T8's between bulbs, fixtures w reflectors, strip fixtures w no reflectors & LED...

T8's between bulbs, fixtures w reflectors, strip fixtures w no reflectors & LED...

Hey Guys

For my RV 4 I have my hanger set up as a 30*40 ft. The walls, roof and floor are painted white. The lighting in there is with 3- forty-foot sets of T-12 that are adequate for working on the plane.

The problem is I have a mezzanine along the back 40 ft wall that I have my workbenches under and the lighting is not adequate over those benches as the mezzanine cuts down a fair amount of the light.

I bought 1 four ft T5 fixture with 2 tubes to try under there. It is 8 ft above the floor or about 4 ft above the bench at its way too bright. Like when looking around your eyes are drawn to it immediately and it's not comfortable to even glance at. I'm sure if a person spent any time working under it they would have a head ache. At 57 yrs, my eyes definitely need the extra light but not the T5's in this case as they are way too bright for close quarters. I'm glad I didn't buy any more.

There appears to be such an assortment in the T8's between bulbs, fixtures with reflectors, strip fixtures with no reflectors and now they have retro fit LED's that are expensive in my opinion to use at this time.

The Supplier that I bought the lights from won't take the T5 fixture back and for me to buy by trial and error could make this an expensive science experiment. The hanger is only used for tinkering around in and working on the plane or other projects that I might have on the go.

Anybody with actual experience and suggestions on what to buy?

Thanks

Tim

Just try taking one bulb out of your fixtures, they will still work and should dim down the area for you

Bird

Tried that and no they did not work. Its needs both tubes to work.

Dimmer

Look and see if your T5HO ballast is dim able? Most all manufactures of T5 ballast now have dim able ballast. If it is, you can purchase a electronic dimmer switch (make sure it works with t5).
You will have this same problem with LED's. They are also very bright. I would definitely recommend a dimmer if you go that route.

Glare?

The lights above the benches may not be 'too bright' but may be simply causing glare when viewed from the rest of the workshop.

Try taping some cardboard baffles to block the sideways light. If that's better make the baffles out of wood or metal.

If you are doing precision work on the benches then high light levels are actually reccommened.

Run a strip of masking tape the length of a bulb. Repeat as needed.

See if you can find a diffuser or lens for the light to go through.