Lighting

[Machspeed]

As I've grown older, I find an incredible need for light. In fact, wifey gets on to me sometimes because I'll have just about every light in the house on. Below are a few things I purchased that I really feel are worth mentioning.

http://https://www.amazon.com/ATD-Tools-80050A-Under-Light/dp/B07D2N43M8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1NWQ4UMBTDNI8&dchild=1&keywords=atd+under+hood+light&qid=1593866837&s=automotive&sprefix=ATD+under%2Cautomotive%2C187&sr=1-2

This little Klein LED work light is very high quality and well engineered. It charges quickly, provides great light in tight spaces, and can be hung anywhere.
https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/lights/rechargeable-personal-worklight

And lastly, if you are still using the old fluorescent tube bulbs in your shop fixtures ditch them for some LED lights. A simple re-wire of your fixtures is all that is required. Probably took me ten minutes after the first fixture to wire the subsequent fixtures. Probably the number one thing I did in my shop to improve my working environment. Lots of options here, but I did some thorough study and chose these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S5TTT0K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1




 

[FuzzFace2]

One thing I did not see on the over head shop lights is the working temp they can be in.
My garage is not heated and the old school over head lights were installed to work at low temps. It takes a min. or 2 to come up to full light out put but they do come on where some will not if to cold.
It can also get over 100*, was 98* yesterday so the working range would be say 30*f to 100*+f.

I also don't remember seeing what type of light, day light / cool white / etc.?
If you do a lot of painting and color matching you want day light so it should match better when out in day light.

Being my lights are 5 years old I am not going to change them out any time soon.
Beside they are a little to high for me to be comfortable doing any re-wiring. Had to do 1 bal. and that was not fun at all!

I have given up on the old drop light. besides getting hot and burns you, you drop it, even with ruff service bulbs, they blow out and you are now look for a new bulb. I do have a LED I picked up at HF a while back and works great. Has a hook to hang and a magnet and if you drop it, it keeps working!
It also has a plug outlet so I can plug something into it like a drill, etc.

That is about all I have for lighting in the garage.
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

John - Good info.  And based on your recommendation I just purchased 12 of the Hyperikon 5000K LED bulbs for $90.  That's $7.50/ea instead of the $10/ea for 4 of them - and Amazon didn't have them in the 4-pack.

Something to note is that Amazon pushes their Amazon Basics LED bulbs for fluorescent replacement.  But I did a bit of reading and theirs uses the existing ballast instead of being direct-wired.  However, in my shop, which is ~8 years old, I have as many ballasts failing as I do fluorescent bulbs failing.  So the Amazon bulbs won't solve that problem.  Plus, why run ballasts when you can wire directly?  That's just one more thing to fail, and since they run warm they are using power.

As for portable lights, I have a little Dewalt 12v LED light, below, that I love.  But the battery is failing and it is the only Dewalt tool I have.  In fact, I'm into the Ridgid tools big time, but they don't make a light like the one I have and all of theirs take the much bigger 18v batteries.  I guess I'll just have to buy a new battery.  

[Gary Lewis]

Dave - The ones I ordered, which I think are the same that John bought, are 5000K.  And if you look at the pdf on them, all of them have an 85+ color rendering index (CRI), which is very good.

But, the only thing I can find that might relate to temps is the statement of "Suitable for damp locations as well as outside".  Outside in Alaska?  The Sahara?  Dunno.

[Machspeed]

Glad I was able to help you out, Gary. Think I owe you a few! Yes, I spent a ton of time looking for the right bulbs. I hope to paint in my shop in the not too distant future and wanted light that best represented color as if outdoors. Also, I wanted to remove my ballast, which I did. Awesome light with cheaper utility bill, can't beat that!!!

[Gary Lewis]

Mine won't be here until next Friday, but I'm looking forward to installing them.  The fixture directly over my work table is out and both bulbs went out at the same time so I'm pretty sure it is the ballast.  So that's the one I'll start with, and hopefully it'll make a big difference.

[FuzzFace2]

Gary Lewis wrote

Mine won't be here until next Friday, but I'm looking forward to installing them.  The fixture directly over my work table is out and both bulbs went out at the same time so I'm pretty sure it is the ballast.  So that's the one I'll start with, and hopefully it'll make a big difference.

You guys put a mojo on me
Sunday when in the garage I saw I have 4 lights together out, cant remember if it is 1 or 2 ballast for that light and I got 1 bulb out on another.
And of course it is between the 2 bays and not at the wall of the bay I don't use.

I guess not bad for 5 years and the temp can get up pretty high during the summer and cold in the winter and that cant be good for the bulbs or ballast.
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I got my LED bulbs in today and started to install them, only to realize I should have ordered the non-shunted tombstones.  It took me a while to figure out what I had, but once I did it was obvious I needed those.  They'll be here on Saturday.

If it would help anyone else I can scan in the instructions and explain what I found and why I needed those.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I've been buying a bunch of Wal-Mart shoplight fixtures.

The 3500 lumen has no switch for $16.97 and the 5,000 lumen has a 'bronze' housing with a pull chain for $21.
Both are 5000K color IIRC

I will never buy a florescent tube or LED replacement again.
For almost the same $ I get a new fixture and no futzing around.

No warm up.
No bulbs to replace (in what's left of my lifetime)
Much less heat, running single volts instead of 20,000(?) V

[Gary Lewis]

I think that's a good approach, Jim.  Unfortunately that won't work very well for me.  My fixtures are hard wired with conduit between them and then each one is screwed to the ceiling joist.  So there'd be a lot more work changing the whole fixture out than this approach.

I'm anxious to get the first one done.  I'll be able to lay the camera on the work table, probably directly below the joint between the new LED fixture and the old fluorescent one, and see if it shows us the difference.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm looking forward to your comparison shots.

Be careful up on the ladder.

[Machspeed]

Gary, I bought tombstones for mine, but if you bought the same lights I did, and memory serves me, you can modify your existing tombstones that run power to the light. The back tombstones are merely holders to keep the bulb in place.  

[Gary Lewis]

Jim - Please trust me, I am being careful on the ladder!  Having fallen off of one ~10 years ago when building the shop and breaking my heel, I realize that if I were to break something not it would be far worse.

John - I thought I could mod these tombstones but can't, at least not easily.  They are internally set up so that the pins are jumpered to each other, and I can't see a way to get them apart.

But since these bulbs are set up that power goes in on one end and the pins on the other are just to hold the bulb, the tombstones on that end don't matter.

[Machspeed]

I spent a lot of time looking for matching tombstones for my existing lights. It was only after I started working on my units did I realize that I could have modified my existing tombstones. Yours may be different than mine though. Don't forget that those lights have a particular orientation in the fixture. They come with a sticker to aid in that and I wired all mine so that they kept the same orientation. After you get all that wired up, you won't believe the difference it will make in your shop. I promise, you'll be wishing you had done that a long time ago. You are cutting out those balances, correct?

Now, back to studying that headlight relay mod..............which reminds me! You state the following: "There are several vendors selling harness kits that do just that, but you can do it yourself if you are good with wiring, relays, etc.  I did it for Dad's truck and it turned out well, but I have more money invested in it than the harnesses cost, so I don't think I would do it again."

In the above quote from you, are you saying that if you were to do it again, you would have gone with a vendor harness kit?

If you were to have gone with a vendor harness kit, what would you have chosen? I'm not finding a kit for our trucks, lots of GM stuff though.  
 

[1986F150Six]

This has worked well for 10+ years:

https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-ford/fd-1980-96-hd-headlight-harness

[Gary Lewis]

My tombstones don't seem to come apart and the brass contact goes all the way around, from one pin to the other.  Looks like they put it together and glued it, but even if I could get it apart I think the contact wouldn't work if I cut it in two.  Plus, there's no way to connect to the 2nd contact as there's only one hole for a wire.

And yes, I did see the bulbs are directional.  I'm cutting out the ballast and will wire all of them in so the bulbs all point the same way.

On the headlight relay harness, yes I'd buy one in if I were doing it today.  (That's not 100% true as I just recently built my own for Big Blue, but it was in conjunction with all the other wiring and I wanted the relays in the power distribution box, which an aftermarket harness wouldn't do.)  This one from LMC should work fine, although some have said it uses non-standard relays so if one goes bad you'll have to get a replacement from LMC.  This one from JBG would also work.

[1986F150Six]

Gary Lewis wrote

On the headlight relay harness, yes I'd buy one in if I were doing it today.  (That's not 100% true as I just recently built my own for Big Blue, but it was in conjunction with all the other wiring and I wanted the relays in the power distribution box, which an aftermarket harness wouldn't do.)  This one from LMC should work fine, although some have said it uses non-standard relays so if one goes bad you'll have to get a replacement from LMC.  This one from JBG would also work.

That is correct. I purchased 2 replacement relays [one for my truck and the 2nd for my son's truck] @ ~$4.98 each, just in case. I have not needed either.

[Gary Lewis]

The replacement relay from JBG appears to be non-standard as well.  It is a shame that the vendors and making them that way since it suggests you might want to carry a spare.  Otherwise you could drop into any parts store and buy a Bosch-style relay if you needed one.

But, I guess that's a small price to pay.  You could buy this Painful harness for $150 and it appears to use standard relays.  

[1986F150Six]

Gary Lewis wrote

 You could buy this Painful harness for $150 and it appears to use standard relays.  

From India?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hella-Universal-H4-Headlamp-Wiring-Harness-With-Relay-System-130-100W/383409066753?epid=16023754054&hash=item5944f61301:g:7PEAAOSwn~Jd~4FN

[Gary Lewis]

I like that one, David.  And while it is more expensive than either the LMC or JBG unit, it is 1/3 the price of the Painful one.  And the use of what appears to be a standard relay would be appreciated.