You get what you pay for. Shop lights.

dcarch · February 21, 2007

Wal-Mart shop lights

There are many of you who have purchased Wal-Mart shop lights for grow lights. They are incredibly inexpensive. However, please note the following:

1. They are not very well made. All components are snap-together type of construction and can be easily broken or become loose during transit and installation.
2. One of mine started a fire because the bulb was not making good contact with the socket and the arc melted the plastic housing.
3. The ballast is not housed in metal casing at all. I am not sure I feel comfortable about having high voltage in a flimsy plastic housing.
4. Looking at the circuit board, the electronic power components are not heat-sinked. I don’t know what temperature they are running at.
5. Although the spec says the fixture meets FCC requirements, but in examining the circuit board, I didn’t see any effort in radio frequency shielding /grounding. Not having the ballast in a metal casing also will allow RF to escape. If some of you have access to a RF field strength meter to check this out would be nice. Be careful if you have any electronic devices (pace maker) which may be sensitive to RF interference.

dcarch

chilhuacle · February 21, 2007

I tried one of those 2 years ago. It lasted less than a day before the little circuit board went up in smoke. I've used one from Home Depot since without problems.

feldon30 · February 21, 2007

Wow. I'm happy with my two $20 units from Home Depot.

Araness · February 21, 2007

Yeppers I have 4 of the Wally world type and yes they are cheap, have had two for about three years now with little or no trouble...I wasn't expecting great lights for 9.87 each, but one of these days I would like to get better versions.

dirtdigging101 · February 21, 2007

i have 24 of them some are 4 years old and all are doing well not the best but they just hang there and shine, lots of plastics in lost of things electrical
i have had a few fall apart in moving things around snapped them back together and still lighting up

Fusion_power · February 21, 2007

I wouldn't touch the wally world lights for anything. I had them for several years. They would last on average one or two seasons and then phizzt.

I bought 24 electronic ballast shop lights from Home Depot a couple of years ago. They work very well, last almost forever, and cost me $7.80 each. Only complaint I have is that with 24 fixtures in a very small area, the RF is significant. It affects my regular phone line. My IP phone is clear as a bell.

My bulbs cost more than the fixtures. I bought ultra high output phillips bulbs at $5 each with 2 bulbs per fixture. These bulbs have been on continuously for a total of about 150 days. Some of them are ready to be replaced.

Fusion

dcarch · February 21, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

-- --- Only complaint I have is that with 24 fixtures in a very small area, the RF is significant. It affects my regular phone line. ------
Fusion

Try this:
buy a bunch of ferrites beads to put around the power cord, one near the fixture, and one near the plug.

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi.../Ferrites.html

dcarch

Ruth_10 · February 21, 2007

Dcarch, you sound like a ham, and I don't mean bacon source.

Are you an amateur radio hobbyist?

sweetwm007 · February 22, 2007

i bought 6 this yr and you are correct. had 2 failures. the ballasts look to be electronic rather then the old inductive type. tore one apart and the soldering was really bad. they are retailing here for around 7 1/2 bucks. no more for me.

william

dcarch · February 22, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruth_10

Dcarch, you sound like a ham, and I don't mean bacon source.

Are you an amateur radio hobbyist?

No, I am not. I am interested in all things scientific.

dcarch

uno · February 23, 2007

I bought 3 from Home Depot in l1994 and they still work but I only use them for starting seeds so they are only on maybe 8 weeks a year max.

Jim

feldon30 · February 23, 2007

I repurposed my fluorescent lights to grow lettuce. I was surprised at how good the results were. I grew Jericho romaine lettuce and although it wasn't tight heads, I did get some great salads out of it before the plants got too leggy. The other "box" has a spring mix in it that I wasn't really impressed by the production or flavor. Maybe it needs more space to grow and maybe sunlight is a requirement?

The soil mix was 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite/vermiculite, 1/3 composted cow manure.

Click for Larger Size

Suze · February 23, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon27

I repurposed my fluorescent lights to grow lettuce. I was surprised at how good the results were.

Great idea, I may try it sometime. How many hours a day were you leaving the lights on?

feldon30 · February 23, 2007

16.

Araness · February 23, 2007

humm I might have to try that...

February 21, 2007	#1
dcarch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NY Posts: 2,618	You get what you pay for. Shop lights. Wal-Mart shop lights There are many of you who have purchased Wal-Mart shop lights for grow lights. They are incredibly inexpensive. However, please note the following: 1. They are not very well made. All components are snap-together type of construction and can be easily broken or become loose during transit and installation. 2. One of mine started a fire because the bulb was not making good contact with the socket and the arc melted the plastic housing. 3. The ballast is not housed in metal casing at all. I am not sure I feel comfortable about having high voltage in a flimsy plastic housing. 4. Looking at the circuit board, the electronic power components are not heat-sinked. I don’t know what temperature they are running at. 5. Although the spec says the fixture meets FCC requirements, but in examining the circuit board, I didn’t see any effort in radio frequency shielding /grounding. Not having the ballast in a metal casing also will allow RF to escape. If some of you have access to a RF field strength meter to check this out would be nice. Be careful if you have any electronic devices (pace maker) which may be sensitive to RF interference. dcarch __________________ tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato

February 21, 2007	#2
chilhuacle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Concord CA z9b, just west of Tomatoville Posts: 415	I tried one of those 2 years ago. It lasted less than a day before the little circuit board went up in smoke. I've used one from Home Depot since without problems. __________________ Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks. Bruce

February 21, 2007	#4
Araness Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SE Texas Posts: 42	Yeppers I have 4 of the Wally world type and yes they are cheap, have had two for about three years now with little or no trouble...I wasn't expecting great lights for 9.87 each, but one of these days I would like to get better versions. __________________ "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)

February 21, 2007	#8
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	Dcarch, you sound like a ham, and I don't mean bacon source. Are you an amateur radio hobbyist? __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

February 23, 2007	#12
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I repurposed my fluorescent lights to grow lettuce. I was surprised at how good the results were. I grew Jericho romaine lettuce and although it wasn't tight heads, I did get some great salads out of it before the plants got too leggy. The other "box" has a spring mix in it that I wasn't really impressed by the production or flavor. Maybe it needs more space to grow and maybe sunlight is a requirement? The soil mix was 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite/vermiculite, 1/3 composted cow manure. Click for Larger Size Click for Larger Size Click for Larger Size

February 21, 2007	#5
dirtdigging101 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: north carolina Posts: 67	i have 24 of them some are 4 years old and all are doing well not the best but they just hang there and shine, lots of plastics in lost of things electrical i have had a few fall apart in moving things around snapped them back together and still lighting up

February 21, 2007	#6
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	I wouldn't touch the wally world lights for anything. I had them for several years. They would last on average one or two seasons and then phizzt. I bought 24 electronic ballast shop lights from Home Depot a couple of years ago. They work very well, last almost forever, and cost me $7.80 each. Only complaint I have is that with 24 fixtures in a very small area, the RF is significant. It affects my regular phone line. My IP phone is clear as a bell. My bulbs cost more than the fixtures. I bought ultra high output phillips bulbs at $5 each with 2 bulbs per fixture. These bulbs have been on continuously for a total of about 150 days. Some of them are ready to be replaced. Fusion

February 22, 2007	#9
sweetwm007 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: yellville, arkansas Posts: 29	i bought 6 this yr and you are correct. had 2 failures. the ballasts look to be electronic rather then the old inductive type. tore one apart and the soldering was really bad. they are retailing here for around 7 1/2 bucks. no more for me. william

February 23, 2007	#11
uno Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: SW Pennsylvania, zone 6a Posts: 147	I bought 3 from Home Depot in l1994 and they still work but I only use them for starting seeds so they are only on maybe 8 weeks a year max. Jim

February 23, 2007	#15
Araness Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SE Texas Posts: 42	humm I might have to try that... __________________ "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)