Cool i think the light at my local restore had an external tag like this but i can't remember... It looked a tad faded and i didn't really look at it closely for any info. the body and door look identical to this one. the one near me had a drop lens that's opal and four lamps with center mounted GE ballasts.
Hmm interesting, I think Aaron's is made by the same people, though. Get that fixture if you can!
Are the ballasts BonusLine ballasts and .8 amp? Those are really good, reliable units and if you keep them in service they will probably still last a long time!
I knew they were a Cooper brand, but never knew they were their own company until now!
IMO even Lithiona still makes decent fixtures...at least they aren't total trash.
Hmm I find Metalux fixtures have better twist clips and they also have screw holes to reinforce the end plate mount whereas Lithonia's are snap in.
Personally I prefer Visioneering fixtures since they are screwed together and they are also made in Canada. Also they have interesting fixtures like a F4T5 striplight. The big box stores don't carry them though.
I've seen so many caps come off the end of the newer magnetic ballasted lithonia fixtures...i hAve had to modify some in my own collection to keep the metal caps on...i used self tapping sheet metal screws
With that design, it may be a late 60s to early 70s fixture.....I would say earliest is 1968 as it has class P on it. Class P started in Jan 1st 1968 and was fully required for all ballast by July 1, 1969....
That was about the time frame I was guessing for the fixture. Interesting to know when Class P started!
And this ballast would happily protect itself in it's previous location...but for now I'm running it with 40w lamps (although it had 40s before but I bet it had 34s at some point) and without the door/diffuser.
Thanks for the info, though!
Honestly even their shoplights seem okay except the ballasts are rather cheesy...
Mine has an IPP one (I bet LPF) and I'm not even sure if it's rapid start because it starts the lamps in paralel (i.e they start individually and if one tube is removed the other stays lit) and it HATES the pair of Sylvania /CWP lamps in there now (my two pairs flicker at startup like some of Mike's) and it's disco lighting till they stop being mercury starved...
Yeah the CWP lamps i have flicker in the single lamp preheat fixture too, though the other Sylvanias i used in the two lamp preheaters never flickered. I'm guessing they don't like un-high ballast factor ballasts? After the flickering dies out (usually after about two minutes) the lamps are nice and bright though. I bought GE StartCoat F40T12/CW EcoLux tubes for the four lamp surface mount troffer light if it's still at the restore. If not, i'll put a pair of them in the repainted RS shoplite and give the Sylvanias to my grandpa to use at his shop (since his lights run from the time het gets there till the time he leaves, the flickering won't be an issue whereas my house's lights are frequently switched.)
Kinda off topic but I broke the end clean off a Sylvania /CWP a little bit ago. I was changing the lamps in my room from warm white to cool white (still need two more to not use any warm white or 34w energy savers). Maybe thermal shock from a 40 degree garage to a 70 degree house? It was in one of my "Old School" troffers though which are "interesting" to relamp LOL
Well in the cold glass is more brittle so you probably used too much force installing the lamp. If the lamps are cold i let them sit in a warm place. BTW, i went to the ReStore but my mom talked me out of getting the light. It's missing the cover and is made by Val-Lite or Val-Brite or something. Anyways, there was a LOT more stuff there than there as the last time i was there! I got a vintage F14T12 daylight lamp that works, and an older but lightly used F20T12 undercabinet light with an NOS Philips lamp and a GE starter in it. There was also and F30T12 undercabinet light without the diffuser that i left. It had a lightly used Sylvania CW lamp and an Advance magnetic rapid start ballast. I guess i should've grabbed it for 2 bucks... There was also a stack of 4X F40T12 troffers but they all had either broken or missing diffusers or had busted sockets. They'd be too bulky to take home anyways. Most had fairly used GE "Utility Grade" F40T12 lamps while others were missing lamps. i'm thinking the person who donated the fixtures removed the bad lamps. There were some old looking exit sign faces too as well as the diffuser i removed from the Genlyte-Thomas wrap light i bought last time. Now i'm mad since i didn't get the F30 undercabinet light. It was the only 3ft fluorescent I've ever seen. I guess maybe there'll be a thrid trip back? We'll see about arranging that.
The ones here are usually in a industrial park. My area has a lot of Restores for some reason, there's around 10 that's only a hour's drive or less from my house.
Are the ballasts BonusLine ballasts and .8 amp? Those are really good, reliable units and if you keep them in service they will probably still last a long time!
IMO even Lithiona still makes decent fixtures...at least they aren't total trash.
Personally I prefer Visioneering fixtures since they are screwed together and they are also made in Canada. Also they have interesting fixtures like a F4T5 striplight. The big box stores don't carry them though.
And this ballast would happily protect itself in it's previous location...but for now I'm running it with 40w lamps (although it had 40s before but I bet it had 34s at some point) and without the door/diffuser.
Thanks for the info, though!
Mine has an IPP one (I bet LPF) and I'm not even sure if it's rapid start because it starts the lamps in paralel (i.e they start individually and if one tube is removed the other stays lit) and it HATES the pair of Sylvania /CWP lamps in there now (my two pairs flicker at startup like some of Mike's) and it's disco lighting till they stop being mercury starved...