Shop lighting Changes

I changed the lighting to all LED in the shop a few years ago and and doing another refit...  I bought a lot of these 65 watt dual row v led bulbs (remove ballast type) on Amazon and they've been nothing but trouble.  The seller kept sending more bulbs but I could see where this was going.  I replaced more bulbs in about 2 years than in the 25 years since the shop was built.  I had some extras and right before the 2 year warranty ended I talked to Amazon Business customer service and they gave me a complete refund on all of them.  I've been using the extras for almost a year but they are all gone now and several of them have half of them out. 

The problem is that they have 2 4' LED sections with 2 LED drivers running on a small circuit board in one end of the light.  With 2 rows of LED's in the v shape, and both drivers on the same circuit board in the same place there's just not enough room to dissipate the heat.  The top portion of the bulb is aluminum with very small ribs but still isn't enough.  I have some single rows in the back of the shop and they have been doing fine but there are a lot less LED's, require only one LED driver, and have more room for the circuitry and heat dissipation on the top of the bulb.

Hence this post in case anyone else is running into problems like this.  I went on Amazon and bought a 12 pack of ceramic bulb holders with metal screw in lining (not plastic) at what I think is a good deal considering plastic (plastic and without metal grounding threads), for around $1.58 each, they are here - E26 bulb holders

This post shows how I'm doing this.  The screw in E26 type LED's are cheaper and last the longest due to all the circuitry being in the center large vented housing away from the extra heat of the LED's.  Once it is done I kept the 8' pins wired so I can use either the E26 screw in, 8' LED, or both types at once (with single row more dependable bulb or bulbs at least). 

The pic below is what the 8' bulbs have been doing since not long after I bought them and are still doing...

The screw in holder is being mounted on the center plate that holds the covers for each side.  Everything used is from the bases and came with them.  The bases are also already pre wired and have an insulator (the white piece that went in the hole I punched).  I did add a little heat shrink above that to protect the wire from the threaded portion just in case.

After getting the first one centered just right I set up the guides on the iron worker to make sure all the bases would be directly in the center of the cover holder so the 8' T8 LED bulbs could be used as well if need be.

 

If you want the option to run both styles of bulbs it is critical that the new base is the style I used (not a regular bulb base for an electrical box) and is put in the exact center of the plate.  Even then, this style of bulb holder is very close to the 8' T8 LED light. 

There is plenty of room for the screw in bulbs below the 8' T8 bulb if both are used, or in the future you want to go back to the 8' T8 style with nothing in the screw in holder.

 

I tried a 4 panel 100W led 4 panel bulb and it was a little too bright, and used 35% more electricity.  I tried a 60W 3 panel next and it lit up the equipment better than the 65W 8' V LED.  The ceiling and top wall reflection is gone but that's ok since the ceiling needs a good washing anyway. 

Here are some comparison pics without the 8' bulbs.  I'm sure the panels may end up being tweaked but that's just another advantage to the screw in type.
 

Here are some top down pics above the lathe, first one is with the 8' V LED and the second is without the 8' (it's in the pic back ground) and just the 60W screw in 3 panel.  This should be a good fit for anyone if done this way and you will have the options to easily do whatever you want, wherever and whenever you want through the entire building. 

 

Came in this morning, turned on the lights and another 8' bulb started flickering...  That made 8 of them with problems in the shop so I changed gears today and gave my free time to that little project.  Like I need more to do... 

Since the iron worker fences are set up to do the center hole I may keep going and put the ceramic holders in along side more of the the 8' bulbs.  That will be nice so as the 8' bulbs die I can just screw in the new type.