not always better.

[desertmike345]

Hi
I bought 4 Lithonia 8' T12 fixtures some years back at HD. Never had a problem with them for RFI. These are in my garage. I bought 6 more of the same at HD a year or so ago for my 30 x 60 metal building. And ever since then I can't listen to radio with the lights on. After reading your post tonite I went with my radio in hand and turned each bank on one at a time (2 banks 0f 3 ea) and both banks have the same problem...RFI. I'm going to check the p/n in the morning and call ACCUPRO and see what they say. I'm sure its the same thing as yuours. Thanks alot for the info......

Mike

[richg]

Just wanted to add something to this thread as I just installed 12 of these lights in my garage. Before purchasing, I called Lithonia and they gave me the HD SKU of the lights I should buy for my situation (start in 0F, no RFI/EMI, T8, etc). I don't have the SKU number handy, but it is the $26 "premium T8 4' two bulb strip." It is labeled for residential/commercial, has verbage on the box talking about low RFI/EMI, and has the GESB ballast (which is supposed to be spec'd to meet the residential RFI requirements).

Of the 12 I installed, there were 3 different ballast PN's among the lights. AP-RC-232IP-120-1, AO-RC232IP-120-1, AK-RC232IP-120-1. Interesting to note, the AO was physically MUCH larger than the AP or AK, and all had slightly different current draw ratings (although the difference was negligible).

These are installed on a 12.5ft ceiling, in a block building with wooden framing / drywall. I have no issues whatsoever with interference with cell phone, cordless phone, or am/fm radio.

Rich

[ironroad 9c1]

never had a problem with any of mine from HD....

[desertmike345]

Turns out I have Advance ballasts REL-2p60-S-A. Can't find out if these are high RFI or not. Anybody have any ideas?

Mike

[Teikas Dad]

Spent yesterday afternoon putting up 6 Lithonia 8', 4 T8 bulb strips on my new shop ceiling. I studied all the posts I could find here before buying the lights....made sure I got the ones that had GESB in the model number so that I wouldn't have any RFI problems.

Got everything installed and wired with a minimum of bloodshed (just a couple cut knuckles), threw the breaker and the switch....WOW - 24 5000k T8 bulbs put out some serious light (shop is 20'X20' with 10' drywall ceiling painted white).

Now comes the final test....put on my Worktunes earmuffs and turned them on to my favorite FM station...... sounded like 50 lbs of bacon frying.....

Shut the lights off...no more frying bacon. When I wired the lights I made sure that I had good grounds on them and even twisted the wires together. My ballasts are AccruPro AP-RC432IP-120-1 models. Apparently the "C" in the model number must mean commercial or something.

I called AccuPro's customer service first thing this morning and explained my dilemma....results - 6 new ballasts arriving Wednesday AM by UPS. You can't beat AccuPro's CS! They didn't even bat an eye...just asked how many ballasts I needed and I was done. If everyone else had customer service that behaved like that there would be a lot more happy customers out there.

[rwhite692]

Originally Posted by tdkkart

Problem is, had I bought a "commercial" duty light, I may have had an even worse problem. From my understanding, "Commercial" lighting ballasts have a looser RFI spec than residential ballasts so they may have made even more RFI interference.

Commercial is not always better.

In this case, it certainly is. The Commercial Lithonia fixtures with the low THD, instant-on ballasts will not cause the RFI issues are seeking to avoid. You need to listen to Rocco. He does this (this exact thing!) for a living and he knows the Lithonia product line forwards and backwards.

[Rosco]

I have 6 8' 4-bulb and 6 4' 2-bulb lights, all T-8 in my shop (26X30) bought from HD, have had no RF issues with radio or TV.

Very good post. I will definitely keep it saved for future reference.

[bucs012]

Sorry to hear you have noise.

I am running 19 of the Lithonia, 4 foot, 4 bullb units and they don't bother my radio one bit................All I know is the box on all the lights said GESB- cold start to zero degrees.

I think in other posts about this, it seems like the type of building you are in and the area of the country you live in, tends to effect more than others. I believe guys in metal buildings tended to have more issues with RF. Not all, but more.