Accupro Customer Service T8 ballasts WOW!!!

tdkkart · Sep 28, 2009

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 · Sep 28, 2009

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

Steevo · Sep 28, 2009

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 · Sep 28, 2009

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 · Sep 28, 2009

Steevo said:
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 · Oct 1, 2009

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 · Oct 3, 2009

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 · Oct 4, 2009

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 · Oct 4, 2009

JohnMcD348 said:
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 · Oct 5, 2009

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

rocco · Oct 5, 2009

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 · Oct 5, 2009

rocco said:
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 · Oct 5, 2009

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 · Oct 11, 2009

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 · Oct 11, 2009

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

desertmike345 · Oct 11, 2009

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 · Mar 1, 2010

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...... :shocking:

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! :thumbup:

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 · Mar 1, 2010

tdkkart said:
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 · Mar 1, 2010

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 · Mar 2, 2010

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.

houstonhusker · Mar 2, 2010

Anyone have the number for the Accupro customer service in case we need to call? Installing 12 T8 Lithonia lights this weekend...crossing fingers there are no issues...

bucs012 · Mar 2, 2010

Google search got me this- Accupro 877-346-7571

I called the guy (seemed like he was on downers

, but nice) and he said for some reason there are ballasts that cause problems for people so they send out another type of unit that tends to help.

Teikas Dad · Mar 2, 2010

bucs012 said:
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.

I'm in an an all wood building so there's no metal roof/walls or I-beams to add to my misery.

UPS should be here tomorrow with the new ballasts, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will take care of the frying bacon. If they don't.....I guess I'll have to get an I-tune or Napster account and load up the iPod.

bucs012 · Mar 3, 2010

Teikas Dad said:
..I guess I'll have to get an I-tune or Napster account and load up the iPod.

I hear ya. The garage is the only place I can CRANK my Ipod. My problem is I have about 80 songs on there and need to find more! :beer:

Teikas Dad · Mar 3, 2010

bucs012 said:
I hear ya. The garage is the only place I can CRANK my Ipod. My problem is I have about 80 songs on there and need to find more!

Found another good place for downloading tunes (legally...you pay for them) lala.com It's like iTunes and Napster but lets you also store purchased songs on their site for streaming to a computer. It's recently been purchased by Apple.

Sorry for hijacking the thread....

BioHazard · Mar 4, 2010

Interesting...are you guys having problems using magnetic or electronic ballasts? I guess I figured out why my damn radio won't work in the shop, I thought maybe it was the block walls. :lol_hitti

I have several dozen OLD commercial T12 8' HO fixtures with noisy magetic ballasts. I just noticed last night the radio in my truck goes all fuzzy as soon as I pull inside.

bucs012 · Mar 4, 2010

My attached garage (we just bought the house last Fall) has those damn older, noisy, 8 foot long, t12's too. That **** is coming out this summer to be replaced with t8's like I put in my new 50x30 detached last Fall. :thumbup:

I have to admit though, my radio in the attached garage STILL works even with the old t12's.........

Garyl53 · Mar 4, 2010

I notice I only hear interference on the AM dial. The FM dial, what I use most, is clear. Of course if I am going to catch the baseball games this spring.summer on AM I guess I need to place a call to Accupro. I have the cheap HD $19 fixtures.
G

FNFS2000 · Mar 5, 2010

Reason# 125489 not to buy from big boxes.

yankee john · Mar 15, 2010

THank you for this helpfull thread

bucs012 · Mar 17, 2010

FNFS2000 said:
Reason# 125489 not to buy from big boxes.

The "key" to any purchase is to KNOW what you're buying. Lot's of great stuff from the big box stores in my garage for sure. It today's world it's pretty hard to NEVER/EVER buy anything from a big box store.

Well.......unless you live in an apartment your whole life.

yankee john · Mar 22, 2010

After building a new insulated garage with heated slab I was disappointed to discover unbearable static on the radio when the lights were on. The five 4 bulb T-8's were installed by an electrician and came from a electric supply, not a big box retailer. A Google search brought me to this thread. My ballasts were Accupro, and the Accupro phone # was listed on the ballasts. I called Accupro and after minimal whining they mailed new ballasts - problem solved!

Old ballast: Accupro T8 No. AP-RC-432IP-120-1
New ballast: Acccupro T8 No. AP-RS-432IP-120
Accuppro phone number: 1-888-345-7571

Thanks again...

bucs012 · Mar 23, 2010

Good to know that even the local electrical supply houses sell crappy ones. I figured they had to be the same type of light. I know my supplier wanted a heck of a lot more than what I could walk into HD and get them for right off the shelf. My supplier had to order them and wait 2 weeks........

Teikas Dad · Mar 28, 2010

Finally got a chance to swap out my ballasts today. Put the FM radio on and switched on the lights before starting...nothing but static with just a hint of music in the background.

I've got 6 8' 4 bulb T-8 fixtures. I swapped out the first one, buttoned up the light and turned the power back on....still a load of static. I got a little less static with each new ballast that I installed. After finishing all six, flipped the switch and absolutely no static on the radio.

Accupro gets 5 :thumbup:

for their customer service.

kizer · Apr 9, 2010

I've got at least (12) 8-footers in my garage from HomeDepot and you can't hear a peep out of them. They are fast to turn on and I don't have any issues with radio, sat radio, cell phones or anything else.

Heck I've had them installed for 6 years I'm going to guess and I haven't even changed a bulb yet.

rlme36 · Apr 9, 2010

kizer said:
I've got at least (12) 8-footers in my garage from HomeDepot and you can't hear a peep out of them. They are fast to turn on and I don't have any issues with radio, sat radio, cell phones or anything else.

Heck I've had them installed for 6 years I'm going to guess and I haven't even changed a bulb yet.

Do you recall which model you purchased and are they T8's ?

Palmetto · May 21, 2010

I bought my 4 bulb, 8' fixtures for Lowes, and they have Sylvania ballasts. I called Sylvania, and they dont want to help. I have 6 fixtures, and lots of RF!

I wonder if the Accupro will work with my fixtures? Im sure they will, as I am sure the fixtures are probably made in the same place.

mastiff0 · Oct 27, 2010

I just got done installing 15 4' T8 Lithonia light fixtures bought from home depot. They were ~$32 each with the Accupro GESB ballasts, more expensive than the other models sold at HD or Lowes, but cheaper than the commercial electrical supply store. I thought because I was getting the GESB ballasts I would be okay. Well, no. The 15 lights were on 4 separate switches. One switch created a little bit of static to FM channels, and the lights nearest the radio completely drowned out the radio with static. My ballasts were the AP-RC-232IP-120-1 variety. It seems that the RC ones are the problem, and once replaced with RS ones, things work fine.

I'm trying my luck contacting Accupro tomorrow to see if they will replace my ballasts with the RS ones.

banzaitoyota · Oct 29, 2010

++1 on using a electrical wholesale supply vs the box store aisle

rocco said:
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.

mastiff0 · Nov 11, 2010

Well, I called Accupro, and the hardest thing was actually getting them on the phone. Phone would just ring without taking me to voicemail. Anyway, they sent me 15 new ballasts, and they did fix the problem. I noticed that the new ballast say they are good to 32F, where the original "commercial" ones that come with the units are good to 0F. I'm in Texas, so this isn't a problem for me.

Accupro Customer Service T8 ballasts WOW!!!

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Super Moderator

Well-known member

Well-known member

New member

Member

Banned

New member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Banned

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member