Garage (fluorescent) lights.

[Chris Bacon]

Is it OK to daisy-chain fluorescent lights - that is, have one switch, and continue the cable from the first fitting to subsequent ones?

[--s-p-o-n-i-x--]

Depends on the rating of the cable and the max power consumption of the light fittings..

[david lang]

Be careful with fluorescents if using power tools, there is a possibility they can 'flicker' at the same spped as a moving blade/cutter/whatever and make it look almost stationary.

Dave

[James Salisbury]

probably ok with standard cables, how many are we talking about. In a garrage with power tools you must use HF balasts so they flash much faster than mains frequency]

[Ron]

another thing about fluorescent lights in a garage, when it is cold mine takes a long time before it stays on steadily, in fact I have had to put another light socket in with an ordinary bulb because of this. I have a freezer in the garage and it is annoying trying to find something with the light flickering .

Ron

[Chris Bacon]

There will be four, 2x5' slim tube ones, 1x4' slim tube one, and an ancient "fast start" one with a fat 4' tube and a nice polished aluminium reflector. Cable is 1mm in the garage, fed from a 2.5mm feed from the house to a junction box, via a high(ish) level 4m galvanised conduit.

[Andrew Gabriel]

With switch-start series ballasts, you probably want to avoid anything over 5' in an unheated room for this reason. You could try changing the starter which might improve things if it's marginal, or try using a starter for a higher power tube.

Otherwise, swap out the ballast and starter for an electronic control gear unit. My garage also has a freezer in it which necessitates nipping in there for a few seconds, and I have fitted instant start electronic control gear inside the fittings (or most of them -- the last one's been waiting for a round tuit for 5 years now;-).

[Andrew Gabriel]

Tubes are 58W, assume 65W with control gear losses, which is 520W total. This is going to be about 2.5A, or 5A if they are cheap fittings with no power factor correction capacitors.

Let's guess 45W with control gear losses, i.e. 0.2A, or 0.4A is no power factor correction capacitor.

Probably about the same again (not sure what type of control gear you are referring to).

So worse case, it's 6A.

[Andy Hall]

Both issues can easily be avoided by using fluorescent fittings equipped with electronic ballasts.

- These make the light much less sensitive to low temperatures

- Flicker and the strobe effect with rotating machines is eliminated

I used fittings with polycarbonate covers. This also has the benefit that they are resistant to an accidental whack with a length of wood.

For one fitting, I chose a maintained emergency type. This is useful in the event of a sudden power failure. I really don't want to be plunged into sudden darkness when operating a saw, planer or spindle moulder.

I used 4 pairs of 1500mm double fittings and wired each on a separate switch so that I can also control how much lighting I want according to the task.

[Newshound]

Just add up your tube wattage. 1 mm cable will supply more than 1 kW.

[david lang]

Now that is one good idea. Not a nice thought.

Dave

[Andy Hall]

If you have a lower amount of light than I have implemented - e.g. 2-4 tubes in a double garage rather 16, then a couple of the small 8W ones, which are reasonably inexpensive would do this job well enough.

I had to upgrade a complete fitting because the drop in light level when the power went off was too much and it took too long for eyes to sdjust.

[meow2222]

sure. only thing to watch is you dont run the cable past the choke, or it'll melt and short.

I hope its a double garage, thats well OTT for a standard 1 car job. Fls are about 4x as efficient as filaments, so a 4' tube is roughly equiv to a 150w bulb, a 5' roughly to 250w. So youve got the equivalent of 800w! kinell. Why do people go so nuts with fl lighting levels?

NT

[John Rumm]

Because if you are working in there you want lots of light coming from many different directions. That way you are not always throwing your own shadow of what you are working on.

(I find 4 x 65W 5' tubes ideal in my workshop (8 x 14') - I have them switched in two banks of two, but always find all four to be a much nicer light level for working in. Painting the walls and ceiling "off white" helps a great deal as well).

[hammy1967]

[hammy1967]

[meow2222]

yes, a lead & lag ballast solves the rotataion strobing issue, and is simple and cheap.

NT

[meow2222]

yes, a lead & lag ballast solves the rotataion strobing issue, and is simple and cheap.

Another approach is simply to have a filament lamp over the power tool

- if youre aware of the potential issue this is easy to do.

NT

[meow2222]

Maybe Im just odd, but I find lighting like that quite intolerable. 2x

4' tubes would be about right for that.

Fl lights should be pointed upwards, this avoids any shadow problems, eliminates glare, gives even lighting and hides the ugly buggers. Shelf fitting is good for garages, pointless bothering to make trough fittings. The one thing you dont want to do is stick a bare light pointing down, least not if you want half decent lighting.

Oh, and stay well away from cool white, 4500K and similar tubes.

NT

[Chris Bacon]

The inside of my "workshop" isa also painted white.

If I "point mine upwards" (ooh-err!) I'll be illuminating a lot of stuff stored in the foof, and not much else.

What's a shelf/trough fitting?

So you don't think much of the fitting above my bench that's got a polished reflector pointing down, then!

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