Here's a shot of the insides of a American Fluorescent that was originally electronic instant start T8.
It's still T8 but I put in a Philips magnetic F32T8 RS ballast, lamps are Philips Alto 5000ks, the one on the left is original while the one on the right is a newer replacement.
Meh...the older T8 Altos seen to be fine but the newer Alto IIs have that mercury starved look and flicker on a cold start . Wish they I could still get the older ones... or some other 850 fluorescent around here.
I have the same exact fixture, exept in 2 foot. Bought it at lowe's and it was listed under Utilitech. The label inside said American Fluorescnet on it. I didn't realize that was a company
I noticed that some of the Utilitech branded American Fluorescent fixtures have partial ballast covers that I'm not a fan of while some others have full ballast covers.
Origionally my school was probably T12 RS. My school was built in the 1970's and the lights look from that era. The troffers are def. newer than the other fictures. The troffers are programmed start while the others are either RS or IS T8. Those were most likely retrofits.
My old high school dates from the late 60s and used T12 1x4 troffers arranged in rows for the classrooms, and T12 2x4s in the hallways. The "new wing" constructed in 1999-2000 used magnetic T8 2 lamp 2X4s in the classrooms and magnetic T8 1X4s in the hallways. The display cases used single lamp T12 industrials, and the workshops used F40 turret lumes.
In the summer of 2006 the 1960s F40 troffers were removed and replaced with four lamp IS T8 2X4s in the hallways and two lamp PS T8 2X4s in the classrooms, save for two biology rooms which remained RS. The display cases were left untouched but the workshop turret lumes were gutted and IS T8 retrofit kits were installed. The main gym also had it's lighting replaced and the HPS lights on the stage was replaced with CFL highbays. The small gym remained F40 though.
Around 2008-2009 on of the display cases had their lumes replaced with T5 undercabinet strips, the old lumes are the same ones in my collection.
The final change I know of was in spring 2010, the remaining T12 1X4s in the bio rooms were retrofitted to IS T8. The magnetic T8 troffers were also retrofitted to IS T8 and the original 3500K lamps replaced with 4100K lamps, and most of the display cases either had their industrials replaced to two lamp T8 strips (how does that save energy? ) or retrofitted to IS T8. I believe one display case still has it's original lumes. The small gym also received a IS T8 refit during this time.
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In the summer of 2006 the 1960s F40 troffers were removed and replaced with four lamp IS T8 2X4s in the hallways and two lamp PS T8 2X4s in the classrooms, save for two biology rooms which remained RS. The display cases were left untouched but the workshop turret lumes were gutted and IS T8 retrofit kits were installed. The main gym also had it's lighting replaced and the HPS lights on the stage was replaced with CFL highbays. The small gym remained F40 though.
Around 2008-2009 on of the display cases had their lumes replaced with T5 undercabinet strips, the old lumes are the same ones in my collection.
The final change I know of was in spring 2010, the remaining T12 1X4s in the bio rooms were retrofitted to IS T8. The magnetic T8 troffers were also retrofitted to IS T8 and the original 3500K lamps replaced with 4100K lamps, and most of the display cases either had their industrials replaced to two lamp T8 strips (how does that save energy?