The Workshop/Garage

Hi, in another thread the subject of emergency lights in the event of a power cut was mentioned and another person asked for a link to one that was mentioned, so I thought I would post a **LINK** here for some that are available. I dare say there are many other suppliers of such things and I do not have any connection to any of them, other than being an occasional customer.

When I built my garage and after installing the electrics (which was before all of the current legalities) I accidently dropped a lump of steel onto a flex, which tripped the RCD out, which was good, but it was almost dark and all the lights went off also which I didn't think was so good. At the time I had a smaller spare consumer unit, which I installed to serve the lights, with it's own RCD and so if I get any electrical problems with my machines tripping out the RCD for them, it will leave the lights on. This of course does nothing for my safety if there is a power failure of the mains supply. I've known about emergency lighting units for many a year, as they were installed in the processing plants where I used to work several years ago. The mention of emergency lights in the other thread, has reminded me once again that I have still not done anything to address this issue, and if the lights do go down in my workshop, unless it's a clear moonlit night, it's a very dark walk even to the house, so I think it might be best to invest in one for my own piece of mind.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 30/12/2015 09:50:56

Because of the size of the premises I have 3 Distribution boards. "Upstairs" deals with the main house (a bungalow), "Downstairs" deals with all the lighting and general power to the utility room and workshops/garage. "Garage" deals solely with the machinery power largely with dedicated individual breakers. The larger machines are fed with their own "industrial" blue socketry.

Yes a couple of emergency lighting units would be a good idea!

How many cheap led torches can be bought for 25quid? Average workshop only needs three, one clipped to each machine, easily located when the power drops out.

Regards Ian.

Just a torch hanging on the wall by the fire extinguisher. If the power fails, more likely to be a supply problem to the neighbourhood, the lathe and milling machine have NVR switches. I know the layout of my workshop like the back of my hand, Just move slowly and carefully and reach for the torch which I will need to get round the junk and motorcycles in the garage.

Make sure the torch is always there and works.

JA

There are plenty of solar powered, motion sensing LED lights around for under £10. I have one mounted in my garden shed because it is not connected to mains power. I also have one over my front door so that I can find the right key to stick in the keyhole. They would be perfect for an emergency light and you do not have to worry about testing and battery replacement.

Mike

They were flogging bright orange led lanterns in morrisons at one point, they look like THIS (but orange...)

Cheap as chips, 3 quid each at the time, they take 3 x AAs and lasted the entire winter as a night light when set at low on the dimmer

Within the next year or two I have some building alterations to do and it means a big rewire as where the main 3 phase cable comes into the premises with knock off switch and big dizzy board, all this will have to move into the next building.

So basically a new cable from the wall mounted outside meter into the new building and then the dizzy box relocating which means it's a good opportunity for a complete rewire. Not as bad as it sounds as the existing buildings are all trunked at roof level, so it's just reposition sockets and switch boxes and install new drops.

My lighting is a mess, old fittings all over the place. Recently I have been experimenting with these LED strips and found that two 1 metre lengths glued onto a piece of 3/8" x 3/8" alloy angle and inserted into a 20mm poly tube give off an inordinate amount of light for 5W total @12v

The advantage of these as well is that you can daisy chain them by using standard push together conduit fittings and and additional wiring for other lights can run down the back of the angle and be out of sight. It is my intention to fit these in all three buildings and run them off six massive fork truck batteries that will be charged up from roof mounted solar panels on the new building. There will also be a mains charger for backup.

Hopefully this means all lighting and in these buildings I have to have lights on all the while, irrespective, will be for free or at least slowly paying back the return.

I have recently fitted two strips of these LEDS into the Donald and believe me they are blindly bright. In a tube mounted application you can diffuse the light from the individual LEDS by lightly spraying the tube with a white rattle can.

I fitted a mains powered emergency light with rechargeable batteries,in my workshop as out in the sticks it can be pitch black if the power fails,I bought the lamp from Screwfix.

as I also play at woodwork I wanted to have light if the power dropped out- large saw or planer takes time to run down and I don't want to be leaning, looking, praying nothing happens until I think its stopped turning.

Just wired 2 self illuminating units to the live supply to my lights. I was so impressed I fitted 2 more in the garage for the same reason - so I can see to get out and find out what's happened.

If power trips I can see what's happening and see my way out. Got lots of torches but you can guarantee they'll be a sod to find in the dark. I thought my safety well worth the cost, but each to his own on that front.

A happy , healthy and "relaxed" new year to one and all.

Ian

"Got lots of torches but you can guarantee they'll be a sod to find in the dark"

Must be an awfully big workshop if you can't find a machine with a torch clipped to it.

Regards 'nother Ian.

Not tried it but solar garden lights often get sold off in handfuls cheaply. They might only last a year each but you could keep the others in the dark ready to replace. So put one by the main light and it will charge

Living in a village where we frequently get power cuts I never go anywhere without a torch [or2] in my pocket, & have needed it on a number of occasions, it's no trouble & easy to find, & the modern cree led's are small & powerfull,also usefull for keeping an eye on the premises & getting logs in the dark, or when you blow the trip switch doing a bit of electrical testing & catch the earth to the live or neutral.

Note the word "Find" crops up a lot regarding any Torch.

Personally I'd rather not have to "Find" anything to light my way, hence I've fitted three emergency light units, one in my workshop/garage, one in the house (in the larder where the consumer unit is and has a glass panel door, so it will also light the hallway) and one in the attic.

Nick.

Edited By Nick Hughes on 30/12/2015 21:08:31

John, any chance of a pointer as to where one might source "these LED strips"? I already have a 12v solar/battery combination installed in my garage to power my homemade rainwater harvesting system to keep SWMBOs blooms looking splendid during the dry(?!) summer months. Being basically unused for about 7-8 months of the year it would be easy to take a 12v supply into the workshop to give me some "free" lighting during the winter!

Regards Martin.

I harvested the solar panels from a a batch of LED garden lights, soldered them together, and made a power supply for battery charging. The garden lights only die when the Nicads give up, and there are cheap replacements here, 600 Ma hr AA size. I want 6 more PV cells to up grade my power supply.

Ian S C

Hi, torches are good enough, if you have them to hand. I've got a number of these pocket sized LED ones, but they seem to be just like most of my tape measures and seem to migrate into one place and they never seem to stay in any of my pockets, no matter how many times they are redistributed. A fixed light that is ready and waiting to come on in an instant, is a better option in my opinion.

Regards Nick.

Martin,

This is a good link to see the different types but you can do a lot better going direct to China.

You want the 5050 Cool white, try the others and you will see what I mean.

**LINK**

Thanks for the link Nick.

This unit looks good to me but what do they mean by "maintained" and "non-maintained"?

**LINK**

Hi Vic, must admit I didn't know, but looked it up and basically "maintain" is always on and "non-maintained" only comes on when power fails. I believe that maintained ones are favoured in public places, as general lighting can be off during times when no one is around etc.

Regards Nick.