# Lightning for auto shop



## FlyingSparks (Dec 10, 2012)

Curious, you going to rent a lift for this job?


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## Semi-Ret Electrician (Nov 10, 2011)

MH, I just did a 24X40 like that with 4 fixtures...turned out great.


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

I did one last year a little smaller, 45×60 I believe. I used two rows of 6 bulb T5's. Eight lts total. 
Mount floor flanges 6" nipples hung them all at that height. Put cord on them tie wrapped loops and plug them into stitched receptacles in the ceiling. Light was definitely adequate. Customer was happy and it came out nice


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

FlyingSparks said:


> Curious, you going to rent a lift for this job?


Gonna have to. My cape is still at the cleaners. :tongue_smilie:


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## farlsincharge (Dec 31, 2010)

14 to 16'? I'd use T5's.


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

Lift is a necessity


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

4 of these , and one can read the motor manuals on the floor>










~CS~


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

the problem is, when they lift a car, it blocks the light 

one shop we did up with chain hung/tilted fluor fixtures, set so they shed some light under a car on a lift

~CS~


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

chicken steve said:


> 4 of these , and one can read the motor manuals on the floor>
> 
> 
> 
> ...


4 of those in a 45 by 80. You're kidding right.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Semi & crack, good looking out guys. My lighting supplier recommends t-5 at 16ft or higher, so t-12 are probably what will go up.

I feel like 8 would be fine, especially since its just an auto shop and not something like a furniture store, where it would need to be really bright.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Good call cs on the lift, they will need corded lights over there. But I'll keep that in mind.


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

They made drill bits in the building I did


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

This is the service


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

Not sure y they're turning sideways in the pic


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## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

Got a pic of your lighting setup in post 4? Looks good. Is that a sealing locknut on the nipple?


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

3xdad said:


> Got a pic of your lighting setup in post 4? Looks good. Is that a sealing locknut on the nipple?


I don't and yes


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

MHElectric said:


> Semi & crack, good looking out guys. My lighting supplier recommends t-5 at 16ft or higher, so t-12 are probably what will go up.
> 
> I feel like 8 would be fine, especially since its just an auto shop and not something like a furniture store, where it would need to be really bright.


You asked for help, you mention T8, some say T5, and you're going to put up T12?:blink:

I put some of the 6-lamp T5 in two different garages and they love the light. But I've found the lamps and ballast don't last as long as T8.


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## The_Modifier (Oct 24, 2009)

Crack Wireman said:


> Not sure y they're turning sideways in the pic
> View attachment 38558
> 
> 
> ...


It's Canadian panel. :thumbsup::laughing:


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## pistol pete (Jul 4, 2011)

Just to throw a number out there I'm guessing 10' off the floor is a safe bet depending on how the lights are set up compared to the lifts .. has any one ever tried to put some sort of flourecent lights in a slab for this exact application ? Or another suggestion .. I'm gueesing you would use 1/2 plexi as a lens and heavy wire mesh for protection


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

sbrn33 said:


> 4 of those in a 45 by 80. You're kidding right.


that's what i asked the lighting designer sbrn , but 4 of those lit up a room with a 300 person seating capacity locally

T5's are bright, but they do burn hot, 3" from combustibles via 110.3B



~CS~


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

What are they going to do in the shed? Detail cars? Or actual mechanic work? I like to over illuminate things. I'd go with at least three rows of 4.
4- 6 bulb T8 with reflectors on the side rows and 4- 4 bulb T5 in the center.

Another thing you can do is go on Cooper's (or any other company's) web site and use their lighting design tool. It will give you the actual FC you can expect. You probably will get slightly less then what it shows.


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

Crack Wireman said:


> Not sure y they're turning sideways in the pic
> View attachment 38558
> 
> 
> ...


FIFY:thumbsup:


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

wendon said:


> FIFY:thumbsup:


Thanks, but now it is upside down Wendon. Look at gfi on top, haha


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

Crack Wireman said:


> Thanks, but now it is upside down Wendon. Look at gfi on top, haha


This is Canada!! Gotta stay above the expected snow level! At least the ground is down now!


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Do not go with T12's or you will be totally screwing your customer. If you want to cheap out try T-8 tandem strips.
If it is my building they would be T-5's though.When I think about it now I may go with 3 rows of T'5 tandem strips. Overkill but the shadows would really be cut down.


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

You can download free lighting software that can you can give and get tons of information from.

http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/Default.aspx?id=14783

http://www.dial.de/DIAL/en/dialux/download.html


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

CS, I will be dmned, 6-6 light T5's gets you 30 FC. 8 gets you 45. I would have never guessed that. Problem is 30 is really not enough, 50 to 65 is recommended. My building gets 10 and a happy customer.
I just finished a building 100X200' and it got 36. Machinery repair and maintenance.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

CADPoint said:


> You can download free lighting software that can you can give and get tons of information from.
> 
> http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/Default.aspx?id=14783
> 
> http://www.dial.de/DIAL/en/dialux/download.html


That visual does a pretty good job once you figure out your fixtures.


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

sbrn33 said:


> CS, I will be dmned, 6-6 light T5's gets you 30 FC. 8 gets you 45. I would have never guessed that. Problem is 30 is really not enough, 50 to 65 is recommended. My building gets 10 and a happy customer.
> I just finished a building 100X200' and it got 36. Machinery repair and maintenance.


36 T5's, u can land an airplane there


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Crack Wireman said:


> 36 T5's, u can land an airplane there


Not really, maybe an average of 45 or 50. Auto shop lose their reflectivity real fast. Lights are cheap. Adding them later isn't.


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## Crack Wireman (Aug 22, 2014)

sbrn33 said:


> Not really, maybe an average of 45 or 50. Auto shop lose their reflectivity real fast. Lights are cheap. Adding them later isn't.


True


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

A Little Short said:


> You asked for help, you mention T8, some say T5, and you're going to put up T12?:blink:
> 
> I put some of the 6-lamp T5 in two different garages and they love the light. But I've found the lamps and ballast don't last as long as T8.


Sorry, miss-type. T-8's.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

sbrn33 said:


> Lights are cheap. Adding them later isn't.


And I definitely agree with this. 

This guy was wanting MH's, and I was able to steer him away with the 6 lamp t-8's.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

CADPoint said:


> You can download free lighting software that can you can give and get tons of information from.
> 
> http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/Default.aspx?id=14783
> 
> http://www.dial.de/DIAL/en/dialux/download.html


This should do the trick. I'm gonna have to play around with it for a minute, but I think this will be a big help.


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

MHElectric said:


> This should do the trick. I'm gonna have to play around with it for a minute, but I think this will be a big help.


Push your reflectances down to 20 & 30 %

The lights don't float they ride at 16.5 or height of ceiling line.

Note to pick your exact light selection or equal. From what I ran
six lamps, three rows of three - two lamps is way more equipment.

Enjoy


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## Avwizz (Feb 20, 2014)

We did 3 rows of either 6 or 7, can't remember, T-5 6 bulb. Pretty good amount of light considering the size of the place.


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## pistol pete (Jul 4, 2011)

I may be a jerk but how does it look at night?

Sent from my XT1030 using electriciantalk.com mobile app


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## Avwizz (Feb 20, 2014)

pistol pete said:


> I may be a jerk but how does it look at night?
> 
> Sent from my XT1030 using electriciantalk.com mobile app



I can't say for sure since I haven't seen it but they don't work at night anyways. It's more for the mornings when it's not light out enough yet. During the day when we shut them off there was a difference however.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

sbrn33 said:


> CS, I will be dmned, 6-6 light T5's gets you 30 FC. 8 gets you 45. I would have never guessed that. Problem is 30 is really not enough, 50 to 65 is recommended. My building gets 10 and a happy customer.
> I just finished a building 100X200' and it got 36. Machinery repair and maintenance.


Well i'm not up on FC's sbrn, is there some sort of standard i'm missing?:001_huh:

~CS~


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## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

MHElectric said:


> Here's what I got - metal building, 45' by 80'. 16.5' tall on the sides, middle probably closer to 18' or 20'. New construction.
> 
> Nothing special here, just some guy working on cars. I'm thinking 2 rows of 6 lamp t-8's. 8 lights in total. I'll probably hang them at around 14'-16', depending on where the duct work ends up. I could bump it to 3 rows and make it 12 total, but I'd like to hear some feedback first. In my experience, the 6 lamps put off a lot more lights than you think they will, hence the 2 rows instead of 3.


an amusing title to the post 







*Lightning for auto shop :laughing:
sounded like you were looking for a jacobs ladder

anyhow your plan sounds good but Ive always found that you can always use more lighting from different angles.
so it wouldn't hurt to place a few well placed utility outlets
and have a few extra trouble lights
*


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## rdevarona (Feb 23, 2010)

The 6 lamp T8 and 4 lamp T5HO put out almost the same amount of light. It would take (15) 4 lamp T5HO high bay fixtures to reach an average of 50 fc in that space if the fixtures are mounted at 14'. If you went with 6 lamp T5HO fixtures, you could get by with (10) fixtures, but the lighting would be a little less uniform than with the 4 lamp option (you would have hotspots).

In either case, you wouldn't want to put the lights above the lifts or doors. Position them between the bays so that you're not lighting the roof of the car when it's up on the lift. 

Here's the type of output you would get from the Visual tool:









Hope that helps.

rdv


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## Lighting Retro (Aug 1, 2009)

More fixtures are better in that environment to avoid shadows for sure. 

CS, yes there is an IES standard of lighting levels by industry that is recommended. I'll see if I can locate a link to post.


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## Lighting Retro (Aug 1, 2009)

IES recommendations posted by Howard Lighting


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## Lighting Retro (Aug 1, 2009)

Another link: http://www.bristolite.com/Interfaces/media/Footcandle%20Recommendations%20by%20IES.pdf


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

You can't have enough light in an auto shop. I know of one place that has 2 lamp T5s on the wall next to the lift to push light underneath cars when they are raised up as well. 

I'd lean towards the 12 6-lamp T8s myself.


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## rdevarona (Feb 23, 2010)

So...

What did you end up going with? Any pictures?

rdv


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