Wow, that's a lot of HID lighting!

nehog · May 27, 2010

Did an auction last week, and scored almost 60 HID (Metal Halide) fixtures that had been removed from a gym... Was told that they didn't work, needed ballasts. Did a pre-bid inspection and noted that the ballasts were in fact there, and when I got home, first ten units I tried work just fine. Number 11 (I'll start on #12 later this evening) had a bad bulb, but no big deal...

I'm going to have the best lit shop in the world! :lol_hitti

Now all I have to do is find someone nearby who wants to buy the extra ones and I'm all set.

Charles (in GA) · May 27, 2010

So......... the details please............

250 watt or 400 watt?

120v, 240v, 277v, multi-tap ballast?

Looks like they have the hanging hooks still attached (pic is dark) do they have cords and plugs?

Brand? reflector size?

How many do you plan to use?

My 60x60 has twelve 400 watt with polycarbonate reflectors (uplighting)

Charles

Stuart in MN · May 27, 2010

I hope you have a real high ceiling...the photometrics on those things won't be very good unless your shop is 25 or 30 feet tall.

vlocci · May 27, 2010

Peter,

I'm pretty shocked that we have not crossed paths at a hummer rally in NH. (or maybe we have?)

Regardless, I may be interested in a few lights if you can spare some details. I just closed on a new shop outside Newburyport and imagine we are relatively close.

Shoot me a PM with any details you have and what price your after.

Vin

Norcal · May 27, 2010

Asking what brand? From the picture I say they are GE, kind of a PITA because they make their own ballasts & other ones do not fit....

german oldschool · May 28, 2010

Great! Why don´t you use all of them but don´t forget your sunglasses :lol_hitti

Daniel

1Garageman · May 28, 2010

german oldschool said:
Great! Why don´t you use all of them but don´t forget your sunglasses
Daniel

LOL! heck with sunglasses where a damn welding helment! :lol_hitti

nehog · May 28, 2010

Charles (in GA) said:
So......... the details please............

250 watt or 400 watt?

400 watt

Charles (in GA) said:
120v, 240v, 277v, multi-tap ballast?

Quad voltage, 120, 208, 240, 277, but I'm testing and wiring for 120 volts.

Charles (in GA) said:
Looks like they have the hanging hooks still attached (pic is dark) do they have cords and plugs?

The bigger ones like the picture do have hooks for hanging. No cords or plugs, but some do have short cords that were cut off.

Charles (in GA) said:
Brand? reflector size?

GE. I'd have to measure the reflector.

Charles (in GA) said:
How many do you plan to use?

I think four in my work bay, and two each in the storage/parking bays. Plus I have 8 florescent fixtures up there now that will stay since they will give me immediate light for quick stuff.

Charles (in GA) said:
My 60x60 has twelve 400 watt with polycarbonate reflectors (uplighting)

Charles

And as I look at my pile of lights, I find that I have 21 like yours too! Except my reflectors are glass on those. Same basic specs too, but no hanging hooks on them...

I'm thinking the extra ones, tested and working are probably worth $40 or so each, does that sound reasonable to people?

Charles (in GA) · May 28, 2010

Glass reflectors are designed for high moisture/corrosive atmosphere locations, but will give you uplighting, eliminating the "cave" effect of having all the light down and it being dark on the ceiling.

At 120 volt they should draw 4.0 amp each, so four on a 20 amp circuit is exactly the max allowed for lighting. Use good switches as these present a good load to the circuit when first turned on. Mine are 120v only so I did a multiwire circuit to spread the load out (which also allows me to convert the circuit to a true 240v circuit in the future if needed.)

Hope they work out well for you, its a lot of work but well worth the effort.

Charles

nehog · May 29, 2010

Charles, yes, all good points. The Glass is heavy, but having spare pieces helps (a few were cracked, but nothing bad). I probably will wire 240 volts, since (as you mention, eight won't work on a single 20 A circuit). I probably will go with a single 30 amp 240 circuit, with 10 AWG wiring. Going to have to buy outlets and plugs however...

My shop looks much like yours, except it's only 30 ft wide instead of 60! It looks like those 12 lights work really well in your shop, so Im sure the eight I'm going to install will be great (especially as I'm keeping the other lights in place).

Fudge0514 · May 30, 2010

Great score Peter! Look forward to seeing some pictures of them in action in your garage.

chad pickens · Jun 1, 2010

Ive got a 30x60 and have 8 400 watt m/h with composit covers ,lots of uplighting,helps with shadows. 2 rows of 4 length wise. I also have 3 110watt h.o. t-12 fluorescent fixtures run down the center. For day to day runnuing ing and out I use the 110s but if i have something to work on I use the the 400 m/h. I have themon 2 120v circuits . I have them in 2 rows of four lenghtwise 1 row on 1 switch and theother row on a seperate switch. There have only been a few times where I needed all 8.

PaulR · Jun 1, 2010

I know Manny from NEHOG, then again, who doesn't right? Nice guy.
Alas my 30x50 garage to be is too small for your lights.
Sorry I have nothing of value to contribute to this thread.
Paul (1982 CJ-5)

nehog · Jun 1, 2010

PaulR said:
I know Manny from NEHOG, then again, who doesn't right? Nice guy.
Alas my 30x50 garage to be is too small for your lights.
Sorry I have nothing of value to contribute to this thread.
Paul (1982 CJ-5)

Not too small... How high is your ceiling? I just mounted one up on mine for a test, and it was nice. I'm doing another tomorrow (the other style) for comparison. The light output was amazing, really nice, a good white color so things like paint show up properly.

I 'otta ask Manny if he could use a couple of them too...

chad pickens · Jun 2, 2010

my ceiling is just over 11 feet and I am very happy with mine

nehog · Jun 2, 2010

Did a really nice, long reply, and got the ",,,not be processed because the token has expired." error. ****! Well, here is what I (think) I had said before I lost it all...

I mounted one of each style on my ceiling. The glass reflector ones,

http://www.lsi-industries.com/lighting_product.asp?ID=5703

are an almost current product (the difference between the current, new product is the new ones are pulse start, and the ones I have are probe start).

The GE ones are model: UGS40M0A5A. I've not found a similar model except at Granger. These are also probe start products. I suppose one could upgrade them to pulse start ballasts if you wanted, but I'm not sure it would be cost effective for most of us who are using these only part time. (I have florescent lights that I will use much of the time.)

Performance: Both light types work almost equally well. I adjusted the GE one to lower the bulb down to its lowest position to widen the focus, I will be doing the same with the LSI (AboLite) fixture this afternoon. Then I will shoot some pictures.

knobby · Jun 6, 2010

Hey sounds like you got some good fixtures. Your probe start ballasts are probably better for your application then the pulse starts would be. The pulse start ballasts, are better for low temperature applications, and the bulbs are usually more expensive as well.

Pulse start ballasts, resemble HPS ballast, as they have three parts, a core, a cap and an igniter. Regular MH ballasts have just two parts, a cap and a core. The bulbs differ in that probe start ones have three electrodes, two at one end and one on the other, where pulse start have one electrode at either end of the arc tube.

Hope this makes sense, also can I suggest, re-lamp all fixtures from the start, and I saw some really good deals on Ebay for twist lock receptacles and plugs.

nehog · Jun 7, 2010

Knobby, great comments. I'm going to order a dozen bulbs off eBay this week.

For the amount and type of work they will be doing now (maybe a few times a week) the fact that they are about 10% less efficient than pulse start fixtures is a minor issue. So I'll use $10 more electricity in a year!

Wow, that's a lot of HID lighting!

nehog

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