Shop improvement projects.

[dbhost]

Admittedly I am getting itchy to get the LED conversion finished. Yet the bulbs got sent in the MAIL. As in Amazon shipped them USPS!!!!

Okay I am going to CAREFULLY inspect the contents to insure the gorillas they hire haven't smashed the poor things to smithereens...

[dbhost]

So now I am at serpentine belts, radiator hoses, oil filters, hose clamps etc... I need a small tote for automotive stuff.

At least all the charcoal is stowed in the Kingsford Kaddys... One for regular, one for Mesquite. If it wasn't so stinking windy to day would have been a perfect BBQ day.... Tomorrow is looking better for that. I need to do some grilling for pre cooks for next week...

[dbhost]

Just for comparison, the 4" ABS Branch Wye, vs a 5" branch wye for folks to get an idea of why I am doing 5"...



And I tidied up the dust collection hoses for the bandsaw...


Now mind you, when the 5" duct goes for the install, I am planning on running the main / branch wye right above where the saw connects / blast gate is, and oriented DOWN, so that will eliminate that 180 degree bend.

Likewise, I was wondering, and the reason I am posting. Is there any thin wall, smooth plastic pipe that I can use for the OE duct location? I am pretty sure I can use a 2.5" 90 to smoothe out the blade shroud connection, but the one just at the lower guide is a LOT of ribbed hose...

[LCHIEN]

Well, I haven't handled very many of them. My LED 4 ft fixtures all seem to be plastic and the LED ballast bypass units I just got seem to be plastic. Maybe they have glass underneath but I can think of no reason to make them of glass, and it would be even stupider to make them of glass only to cover them with plastic..

[dbhost]

Actually LCHIEN no, most of the ballast bypass bulbs, and even the plug and play LED conversion bulbs I have like the ones in the kitchen, are glass, but unlike traditional flourexcent bulbs, they are plastic coated, so if the glass breaks, the shards are contained. Some are indeed fully plastic, but most I beileve are plastic coated glass. At least most I have seen advertised or on store shelves...

And even then, an errant 2x4 being carried accross the shop can easily catch a tube and break even a plastic tube. The reflector edges of my fixtures are evidence of how they have protected tubes over the years. Oh and a testament of how clumsy I am moving materials under an 8' ceiling.

[LCHIEN]

LED tube conversions are all plastic, no glass, they are pretty much unbreakable or at least no more breakable than the plastic covers you have now.

[capncarl]

There is a lot to be said for tube protection….. but all of my shop lighting is old salvaged industrial 4’ double tube wash down fixtures that have translucent covers I am sure the covers cost me a lot of light, but they have saved me from a number of broken tubes. My ceiling is 10’, exposed tubes in shops with lower ceilings wouldn’t stand a chance with me moving a long board around!

[dbhost]

That's what I am thinking at least... And like I said, while not much, they do offer some, very little I am sure, but some tube protection...

[LCHIEN]

Yeah the wiring is more legal, at least within a metal fixture.

[dbhost]

Just FWIW, I am repurposing old T12 fixtures. Not bothering to buy new tombstones.

For those looking to obtain just the fixtrues / tombstones on the cheap, crusing the commercial construction sites. I just cleaned up 12 years of sawdust from the one fixture that I have hanging instead of ceiling mounted. The fixture was recovered from a dumpster of a strip center remodel close to my house. Basically I was driving by when the guys were trashing them I asked if I could take one or two, found this one. The ballast is still the one it came with.

The original T12 bulbs in my shop were 14 @ 40w, so a total of 560w.plus no doubt some lost to the ballasts. Probably each fixture pulled at least 90w.
The new bulbs are 18w each with no ballast, so 14 @ 18w for a total of 252w.

Honestly I would prefer to go with cast off T8 or T12 shop light fixtures. Repurpose the keystones and salvage the wire you can from them and while reflectors are not necessary, there is SOME tube protection offered... Plus your wiring connections will be in approved enclosures so IF something goes bad, your legal exposure is lower....

Another item on the shop status, this isn't an upgrade or anything, but it HAS been a project, and that is my shop cleanup. I am done, more or less with the floor portion of it. I have cleaned everything up to the point of the drill press and rolling clamp cart. There is still some crap there, but not a lot. Once I pour the charcoal in the briquet tubs I will be able to clear a LOT of this out!

I mentioned that if I keep this rate up, I may be able to get started on the dust collection work by the weekend. I don't have the parts, and honestly due to the lighting, I have to postpone, BUT. I will make the broken connections, well... connected.

I will be working on the benches / table saw tomorrow. There are 2 mystery totes that need to be gone through, and the electrical parts tote honestly needs to get into the master suite so I can have parts available for finishing up swapping in the smart switches etc....

Once thos projects are done, I need to figure out long term storage for things like household extension cords, surge supressors and the like...

Not sure if I mentioned it here or elsewhere, but I mounted the large cedar cross on the shop wall using 3M mounting tape. I needed to do something with it, and figured a shop ornament was as good as any function.

[LCHIEN]

With those tubes going $5 apiece in 20 quantity that raises some thoughts.
For a new shop lighting you can buy (again on Amazon) the tombstone connectors ready to accept wiring 20 at a time for about 10 or 12 bucks. Maybe 50 cents.
So for two $5 buck tubes and 4 50-cent connectors (total $12 ) you can get the equivalent output of a double tube fluorescent fixture. You don't need the housing for the reflectors (fluorescent tubes put out light in all 360 degrees around the tube but LED tubes basically output light in a cone of about 120-140 degrees which is what the reflectors do.)

So put two tombstones on a ceiling joist 48" apart and wire them up. Two of them on parallel joists will put out as much light as a double tube Fluorescent fixture with no reflectors. Repeat as many times as necessary. 20 bulbs will make a really bright garage.

Its very simple to wire up. I'll have to think of the ramifications of using various types of wire. You are talking 14-16 watts per tube so 18 gauge pair will handle many daisy chained fixtures... a fuse for 2-4 Amps would be a good idea if fed from 15A circuits. Don't know offhand what NEC says about 18 gauge fused wiring strung in your open framed garage.
But $12 bucks is a lot less than $34 per fixture.

Just thinking out loud.

[LCHIEN]

There's an organization here in Houston called Freewheels that collects surplus bikes and refurbs them and donates them to needy kids and adults. I have a friend who volunteers for them. Check out this website on how to donate a bike.

https://freewheelshouston.org/

https://freewheelshouston.org/donate2fw/

https://freewheelshouston.org/contact-us/

[dbhost]

Well, I was trying to hold off longer, but one of the fixtures that I just no more than 3 weeks ago swapped new T12 bulbs into is now flickering and looking like the bulbs are going out. Yep, bad ballast and I am NOT going to replace ballasts.

I looked into LCHIEN recommendation, but I need 14 bulbs for a swap out, and it would cost more to get 14 locally, by about $20.00, than to order 20 on Amazon and just have 6 extras... And i have no qualms with having spare bulbs.

So now I wait. Prime has been shipping slow, and this cuts into my 5" duct upgrade for now, so at least for the time being, I am going to reattach the existing floor duct and just have a good go with what I have...

If anyone is interested in single / double ended ballast bypass tubes that are in the more affordable range, and are retrofitting their entire shop up to 20 tubes, there are currently on sale on Amazon for $89.99

[dbhost]

So aside from a few retaining clips to keep the sag out of the tubing, the install of the compressed air piping system, and hte move of the restracting hose reel is complete. The fit for the hose reel is tight, but it fits, and does not interfere with the operation of the doors, plus the bottom of the reel is just barely below the door tracks, so there is that huge bonus.

So it's been pressurized, and leak checked. Dead on sealed up. Very happy with this.

I have a problem. I have a mountain bicycle I bought years ago, like 20 years ago, and it isn't of much use to me, and sucks up space in the shop. I took it down, and I want to get rid of it. It is an early 2000s Schwinn, and I am just curious, not a high dollar bike to begin with, should I donate to charity or should I give it to a friends kid?

[dbhost]

My 5x4x4 wye arrived a day early, installed it, sealed it up, made the connection to the upright run. Need to get serious about moving that horizontal run. WIshing I Had some ABS 4x4x4 wyes and fresh DWV, that heat shrink method for making the connections really speaks to me for some reason... But not gonna sink new money into something I already have the parts for...

Watched a video last night and I think I found hte design I want to do for my flip top tool stand, EXCEPT the stops. I am planning on using simple pins in through the sides as stops. Have not decided wood or metal yet, but I just don't like the barrel catches this guy uses...

https://youtu.be/L8LNzsrGgaE

Spent more time with cleanup and move around in the shop today. Ugh. WAY more to go, wife has other ideas for my time. Pause here I guess.