I don't take kindly to crappy service and shoddy merchandise. As a
consequence, I bitch a lot and write complaint letters, etc.
On the other hand, if I get good service I'm a big tipper and I'll
write the occasional letter of thanks.
In this vein, here is my latest experience with the Borg.
Since I've decided that I want to do some more serious woodworking,
I'm rearranging my garage/workshop to make this easier. On serious
deficiency was the lighting. The existing lighting consisted of a few
Lights of America two-tube fluorescents whose output was 1/3 light,
1/3 heat and 1/3 noise. These were plugged into duplex sockets in
boxes attached to the open roof I-joists.
I went shopping at the Borg and came home with a Lithonia 4-tuber with
electronic ballast. I mounted it, wired it up temporarily and took an
old time light meter and did a little survey. It looked like I could
get by with three fixtures over the work area with the old fixtures
moved to augment the ones over the parking area.
So back to the Borg, buy two more lights, wire, 4x4 conduit boxes,
clamps, etc. Come home, rip out old wiring and boxes, install new
boxes, wire them up and mount fixtures. This last part ain't easy
single-handed. Whew, I'm done. Retire to the living room to watch
some toob. Get thirsty, go out to the beer fridge in the garage for a
cupla cold ones. Flip on new lights. Wife says @*^*)+% what did you
do to the TV?
Son of a bitch! As radio amateur for almost fifty years and an
engineer who has done a lot of radio-frequency interferencem (RFI)
testing, I know exactly what is going on. It turns out that the
lights use a "high-frequency" electronic ballast. Without proper
suppression (filtering) these things generate a bunch of RFI.
The following day I tear into a fixture and determine that it has a
ballast made (in Mexico) by Advance Transformer Co. On their web site
I locate the data sheet for the ballast and see that it complies with
FCC Part 18 Class A incidental radiation limits for non-consumer
devices. A trip to the FCC's web site (what a horrible site) and a lot
of digging and I find Part 18 and look at the limits. Awful.
I'm pretty committed to using these fixtures so I figure a call to
Advance tech support is in order. Maybe I can add my own filtering if
I learn a little about the circuitry. I get a guy on the phone,
explain the problem and he says, "Hell yes you're going to have
problems with RFI, those are commercial ballasts and shouldn't be used
in a residential setting. You need P/N so and so, which is a Class B
residential device.
So my thinking is that the real name of the Borg is "Home" Depot and
it is a "home" improvement center so things they sell me ought to be
useful in my "home."
Back to the Borg where I connect with Assistant Manager, Rich. I
relate my sad tale to him and after some bewilderment over what the
hell *I'm* talking about and several phone calls to his supplier who
doesn't know what *he* is talking about, I have on special order the
new ballasts (at Borg expense). It remains to be seen how this will
all work out but at least I got some decent service and I thought it
was worthy of mention.
Also a word to the wise about using these fixtures in an area where
your off-the-air TV signals might not be the greatest.
Wes Stewart
Wes Stewart writes:
snip of lead in
>I went shopping at the Borg and came home with a Lithonia 4-tuber with
>electronic ballast. I mounted it, wired it up temporarily and took an
>old time light meter and did a little survey. It looked like I could
>get by with three fixtures over the work area with the old fixtures
>moved to augment the ones over the parking area.
more snip
>I'm pretty committed to using these fixtures so I figure a call to
>Advance tech support is in order. Maybe I can add my own filtering if
>I learn a little about the circuitry. I get a guy on the phone,
>explain the problem and he says, "Hell yes you're going to have
>problems with RFI, those are commercial ballasts and shouldn't be used
>in a residential setting. You need P/N so and so, which is a Class B
>residential device.
Some fun.
>Back to the Borg where I connect with Assistant Manager, Rich. I
>relate my sad tale to him and after some bewilderment over what the
>hell *I'm* talking about and several phone calls to his supplier who
>doesn't know what *he* is talking about, I have on special order the
>new ballasts (at Borg expense). It remains to be seen how this will
>all work out but at least I got some decent service and I thought it
>was worthy of mention.
Seems to me the least they could have done. The most would be to have someone
come by and install the damned ballast since they sold you the improper
fixtures/ballast for the job andyou already worked your buns off finding the
problem. Doesn't reflect well on Lithonia either, IMO.
Charlie Self
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you
nothing. It was here first." Mark Twain
http://hometown.aol.com/charliediy/myhomepage/business.html
On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 17:32:04 GMT, Bay Area Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
|I tried Lithonia fixtures last year. they suck. Took back the 3 that I
|got at HD. they didn't drive the bulbs as brightly as ANY other
|fixtures I've tried. I settled for some brand with American in the
|name, but made in China! They work quietly and are very bright. Plus
|they come on instantly.
Musta been different fixtures. These come on instantly, are inaudible
and very bright.
The "shop lights" that I replaced (Lights of America) were two 40W
tubes, the Lithonias are four 32W tubes. Some crude meassurements of
light output with a 50 year old GE light meter at the same distance
showed about 30 candlepower from the shop lights and over 75 from the
Lithonias. So 2 1/2 times the output for 1.6 times the power
consumption. Plus the shop lights moan and groan trying to start when
it's cold in the shop. Cold being a relative term, 47 degrees is the
lowest I've seen this winter in my unheated, uninsulated garage {g}.
Wes Stewart
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I can barely even get to my shop right now. Every footprint anyone
> has made in the last two weeks is still there, and the entire yard is
> an unbroken sheet of thick glaze ice. The path from here to the shop
> can barely be negotiated without old fashioned metal cleats. (Anybody
> got a pair of those in a closet somewhere I can borrow until this crap
> melts?)
>
>
Put a pair of wool (or other hairy-like stuff) socks over your shoes, then
walk in your yard.
--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid
I tried Lithonia fixtures last year. they suck. Took back the 3 that I
got at HD. they didn't drive the bulbs as brightly as ANY other
fixtures I've tried. I settled for some brand with American in the
name, but made in China! They work quietly and are very bright. Plus
they come on instantly.
dave
Wes Stewart wrote:
> I don't take kindly to crappy service and shoddy merchandise. As a
> consequence, I bitch a lot and write complaint letters, etc.
>
> On the other hand, if I get good service I'm a big tipper and I'll
> write the occasional letter of thanks.
>
> In this vein, here is my latest experience with the Borg.
>
> Since I've decided that I want to do some more serious woodworking,
> I'm rearranging my garage/workshop to make this easier. On serious
> deficiency was the lighting. The existing lighting consisted of a few
> Lights of America two-tube fluorescents whose output was 1/3 light,
> 1/3 heat and 1/3 noise. These were plugged into duplex sockets in
> boxes attached to the open roof I-joists.
>
> I went shopping at the Borg and came home with a Lithonia 4-tuber with
> electronic ballast. I mounted it, wired it up temporarily and took an
> old time light meter and did a little survey. It looked like I could
> get by with three fixtures over the work area with the old fixtures
> moved to augment the ones over the parking area.
>
> So back to the Borg, buy two more lights, wire, 4x4 conduit boxes,
> clamps, etc. Come home, rip out old wiring and boxes, install new
> boxes, wire them up and mount fixtures. This last part ain't easy
> single-handed. Whew, I'm done. Retire to the living room to watch
> some toob. Get thirsty, go out to the beer fridge in the garage for a
> cupla cold ones. Flip on new lights. Wife says @*^*)+% what did you
> do to the TV?
>
> Son of a bitch! As radio amateur for almost fifty years and an
> engineer who has done a lot of radio-frequency interferencem (RFI)
> testing, I know exactly what is going on. It turns out that the
> lights use a "high-frequency" electronic ballast. Without proper
> suppression (filtering) these things generate a bunch of RFI.
>
> The following day I tear into a fixture and determine that it has a
> ballast made (in Mexico) by Advance Transformer Co. On their web site
> I locate the data sheet for the ballast and see that it complies with
> FCC Part 18 Class A incidental radiation limits for non-consumer
> devices. A trip to the FCC's web site (what a horrible site) and a lot
> of digging and I find Part 18 and look at the limits. Awful.
>
> I'm pretty committed to using these fixtures so I figure a call to
> Advance tech support is in order. Maybe I can add my own filtering if
> I learn a little about the circuitry. I get a guy on the phone,
> explain the problem and he says, "Hell yes you're going to have
> problems with RFI, those are commercial ballasts and shouldn't be used
> in a residential setting. You need P/N so and so, which is a Class B
> residential device.
>
> So my thinking is that the real name of the Borg is "Home" Depot and
> it is a "home" improvement center so things they sell me ought to be
> useful in my "home."
>
> Back to the Borg where I connect with Assistant Manager, Rich. I
> relate my sad tale to him and after some bewilderment over what the
> hell *I'm* talking about and several phone calls to his supplier who
> doesn't know what *he* is talking about, I have on special order the
> new ballasts (at Borg expense). It remains to be seen how this will
> all work out but at least I got some decent service and I thought it
> was worthy of mention.
>
> Also a word to the wise about using these fixtures in an area where
> your off-the-air TV signals might not be the greatest.
>
> Wes Stewart
>
Wes Stewart wrote:
> it's cold in the shop. Cold being a relative term, 47 degrees is the
> lowest I've seen this winter in my unheated, uninsulated garage {g}.
Nice drive-by there. You SUCK!
I can barely even get to my shop right now. Every footprint anyone has made
in the last two weeks is still there, and the entire yard is an unbroken
sheet of thick glaze ice. The path from here to the shop can barely be
negotiated without old fashioned metal cleats. (Anybody got a pair of
those in a closet somewhere I can borrow until this crap melts?)
It's the weirdest thing I can ever remember seeing. I went walking around
in my yard, and it took me a full half an hour to make it around my little
0.40 acre yard. Every step was an exercise in balance management.
Bet the hospital gets to do a lot of hip replacements this week. :(
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/