Its Time for lights!!! Finally!!

[JohnMcD348]

Has anyone actually hard wired the WalMart lights in? I have been looking at getting 6 new lights for my garage to go with the 3 I already have(T12) but I want to wire them in to the same circuits. I was actually thinking of getting 2 from each store to try but figured the way I'd have them wired in, I really wouldn't be able to tell which one, if any, were causing a problem. I would like to get a couple of the WalMart units for cheap but don't want to run an extension cord to run them. I'd rather have them switched and not look tacky in my finished garage with wires ahnging out the side and such.

 

[Cryptic1911]

not quite sure I follow? you can always cut the plug off the end of the cord and hard wire that in.. or is that not what you are asking?

 

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I just got around to hanging 10 walmart lights yesterday.......5 of them are bad I will test the next batch before hanging them


guess I should have kept the receipt oh well, I still need 10 for the other side and 10 for upstairs

 

[Cryptic1911]

damn.. hope I don't run into issues with mine

 

[cub59]

Got the power on the 30x40 post steel building Monday, hung 14 of the blue box WM model 8055 ss. Left lights on over night and three out of the 14 were dead Tues morn. Will take them back to Wally World Friday.

 

[Shocker]

I had one bad out of the 8 I had purchased. I just swapped it out and bought 3 more. I have been loading them up and testing before hanging. The one that smoked itself took both bulbs with it, but HD replace both bulbs no problem.

 

[cub59]

Follow up,
Has two more of the 8055 ss lights form WM fail overnight. I'm using contractor pack of Phillips bulbs from Lowes, could that be the problem?

 

[Cryptic1911]

man, they had great reviews til I went and bought a bunch.. my bulbs wont be in until next week, but I'll test mine out and see if i have any duds

 

[FastEddieG]

Well, I hung up 4 of the fixtures tonight in the front 1/2 of my garage, and put the recommended bulbs from 1000bulbs.com in them - I am VERY pleased! Thanks to everyone for the recommendations. If it wasn't for this forum, I would have installed old T12 fixtures with cheapy bulbs resulting in crappy light.

Thanks again,
-Ed

 

[prc07nascar]

the lights from walmart are junk, i bought 29 of them, put them up and had 17 go out in the first day. i think its the ballast in them. i can unplug a bad one, let it sit for a minute or two, plug it back in and it will light up for 5 or 10 minutes then go out again. hey chris you got any ideas?????

 

[prc07nascar]

i am also using the contractors pack of phillips bulbs from lowes, but i dont think its the bulbs, why would it come back on in a few minutes after you unplug if then when you replug it go right back out????? sounds to me like the ballast are getting hot and crapping out..........oh and i just remembered, one of my lights had GE bulbs, it went out also.

 

[Chris Adams]

the lights from walmart are junk, i bought 29 of them, put them up and had 17 go out in the first day. i think its the ballast in them. i can unplug a bad one, let it sit for a minute or two, plug it back in and it will light up for 5 or 10 minutes then go out again. hey chris you got any ideas?????

Something other than 17 bad in 29. The way WalMart buys and sells them, that would be three to five lot numbers variance. The odds of something like that happing are roughly the odds of hitting the lottery buying one ticket.

Your description of how they fail also doesn't match anything I have seen in 40 years or so of messing with fluorescents. Had many (if you consider 125, many) retail stores that I had to sign for lights for, and you have lost more than all those stores would lose in a year.
And that includes my store with faulty power that ate lights and fixtures.

So no, no idea, except you may be looking at the wrong end of the equation.
What brand lights do you favor? I am sure you have a brand you prefer, perhaps you should buy those.

 

[prc07nascar]

the 29 lights i installed came in to my local walmart as one order, just for me. i had the store manager order them for me from the warehouse. im still trying to decide if im going to take just the bad ones back or all of them. i went by home depot one day and picked up one of the lithona 4ft, 2 tube workshop lights, it the one with the big 10 inch chrome reflectors and so far its working great, comes on faster than the walmart lights also.

 

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

I just got around to hanging 10 walmart lights yesterday.......5 of them are bad I will test the next batch before hanging them


guess I should have kept the receipt oh well, I still need 10 for the other side and 10 for upstairs

UPDATE

The 15 lights I picked up this week had a much better result, all 15 of them have been hanging up and turned on for a few days now. All of them are still on, however 2 of them have developed that annoying flicker but the shop is nice and bright on the 1st floor,time to build more cabinets.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Ok, I finally got around to testing all 30 of mine..

Had no outright failures out of the box. I tested them all in batches over the course of the day. I found one that blinks off then back on a bit, not a flicker, but kinda like if you blinked your eye.. that quick. That one does that fairly often, so it's going back, and I do have one other that was damaged on the end.. didn't notice till I tested it and was putting it back in the box.. the end was a bit bent and the plastic was broken.

of the bulbs from 1000bulbs.com, only had one dud. All the other ones work, although I did have one box that I think was a return or something as it had 5 incorrect bulbs, and was one short, so all in all, I'm short 7 bulbs. Will email them and get a credit.

The last batch I had 12 fixtures plugged in sitting on the floor. It was light out and I left to go eat.. got back when it was dark.. HOLY ******* BRIGHT, BATMAN. It was insanely bright in the small connector, and since I don't have garage doors or a finished wall between the connector & garage, it lit up the whole garage brightly (even though they were in the other room), the driveway, and 3 neighbors yards.. from behind the house, it looks like a football field at night because half the damn neighborhood was lit up

 

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

That's great, I haven't had any more failures and the lights have been on a lot!


I guess it's time to secure the rest of the cords