Outlet or no outlet

[Black wallnut]

What I did when facing this problem was outlets. I cut holes in the ceiling to recess the lights. My ceiling joists are rough sawn 2"x8" on 24" centers. I recessed boxes the full depth of the joists so that I have a total of 8 boxes. I wired each box with a split duplex where each half is on opposite legs and all are controlled by a single DPST switch.

I then mounted two 4' 2-bulb fixtures in each box directly to the top of each box. The power cord of each fixture has been shortened to a relaxed fit but without any hanging down. This has proved to be a problem. I've had at least half of the ballasts fail. I believe the problem to be not enough air circulation so I will be making a few changes this summer. I'm going to try hanging the fixtures so that they are still about 1" above the ceiling. My attic is also not vented properly so I'll be building a cupola and adding vents.

My shop ceiling is rather low, never measured but low enough that I can touch it and I'm only 5'8". The idea behind splitting the outlets so as to use both legs of power is to even out the cycles. I'm not sure if it works but it sure does not hurt. (proper care was taken to ensure the disconnecting means for close proximity circuits was followed per NEC.)

[LCHIEN]

about lights and different phases...
There's really no advantage to putting lights half on one phase (or leg) and half on the other leg. Because the flourescent lights "strobe" with the AC line voltage peaks they come on twice per cycle or 120 times per second. Wiring them to opposite legs will still have them both lighting at the same time... no fill in or extra light. Because of persistence of vision, they appear to be on all the time.

Incandescants of course glow with a time period longer than the AC cycle rate so they also emit light the whole time, no strobing.

Putting lights on two circuits (same leg or different legs) avoids the problem of blowing a fuse or circuit breaker and being completely in the dark with a running/spinning power tool... unless of course you have used a 2-pole breaker and tied them together. A couple of work lamps plugged into bench or wall outlets would be a good idea to keep from being completely in the dark.

So there's really no point to this engineer for putting lights on two legs.

[rnelson0]

A couple of work lamps plugged into bench or wall outlets would be a good idea to keep from being completely in the dark.

And always, always, keep a flashlight with batteries in the same place every time, so that when the lights do go out (they will, someday) you know exactly where to stumble. Bonus points of storing it somewhere where you'll have the least amount of obstacles to trip over on the way.

[Slik Geek]

And always, always, keep a flashlight with batteries in the same place every time, so that when the lights do go out (they will, someday) you know exactly where to stumble. Bonus points of storing it somewhere where you'll have the least amount of obstacles to trip over on the way.

Flashlights are available with an LED that flashes every few seconds. That feature is golden when the power goes out in your basement shop at night - no fumbling for the flashlight.

[dbhost]

I am doing something similar, but with a total of 6 of those fixtures. The HD ones with the same bulbs. (HD had the fixtures on sale a few months back for $6 or something insanely cheap). I mounted mine directly to the sheetrock.

Was that a bad idea? My kitchen flourescent by the same MFG with the SAME exact ballast screws right to the ceiling, and the ballast is mounted the same way in the fixture. I figured it would be okay... With my garage ceilings, every inch of headroom is priceless. I didn't really want to leave these on the chains...

As far as quantity, I have 4 in there now, and the front of the garage is a dark spot... I do need to see about if I can open the garage door with them mounted and bulbs in place and all... That would be a real show stopper!

Anyway. My plan, as soon as I get some other projects knocked out of the way, is to run 3 outlets down the center of the garage, and run the cords to the outlets via cord duct. (The stuff you run network cabling / extension cords in.) The front and rear outlets powered off of one circuit / switch, the center off of a second and feeding power to yet another outlet up front for the shop vac.

I would not even consider wiring straight into the main line with the cord. The previous owner of my house did stuff like that, and what I found up in my attic amazed me that my home inspector was that incompetent. I've seen high school kids wire in car stereos cleaner than this guy did the garage lighting!