The Lamp Room

I'm getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of ANYTHING in the wholesalers now that's not LED. Recently, I've had to resort to eBay for a pair of Thorn Piazza 2 SON bulkheads and tonight, for some Powerlite 2x 26w fluorescent sign lights (which I had to obtain from 3 different sellers). Not one of the wholesalers could offer me anything other than LED. I asked the customer if he still wanted the sign to be lit in 10 yrs time and when he said yes, I told him to forget about using LED. It'll last a month or 2 longer than the 2 or 3yr warranty, IF it even lasts that long. Ideally, I need another of these fittings, as the sign could do with 4 signlights, but none left on eBay now. Anyone got one of these laying around in 2x 26w flavour. MUST be new, but not a problem if it's got no box.

I feel the lack of choice now is really taking the piss! If the LED stuff was all super reliable and lasted 10 yrs, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's not. It's just designed to screw a fortune out of you on installation and another fortune out of you 3 yrs down the line when it fails. In the past, you'd have spent a few quid on a new lamp. I really hate my job sometimes!

100% agree I've still not seen my zest 8W maintained bulkheads I just hear led led led every time I go in the wholesalers!

The nice Cooper ones Senate used to do? I've got a nice stock of those still

Mine still stocks some non LED stuff, but most of it is just uncleared stock. And they do pump LEDs into customers, allthough they are slowly moving their own shop from LED to T5HO after my recommendation...

Lately i found in their storage a couple pallets of mostly recessed PL cans and their gear boxes, ~2010 Made in China stuff, NOS, wrapped in plastic wrap. They seen me looking at it, and asked if i want a deal - 2 pallets of NOS luminaires in boxes for 200P. (there are few gearboxes with HID magnetic ballasts, the ballasts are ELTAM made, that alone is worth more than 200P). Some of the lanterns in there are E27 unballasted

Ash : ???

Shop : They just stand and dont sell, everyone wants LED

Ash : They are better than LED !

Shop : Nobody wants to hear that

Ash : The E27 ones you could sell with LED lamps in them

Shop : Nobody wants to hear even that. They hire some spark that recommends them to go with self contained LED luminaire, and thats what they come and ask for. Sparks nowadays arent capable of wiring L N to a lamp holder, only connecting them to the short flex of a LED driver and wrapping with electrical tape. Show them a lantern with ballast and it will haunt them in their nightmares



I think we should be moving on to making and distributing our own everything : Ballasts, luminaires and lamps. But please take part ! Nobody cant do ALL of that alone !

I think that's true here with some 'electricians' now. I doubt many could re-wire a fluorescent fitting for example.....

Nobody needs to rewire anything. Any luminaire i seen have L, N, E brought to a terminal block near the cable entry. Its the mere presence of anything "complicated" inside that bugs them

Oh, I meant re-wire it internally (cables between ballast, lampholder and other components). I had to do just that in a garden centre yesterday and joked to the manager that anyone else would probably have replaced the fitting.

What i mean is, that sparks avoid anything with (visible touchable) gear in it, being confused by the mere presence of the gear, even when they dont have to do anything with it

Haha, yes, this is also true!

Now what about making our own stuff anyway ?

I'd like some collaboration about lamp factories. One thing that pushed me to the ballast project is the same feeling Kev described - it's either watching things go or taking matters into own hands