This can pertain to either specific fixtures that scare you or just lighting practices in general. I've always had a fear of those 1980s frosted-glass troffers. I'm not sure why, but they always look EOL'd and creepy. Other than that, nothing lighting-related really scares me. 

This can pertain to either specific fixtures that scare you or just lighting practices in general. I've always had a fear of those 1980s frosted-glass troffers. I'm not sure why, but they always look EOL'd and creepy. Other than that, nothing lighting-related really scares me. 

There is this really small and nice town in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska where we stay around the 4th of July to visit relatives. Best of all, the town is lit almost entirely with vintage MV and newer PSMH cobraheads. There is only one HPS cobrahead in the entire town. On a main road there are around 50 GE m400's, most 400w MV, some 400w MH, and a few 200 and 250w PSMH AEL 125's. Anyway, the place where we stay has a GE m250 across the street from it, and the ballast buzzes so loud you can hear it inside the house. The whole town has that run-down look and you rarely see any cars driving around except on the main road. Anyway, I was outside one evening watching the m250 warming up (did I forget to mention that they maintain there lights very well and they get relamped often?) As soon as it got out of the pinkish red stage (it was a coated lamp) the ballast buzzing quieted down. Eventually it was warmed up all the way when suddenly it went out. That's not the weird part. The weird part is that the ballast kept buzzing! it sure was creepy seeing the light out making noise when the lamp wasn't even lit (at least I thought it was creepy for some reason). Eventually the lamp came back on and the light stayed on. This only happened once. I watched it come on the next day and it didn't do this.

I'm scared of of any open MH fixture and bulb.
I don't want flaming hot quartz flying at me.

1. Massive turning on of preheat/switch start fluorescents with glow starters.
2. When I was a child, cycling HPS lamps (Especially ones that ignited by low frequency pulse ignitors that flashing at a fixed rate during the hot restrike, as the flashes is usually at a constant brightness and you can't know when the lamp would suddenly restrike with a bright light). This don't scares me today.

Hmm sounds like a cycling lamp. Rare for mercs to do that.

Hmm sounds like a cycling lamp. Rare for mercs to do that.

Pretty sure that is what happened, but that doesn't explain why the ballast was buzzing while it was restriking. When a merc restrikes, the ballast usually stops buzzing until the lamp strikes again.

Pretty sure that is what happened, but that doesn't explain why the ballast was buzzing while it was restriking. When a merc restrikes, the ballast usually stops buzzing until the lamp strikes again.

It depends, which part of the magnetic circuit causes the buzzing. Normally it is just the magnetostriction of the magnetic shunt and that is indeed buzzing only when there is any current into the lamp.
But if there was something loose near the core section of the secondary, the buzz then more correspond to the magnetic flux inside of the secondary core section. And that depends on the actual voltage across the secondary section. And that uses to be the highest, when there is no lamp in it. Once the lamp lights, the secondary current redirects the flux from the secondary to the shunt, so then the loose part becomes silent again.

Revere Cat Eye floods, especially this particular pair.

Revere Cat Eye floods, especially this particular pair.

Those are interesting fixtures! They remind me of the Holophane fixtures used by IDOT in some of the more rural areas.

We have here old 90s wraparounds, with prismatic PMMA vacuum formed covers. Over years of close range exposure to UV, the plastic latches holding the covers are rotten and those lanterns randomly drop the covers to the floor. Something like slamming a door can definitely trigger them

Then there is also all the wiring, rotten from UV and cracking, and exposed



I seen once similar buzzing with a 230V European HPS - Lamp extinguished, ballast buzzing loud. I assume this was caused either by damaged wire on the ballast output shorting to Earth, or by a failed ignitor shorting the ballast output

In this case, the ballast was actually burning up as it was buzzing. I tried to save it by beating the pole (~10ft steel pole, was shaking very widely as result) - Expecting that i can either cause the wire to move away from the place where it is shorting, or beat the breaker inside the pole into tripping from the vibrations - Neither of which succeeded



One place where i seen scary setup was in an archive room (rows of shelfs with full boxes of papers)

This was in an office building lit with 4x18 parabolic troffers. The ones in the archive were missing the reflectors, as i guess, every time a reflector elsewhere (in a place open to visitors) got damaged, the bright sparks took one from the lanterns in the archive room (open only to office personnel) to replace it

In addition, the maintenance of lighting in the archive room was asinine - Everything EOL left in place, room lit by maybe 2 remaining working tubes out of all that are installed. Others are either dead or with glowing ends, and a couple more EOL flashing

In the lanterns with the stuck starters, the ballasts and wiring touching them (now exposed, due to removed reflectors) is all burned up, isolation covers on the ballast coils are long melted and cracked off, the terminals on the ballasts are cracked and many of the connections are just the metal bits remaining from the terminal floating in the air and so on

One of those shorting out, some spark falling from it - not contained by the removed reflectors - will land straight into a box of archived papers

The lamps that could be scary to me are the high pressure Xenon lamps used in motion picture projection.Digital projectors used in theaters now still use the Xenon bulbs.Laser lamphouses are on the horizon.Christie makes a digital projector that uses a 685W laser lamp source.Even with these precautions are required.The laser generator modules can't be armed unless all interlocks on the projector doors are closed.Christie recommeneds that you do not allow the light from the lens of the projector to shine on you if you are closer than 20ft to the projector,and DO NOT look into the lens or any of the light leakage from the projector cabinet.Common sense precautions anyway.Also if you service the Christie laser lit projector there is a mechanical "douser" that you close before opening any of the doors in the projector to access the light engine (DLD devices-Red,Blue,Green)When that mechanical douser is closed you cannot arm the laser generator modules.The energy from the laser modules is conveyed to the projector vias very large fiber optic cables.3 Ph power is required to run the laser modules.

Hmmmm... The LED shower fixtures, which I think are going to wet me with a glary flux!. 

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastcom&cat=0&pos=4&pid=158572

Hmmmm... The LED shower fixtures, which I think are going to wet me with a glary flux!.  

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastcom&cat=0&pos=4&pid=158572

That reminds me. A friend of mine lived in a house that had recessed lights over the showers. They were small fixture with I think a halogen bulb in them. But for some reason, none of them had shower trims on them. I have no idea how they got away with that. And this was a late 2000s remodeled house, when ever I've seen 60s and 70s houses with lights in the showers and they always have an enclosed lens.

But once or twice I stayed there and having to shower under that, well it was a bit scary. Looking back, I don't know why I didn't just turn the thing off (the shower and sink lights were on separate switches, as well as the exhaust fan.) But I think I've just always liked the idea of a light over the shower, so took my chances.  

I can't say I've particularly ever been scared of other lighting though.

@Cole D maybe can be used a floodlight fixture or explotion-proof fluorescent fixtures! 😁

@Cole D maybe can be used a floodlight fixture or explotion-proof fluorescent fixtures! 😁

Very true! The gym I go to has those plastic drum shade fixtures over the showers. 2008 era construction so likely PL fluorescent fixtures!

I'd love to have one of the exhaust fan/light combo that have blue night light LED over the shower. It would be so relaxing with the blue glow.