I did a virtual lighting meetup yesterday.

I replaced another LED today. "Great Value" 15w 2700K filament LED that started flickering. I replaced it with an Ecosmart 15w 2700K "snowcone" LED lamp.

We've met up with members Andy and Danny, and also John (thorncollector) but that was when we were travelling, there is no-one close enough to us to visit on a regular basis, not that we're "allowed" to (grrr) at the moment 

When we are able to get over to the US, I think we'll be there for about 6 months if we visit everyone, the list is growing ever longer and stretches from coast to coast in the US alone, not to mention Canada 

Would that include a friend down here in the Everglades?

Would that include a friend down here in the Everglades?

I think it's going to include three-quarters of the membership of LG at this rate 

I think it's going to include three-quarters of the membership of LG at this rate 

Okay, i think im going to be a required stop with the amount of slaps i have racked up the past year. Just bring a few lamps to trade and i will have a few of them ready for u guys.

Okay, i think im going to be a required stop with the amount of slaps i have racked up the past year. Just bring a few lamps to trade and i will have a few of them ready for u guys.

You're in line for another one calling us guys..! We're girls, I'll have you know, there are quite a few differences 

You're in line for another one calling us guys..! We're girls, I'll have you know, there are quite a few differences 

Sorry, I think of it as a nuetral term I will give it to myself then.

Sorry, I think of it as a neutral term I will give it to myself then.

Yeah, I realise it's a bit of an American term, catching on too fast over here, though. We've neither of us ever liked it, the same way we don't like this neutral "Ms" which has crept in instead of Miss and Mrs. We're married and proud of it, so Mrs & Mrs it is here 

Sorry all, getting off topic here, back to lights, we just took some pictures of our latest acquisitions 

Today I discovered that I can make a dead 50 watt mercury lamp put on an arc show by putting it on a 400 watt HPS ballast. I haven't blown it up completely yet though.

Yeah, I realise it's a bit of an American term, catching on too fast over here, though. We've neither of us ever liked it, the same way we don't like this neutral "Ms" which has crept in instead of Miss and Mrs. We're married and proud of it, so Mrs & Mrs it is here 

Sorry all, getting off topic here, back to lights, we just took some pictures of our latest acquisitions 

I don’t want to start something so I will check out your new lamps

Replaced the ballast on an aquarium light that went out last week. (Motorola too, kinda surprised by that)
Also repaired multiple sets of Christmas lights.


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And just had a ballast on one of my grow lights go up in smoke .damn. there's another thing that needs fixing .. since it won't be much longer before its time to start getting seeds growing for the garden

Found a 2 lamper f40t12 u bend fixture from a matanice guy when i was walking with my girlfreind, it had some phillips cool white tubes and an advance home brite ballast that i took.

Lit our Philips 91W SOX-E lamp on the correct ballast for the first time, photos to follow 

had a ballast on one of my grow lights go up in smoke .damn. there's another thing that needs fixing .

Replaced the smoked ballast today. Kind of a pain...had to take the fixture all apart, remove bad ballast, pull its wires out of the lampholders, drill new  holes since the replacement ballast is longer, then put in new wires.
But its an upgrade, new ballast is programmed-start (old was instant-start which isn't really that safe for F54T5's anyway)... plus if I ever have to replace the new one again its a simple job, remove reflector, remove ballast, pop the wires loose, then put it all back together no drilling or re-wiring or anything. (there's deff some advantages to ballasts where the wires aren't permanently attached )

Yesterday, I tried to repair a 2-lamp F28T5 aquarium light, a decent one with an extruded aluminum housing and water resistant sockets. Anyway, I replaced the cord (because someone cut the old one), and did a bit of testing to find that the fixture mostly worked, the only issue is one of the two ballasts in it were dead, so I'll have to replace it.

Today, I received two fixtures from eBay, a Regent 70w HPS area light (similar to these), and a 175w MV NEMA head, not sure what brand it is. The annoying part about both of these fixtures is that the seller did a poor job of shipping them, and to top it all off, the seller used FedEx...

Anyway, the refractor on the Regent fixture appears to be reparable (it split somewhat cleanly in two), but the one on the NEMA is a lost cause, so I'll need to hunt down a replacement.

Upon closer inspection, the 175w MV NEMA head could be an ITT/American Electric NEMA.