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LED Bay Light Selection

U

U Wash

Joe Dirt
I have tried two different types of LED Bay lights and wonder about other operators results. I would like to convert all my bays but the cost is prohibitive especially if they have components that fail and eat up energy savings with repair bills.

I purchased two of the replacement kits designed to fit in a Hubble wall mounted fixture. After 3 years both kits had failures with the drivers that control the LED stripes. At $87 per driver that kills the electric savings I hoped to achieve with these lights. Are others seeing driver failures on these kits?

I have two of the 4 foot ceiling mounted fixtures that look like the conventional fluorescent fixtures that have worked well for the last year. Anyone have more experience on these units to know how they perform over the long run?

I have been considering the the LED tube fixtures but the price has been holding me back. At $1200 to install the tubes in one bay how long would it take to cover the cost with energy savings? If ever? Does anyone have experience with these ceiling mounted tubes? Does the plastic tube hold up under car wash conditions? There appears to be two companies offering these tubes. Mile High & G&G. Anyone with experience on either manufacturer?
 
High lumen per foot waterproof led strips

Joe & others,

Based on a positive experience in our laundromat of mounting the brightest led strips we could find on 1 inch aluminum flats for heat sink & mounting ... I would not rule out the possibility of one of us car wash operators cherry picking the brightest of the following waterproof selection &/or at least testing some waterproof led strips in a car wash bay. It might require some technical matching of led drivers (DC power supplies) cut to length & soldering? etc. ... but I am thinking the best choice out of the following link's selection could be a winner or possibly another vendor with an even brighter waterproof strip. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-...hash=item257c84e70e:m:mVOjoyeUMvYrVRn4lqGql2A

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com
 
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Mike.... I have been testing out some home made led lights. I do have some heat problems (the pictures also shows some design problems. :) ).... and I have tested different heatsinks. But I may give up and just use a fan?

I am basically using all stuff I have in my basement now.... besides the 4x Cree leds. I used cpu heatsinks and server power supplies. My reading is in luxs not lumens.... they are totally different measurements.
 
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Check out Max lites 3 bulb vapor tight fixtutes. They can be had for about $40 ea. You can also find 4' led bulbs for about $6 ea. Total per fixture is less than $60.

I have the plc, fixtures, and bulbs...just need to get it all installed!
 
Btw, I converted all my garage flourescent fixtures to the same bulb last summer. I've had no failures yet. At least 100 bulbs!
 
U Wash said:
I have two of the 4 foot ceiling mounted fixtures that look like the conventional fluorescent fixtures that have worked well for the last year. Anyone have more experience on these units to know how they perform over the long run?
Click to expand...

Purchased from www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com

I installed (16) Maxlite LSV3XT8USE4806 “lamp ready” fixtures with (48) James Industry’s 4 ft. T8 “Magic” 18watt, 5000K LED tubes in March of this year.

16 fixtures with 48 LED tubes: $1,181.76
Installation materials: $476.75
(Mounting hardware, cable, strain reliefs, conduit, boxes, wire nuts, etc.)

Total: $1,658.51

The James “Magic” LEDs operate on 100-277 Volts ac; no ballast or external driver required. Load for the entire 48 lamp system is less than 9 amps!

Operating Dusk-to-Dawn, these LED tubes are should have about 13 years of life expectancy. They’re warranted for 5 years.

With only 6 months in use, I can’t speak to the longevity issue…but, I’m quite pleased with the purchase price, dramatically improved illumination, and reduced electrical expenses.
 
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cwguy Quote: "My reading is in luxs not lumens.... they are totally different measurements."[/QUOTE]

cwguy & others,

Maybe this will help the understanding:

http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/light/lux-to-lumen-calculator.htm

I still think some of us should monitor the reviews on the brightest "waterproof" LED strips available ... especially if they are shipped from the USA. Sometimes it is nice to have someone else besides just ourselves as the "guinea pig" :)

One directional 800 lumen per linear foot waterproof strip "2 'one above the other' ?" with a waterproof led driver in an extra wet "express bay" should tell the initial story. So far my G&Gs have been a positive experience & I believe they are about 800 lumens per linear foot that shine in a very nice directional way. Sizing & matching the DC power supplies is pretty straightforward. If soldering is done ... it would be very minimal & limited to just making leads available on a tailored cut of the 16' 4" strip. Ideally, the strip would have the ability to put waterproof ends on where-ever the cut on the strip is made ... eliminating all soldering.

BTW ... I have 3 "closed & open" signs that have been successfully automatically coming on (for over 10 years now) from a similar to National Instruments control board & software that I cannibalized from some discarded Ryko car wash led signs. The extensive precision layout & soldering required there was a little more like what your project appears to be. Knowing how labor intensive that was, I probably would pass on that now considering my advanced age :o etc.

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com
 
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