Eyes right: Is your workshop a bit dark??

[Cre8anet]

[Please DO add any other solutions below if you can add to the info here.]
Just wanting to share my surprising workshop transformation on Friday - may be helpful to you too, I've been feeling my workshop's a bit dim these days. What kind of lamp to go for?

For some time I've noticed I can't easily read things or component values and good light level recently seems much more important. (Perhaps like me entering my second-half, you feel your eyesight's declining alarmingly rapidly...) FYI my workshop is within a 5m x 5m attic bedroom currently fitted with 2x100W lamps, which only give a "comfort level of light" to the reasonable-sized room.

An old greenhouse growlamp has been lying in the garage (came free with a greenhouse frame) and decided to give it a go by simply popping a hook into the ceiling and hanging the ali shade from it. The unit comes with a starter-box as these lamps need a beefy starter and take ~2 minutes to come to full brightness.

Half an hour's DIY later I was AMAZED at the transformation. These lamps are BRIGHT! suddenly I can read stuff again while I move around.

I did a bit of research and found the lamp I had was a 400W MBF-U Lamp, Giant Edison Screw (GES) fitting.
I'm not lamp expert but one site says MBF-U is mercury blended flourescent discharge lamp. The quality of light is very white (but NOT blue or sodium-tinted) and I would estimate a 150W bulb would probably cover it fine. There are 250W bulbs available for about £15 new and if anything they would be generous. 400W is overkill frankly but not painful.

If anyone knows of any better bulb types or any down-sides/colour-issues or possible UV risks please add below.
I am very happy with what I have so far, but open to improvements.
If in doubt consult your optician. Good luck to all - and remember: it can be a dungeon down there: LK AFTER YOUR EYES!

Dave

[60 oldjohn]

Hi dave, my eyes are "dimming" as well, I have plenty of light and still need help on some small print. I bought an angle poise magnifier lamp with a flouecent tube built in. I don't know how I managed without it. I can swing it round to light inside of sets when not using it as a magnifier. John.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Cre8anet

For some time I've noticed I can't easily read things or component values and good light level recently seems much more important. (Perhaps like me entering my second-half, you feel your eyesight's declining alarmingly rapidly...)

Anybody over 35 will be experiencing some loss of accommodation (reduced focusing range) with their eyesight, and this is worse when light levels are low. People doing sewing work have always understood the importance of bright lighting and component value identification is no different.

You should't need very bright light for normal workshop work if your optical prescription is correct though. A small desk lamp or even a small LED torch will give you the small amount of very bright light you need for component identification. I find a couple of 18W compact flourescents give enough light for everyday work, supplemented with a tiny clipon LED light (I'm 53 with only adequate vision).

Paul

[Antlong]

Hello all,

I manage with a couple of the ?60W 4D straight lamps but I also have an Anglepoise available when needed. That, like similar lights on the bureau etc, has a 100W reflector lamp. These are available in bayonet cap - although you may have to persuade the dealer to order some - and having a reflector it seems brighter than a normal 100W bulb and probably a bit cooler for the fitting.

I've think the shadow-less light from a strip-light often isn't actually as useful as the point source of a conventional lamp. A pleasanter light too...

Regards Ant

[BGmidsUK]

I've always had decent lighting levels in my workshops. My original 7' x 5' shack had 3 x 40w fluorescent tubes, at my present house the back bedroom (former workshop, now the Little Lady's room, 12' x 9') has 2x twin 40w fittings with Cool White tubes - she uses them all the time, obviously the lights are beneficial having only one East-facing window - and I use daylight fluorescents for my present requirements.

MB (ignoring the F) actually refers to the type of arc-tube used in mercury vapour lamps, in this case High Pressure, MA being the original medium pressure arc used before quartz tubes were developed. The 'F' means phosphor (fluorescent) coated, sometimes still referred to as "colour corrected".

The 400W MBF lamp you are using, Dave, will indeed provide excellent light levels and reasonable colour rendering, although only with a CRI of around 40 to 52, though this should be enough to be able to accurately read resistor colour coding etc..

For precise colour descrimination you will need to use fluorescents (Colour 55 or 155 depending on manufacturer, 6500°K, CRI around 98) - colour 54/154 also giving good results and a similar Daylight appearance but with a lower Colour Rendering Index of around 76.

MBF lamps won't give harmful UV radiation due to the type of glass (Borosilicate) used for the outer bulb.

Blended mercury lamps have a series-wired filament and do not require a ballast, but are a lot less efficient. (Usually referred to as Blended or Self-Ballasted Mercury, not to be confused with MBF!)


I don't want to bore you all by waffling on about lamps or lighting types/arrangements but as this is one of my specialities feel free to fire away with questions, I'm more than happy to oblige



BG

[Cre8anet]

Hi - thanks all for the replies.

BG, could you help with one point where it seems I'm confused: Mine has a starter and type MBF-U I believe, but seems from last post above this is not what you call a "Blended" type?

Thank you!

Dave

[Sideband]

In my present worshop (soon to be moved) my main source of bench light is an RS magnifier lamp with a round flourecent tube. This is more than adequate for normal use. The main worshop light is nothing more than a standard compact flourecent 25W which gives the equivalent light output of a 100W tungsten lamp. I do have plenty of natural daylight as well and often don't need the main light on. The RS magnifier lamp is more than adequate at all times. I do wear glasses all the time as well (otherwise the world is a blurr)!!


Rich.

[dseymo1]

Do be aware that when setting up greyscale tracking, our eyes will not be reliable if they have accommodated to a discharge lamp (unless, of course, you are lucky enough to have the correct type of lightbox for the job). A sort of 'auto white balance' takes place, which adversely affects judgement of colour.
Also beware of the strobe effect where moving parts are involved, with the risk that they can appear stationary and thus 'safe'.

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by dseymo1

Also beware of the strobe effect where moving parts are involved, with the risk that they can appear stationary and thus 'safe'.

This is a significant problem with ordinary fluorescent fittings. The traditional answer is lead-lag dual fittings or 3 phase sets of fittings. The modern answer is high frequency ballasted fittings. You can get a 5' 58W HF fitting from B&Q for under £20. Complete absence of flicker makes the light much more pleasant. They come with a tri-phosphor tube which is slightly red-deficient but otherwise not too bad.

[GMB]

There are two issues with lighting that I have found. Contrast variation and shadows is a problem where light sources are small. Gloomy lighting reduces your focal range especially when you reach the age when you eyes don't do much focusing of their own.

My solution is to use a stand-alone halogen up-lighter which I think we bought from Argos for very little money. All the light from the powerful halogen lamp goes upwards and illuminates the whole ceiling. This is much brighter than the rooms normal light with the light coming down from every part of the ceiling reducing shadows.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Richard_Newman

The main worshop light is nothing more than a standard compact flourecent 25W which gives the equivalent light output of a 100W tungsten lamp.

25W CFLs are marketed as equivalent to 150W tungsten. You may or may not agree with this guidance 18-20W CFLs are normally considered to be equivalent to 100W, and 9-11W to 60W.

Paul

[Aerodyne]

Another reason for using adequate lighting is the fact that the iris opens to accommodate the prevailing light conditions - in older folk (me, for instance) this causes quite defocussing - so you can see less detail, even though you may consider the lighting to be adequate. Ageing eyes lose elasticity and focus range. Test yourself. Take off your glasses, if you wear them then, looking at your monitor screen, select some text that you find hard to read with your worst eye. Then look at it through ALMOST closed fingers (you may need to rotate your fingers if you are astigmatic) and note the improvement in detail recognition.
Like John, I've got a powerful magnifying lamp and could not do without it. By the way, those who replied to my Open University 'Workshop Lighting' questionnaire my like to know that all is completed and I await the result...
Tony

[igranic]

One thing to be aware of when investing in new 'low energy' lighting for workshops is RFI, which can be particularly bad on AM wavebands, and seems to affect frame aerial sets more severely than those with ferrite rods.

I was plagued by intermittent RFI until I found the source of interference was the low energy lamps in the kitchen, whilst those in the hallways were 'silent'. Further investigation showed the lamps in the kitchen to have been manufactured by 'Ring', whilst those in the hallway were by GE and Philips. Replacing the kitchen lamps with GE units has brought the RFI levels within the limits of acceptabilty. I have incandescent 'daylight' lamps for workbench lighting; I find that fluorescent/low energy work lights can create significant interference when in close proximity to work in progress.

Edward

[howard]

Hello,

This is what I use when working on radio chassis, a £15 Marks & Spencers anglepoise 60 watt lamp, which is ideal.

Howard

[Boom]

I get by with a 100 Watt gooseneck lamp and a X9 eyeglass for closeups. I do miss my younger eyesight but being a music lover not nearly as much as I'd miss my hearing (which is fine).

[Sideband]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

25W CFLs are marketed as equivalent to 150W tungsten. You may or may not agree with this guidance. 18-20W CFLs are normally considered to be equivalent to 100W, and 9-11W to 60W.

It's a rather old CFL Paul...probably getting on for 10 years! One of the original Philips types with a large frosted glass cover. I think the ratings were different then because they claimed 1/4 the energy consumption of the equivalent tungsten type. I've noticed that modern CFL's have different ratings...even lower wattage with higher equivalent light output.


Rich.

[Paul Stenning]

Let's not get into another discussion about CFLs otherwise this thread will be closed like many that have gone before it.

[Steve_P]

Well for me there's the ceiling light, a walkers light that sits very nicely on my head, and an angle poised lamp and magnifier from Maplin. This can be used as a lamp or as an illuminated magnifier.

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Panrock]

I share this need for better light and a better view of the work as I get older.

I have, first, a bench that is illuminated by daylight from a line of south-east facing windows. Blinds in these windows can be angled to prevent glare from direct sunlight if required.

Second, six 5 ft ceiling fluorescents illuminate the workshop.

Third, there are magnifier bench lamps. The heavily-used one has a 7-inch lens and used to have a slim circular fluorescent tube. After experiencing delays in sourcing a replacement tube though, I converted this lamp to use white LEDs and luxeons. This has proved satisfactory, but compared with the previous tube the light is now rather directional. It's fine working through the magnifier but I can no longer use this unit to back up the general bench illumination.

Steve

[Herald1360]

No!

My shed (14X7) is painted white inside and has a couple of 6' 2X75W striplights in the apex of the roof. I soon took out one of the tubes from each fitting! A 60W anglepoise on the bench is useful for close up lighting and to provide RFI free illumination if required.

My eyes always were a bit odd- one shortsighted and one normal vision, so now the years are catching up I have a blurry zone between about 1' and 5' which makes reading glasses a necessity for computer work and looking at component drawer labels but most everything else is still OK except some of the dashboard instruments in modern cars!

The bright light makes things clearer I think since as the pupil contracts it approaches a pinhole lens in function, which is in focus at any distance, but unfortunately doesn't let much light through.

I'm also a convert to head mounted LED lights for working on household electrics which NEVER seem to need attention at midday in the summer.

Chris