Topic: LED shop lights

[scottly]

Today I went into my shop, turned on the LED light over the lathe, and lit a couple of propane heaters, as it was 42*. I then walked back to the other end of the shop, and started up my air compressor. When I went back to the lathe, the LED light had an annoying flicker. I turned on the lights over the mill, and they also flickered. When the air compressor shut off, the flickering stopped. Not really a problem, as I only run the compressor once to pump up the tank, but if they flicker when running the CNC mill I'll be disappointed... 

[Stev-o]

. Not really a problem, as I only run the compressor once to pump up the tank, but if they flicker when running the CNC mill I'll be disappointed...

Hey Scott....are they on the same circuit? If yes, it could be rewired to solve the issue. 

[scottly]

No, the light over the lathe, the lights over the mill, and the compressor are all on separate circuits. All are fed from the same 50 amp sub-panel, though. The compressor itself is a stout two-stage two cylinder pump, and is the greatest single electrical load in the shop, which is why I run it without other loads, just to be on the safe side.

[RAFster122s]

The compressor motor is having feedback through your power as it is not a steady state load like your mill is likely to be because it has a better motor and its load should be a little more constant. I wonder if you could put any line conditioners on the compressor to lessen the back emf it is feeding into the ground line?
Wonder if running a new ground from the compressor to a pipe driven into the ground would do any good.

David

[scottly]

Your “flicker” could be associated with the temperature. The electrician who wired my shop for me was adamant about using particular LED bulbs that were rated for outdoor usage. His statement was something or other about the effect of the cold on the bulb... yadda, yadda, ya...

Does your issue subside after the bulbs heat up for a while or the shop warms up? You would know better than I, but perhaps it’s related to your current wintery workzone conditions?

Cal, I don't think the temps had anything to do with the "flickering". The light didn't flicker when I first turned it on, before I lit the heaters, but started only after I started the compressor, and stopped when the compressor stopped. I have seen florescent fixtures that did have a hard time getting lit in cold temps, but that is a different animal.
I think David has it; the pulsating load of the compressor is causing a deviation in the line voltage; on each compression stroke, the motor draws more current. The compressor pump spins at approximately 500 RPM, so there will be 8-16 full load pulses per second. It may indicate undersized wiring between the sub panel and the main??   

[jgger]

Might be a stupid question........but are you running the compressor on 220v or 110v? Plus it should be at least 12ga. wire on its own circuit. You might want to check the gage and length on the feed to the sub panel.

[scottly]

I'm running the compressor on 240. Not sure of the gauge on the feed to the sub, but the length is only about 10'. The wire from the sub to the compressor is also about 10', and is 10ga. The "flickering" is more of a pulsing in brightness, and I can live with it since so far it's only when the compressor is running.

[jgger]

I'm poking at this here, the ground and neutral aren't bonded together in the sub panel are they. They should only be bonded in the main panel, not even sure if it makes a difference in your case. I have just heard weird things can happen if they are tied together in the sub AND the main, like weird back feed and such.

[scottly]

I've had over 10 hours now using the lathe with the LED light, and it is easier to read the graduations on the dials and calipers/micrometers etc. When the eyes get dim, get brighter lights. I'm happy with the LED lights.

[Tracksnblades1]

Scotty, I think a few more are experiencing those led flickers when larger capacitor start/ run motors (1 phase) are running. Some are recommending Phillips brand led from Home Depot cured their dilemma. I still have the old cold start HO fluorescent light fixtures. Good luck

[MarkVMod0]

When we rebuilt our garage we made sure proper lighting was installed. We put up 23 LED 5,000 lumen shop lights , totally awesome!

Be sure to buy a warranty for two or three of them. 8 of ours crapped out and the warranty covered them no questions asked.

[Don R]

 I have a 4 lamp T12 fixture that has two LED's in it the type that may be used with a ballast. they were flickering and going on and off.
 I decided to bust open the new box of 20 48" line voltage LED's and began to wire them in. When I reached up to unplug the cord a giant spider leaped out and ran down my arm. M#$%R F$%^R.
The fixture had two ballasts so I removed them and tied all the wires at one end into white and all of the wires on the opposite end into black. That took some doing since there were so many wires, I did 4 to a wire nut then 3 into a wire nut.  Then I made the connection to the cord that plugs into the ceiling outlet and plugged it back in.
  Nothing. I checked polarity and had the Neutral to the north since it's easy to remember, N on the bulb facing the right way. Re-checked connections and all looked good, so I pulled the cord cap off of the line cord. Sure enough, there was a loose wire inside the cord cap.
  All is lighting nicely now, and I can get back to another round of Mikuni cleaning. 4 down, 16 LED's to go.

[Don R]

 I stayed on the LED swap out and did all of the lights in the shop. I had previously filled in the darker areas with Menards brand LED's.  When I built the shop, I put lights where I thought I needed it rather than try to make a uniform pattern.
 Two of the bulbs already went into the race car trailer so I'm short a couple from the 20 pack but that's the beauty of the line voltage lights, I can put one, two, three, or four in each fixture. I marked all of the line voltage lamps so in the future someone won't have to guess what's what. I removed 10 ballasts and was amazed how hot they and the bulbs were.
 Edit; I got called to dinner and left two 24" tubes (old) on top of an open garage door. Later I went out and closed it. Yup, it was broom time.
  There are wiring diagram stickers in the box so I can mark all of the modified lights. I still have one with ballasts in it and ballast compatible LED bulbs. They were the first ones I bought as a test.

  My LED's box says they are a replacement for T8 but I replaced 48" T12 bulbs in every fixture. Aside from the diameter of the bulb I don't see the difference.

[Dunk]

LED are great. I did 20 T8 style fixtures in my garage and 9 in my shed. All direct wired to AC with 2200 lumen 5000k frosted tubes. A little overkill in the shed, I have them on two switches so usually only have 3 on, but all 9 is great if doing work on small stuff.

I used these fixtures: https://www.beeslighting.com/LSS2XT8USE4803 Prices have gone up a lot, when I got them a few years ago they were $16/ea.