gordon s Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) Hi Warren, been sitting on the bed since 5.30 watching The Masters.....as I was Thursday and Friday...... Wonderful place to play golf, even in November....Augusta, not the bed... Wiring wise, the lights are 240v, but sealed plastic construction, so much happier there is no danger of shock. (Those are the mains leads hanging down with 3 pin plugs on for test). When I had the garage conversion done, they put in two lighting circuits. Four downlights in the vaulted ceiling and three down each side on the roof slope. I pulled out one of the downlights last night and they all have 12v transformers. The one switch for the lights down both sides can be seen in the second pic above. My plan is to replace the dimmer and pull out the wiring via the downlight hole. With any luck I will be able to connect all the light battens back to the switch using the existing wiring. Once that’s done, I’ll cut some plaster board circles to fill the holes and then fill and paint. With any luck the wiring will all be hidden from view. I guess these lights are 600-700mm above the boards, but am fairly sure you could go well over a metre or so without light deterioration, particularly if you build a deflector to stop the spread of light sideways. Just thinking I have one in my filter shed in the garden and that must be a metre plus above the filters and the light is fine for a shed 12’ x 5’. Not for detail work like loco’s, but fine in a dark shed. Edit: Forgot your question re fluorescents. They give the light output as 4,000 lumens. Just looked up 5’ tubes on Screwfix and they say 5,200 lumens so 20% lower, but then you don’t want everything washed out. You could use shorter tubes with 4,000 lumen output, but then you may have lighting gaps over an 18’ length. Edited November 14, 2020 by gordon s 2 1 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted November 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 14, 2020 9 hours ago, gordon s said: Old lighting.... That's exactly why I declined my friend's suggestion of downlights. You can get wide angle ones nowadays - we have fitted them in our kitchen - but I still prefer the tubes in the railway room. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharky Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 20 hours ago, gordon s said: Downside? I've whacked my forehead on the front of the fascia several times......Ouch! Of course, I'm 6'3", so others may not have a problem. I will experiment to see how to resolve this as it may well be I can narrow the depth of the fascia or lift it slightly. If not, I'll wear a hard hat....... Maybe a helmet? They come with a chin strap to help keep them on. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted November 15, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 15, 2020 When headroom is tight, I find that a hard hat means I hit when I might have just missed. A thin bump cap works better. Paul. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 13 hours ago, gordon s said: The spec says they are non dimmable, but then they aren’t particularly expensive. Heat wise, they do appear to get warm, but the spec says up to 25,000 hours, so I would have thought they would have incorporated a heat sink somewhere within the plastic case. To be honest, I haven’t had one on long enough to see if it’s an issue, but I can’t see Screwfix selling anything if it was a problem. I bought an outdoor LED light from one of Screwfix's competitor. The data on the box stated "****** company ensures our products give years of trouble free use" stopped working after 18 months. They initially basically said tough its out of Gtee, I reminded them of their claims on the packaging and a gift voucher arrived for 80% of its original cost. I am a bit unlucky with LED's as I bought a lighting unit and 2 our of the 3 bulbs exploded within 2 months damaging the light fitting and the third stopped working On the other hand our kitchen is full of them as is the alcove in our lounge with only 1 needing changing 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted November 15, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 15, 2020 Managed to get the third tube in this morning and all three are wired and working. Still some work to do with the fascia, but overall pleased with the outcome. The telling thing for me is that standing at the bottom of the right angled staircase up to my railway room, it appears that the room is flooded by daylight. It’s not until you enter the room can you see it’s dark outside and the blinds are shut. Well worth the effort....Just three more sides to do. 26 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pirouets Posted November 15, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 15, 2020 Actually seeing where the old lights were I understand better now what you were seeing. I hadn't looked that closely at other images when I posted my cheeky comment and assumed they were higher up firing down the ceiling surface to defuse over a wider area rather than being so close and thus having dark areas because the coverage did not join up. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium thegreenhowards Posted November 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 16, 2020 Gordon, Those LED tubes look excellent. My loft is currently lit with fluorescent tubes which run off 240V but plug together meaning only one set of wiring to the first tube. Do yours plug into each other or do you have to wire each separately? Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 My wiring options are somewhat limited by having to use the original wiring as it is virtually inaccessible within the roof structure. As each individual tube is only rated at 45w, there’s no problem connecting them together. These particular tubes don’t have the end to end connections, probably to keep the cost down, but it didn’t take long to take each cable to a central point and from there connect into the existing wiring back to the original switch in the roof slope, meaning all three are controlled by one main switch. My plan is to eventually connect them all to one main switch, but have single architrave switches on each fascia that will allow independent switching of each area. All 10 tubes will require just 450w, way below the maximum rating of 3120w for 1.5mm lighting cable. I’ll use something like these with a 16mm plastic box on the back on each fascia plate. https://www.screwfix.com/p/crabtree-capital-10a-1-gang-2-way-light-switch-white/25858 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted November 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hi Gordon. I like the new lighting but how do you clean the outside of the windows? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 (edited) We have a window cleaner...... Joking apart, they are just above ground floor level, so easily accessible. Our window cleaner who comes round has one of these extendable poles that will go up a couple of floors easily and uses 'pure' water pumped from a tank in the back of his van. The days of hanging off ladders two floors up with a chamois are long gone. Edited November 16, 2020 by gordon s 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted November 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 16, 2020 Just so long as the windows are shut when the cleaner comes around... 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted November 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 16, 2020 4 hours ago, gordon s said: We have a window cleaner...... Joking apart, they are just above ground floor level, so easily accessible. Our window cleaner who comes round has one of these extendable poles that will go up a couple of floors easily and uses 'pure' water pumped from a tank in the back of his van. The days of hanging off ladders two floors up with a chamois are long gone. Now that you have added the second paragraph my 'funny' rating seems less appropriate! I had wrongly assumed your attic was on the third floor like mine where I find the ability to turn the windows almost inside out to clean them very handy. We no longer have a window cleaner. The one we used to have passed the business to his son who then decided that too many of the houses in our neighbourhood had bolted gates which made accessing the sides and back too much trouble, despite having a ladder. I started doing it myself years ago and haven't bothered trying to find another window cleaner. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 (edited) That's OK Teaky. I thought I was being a bit sarky, so added the explanation..... We almost have a ground floor attic..... This was our garage, so the conversion was a railway room upstairs and my office/study below plus the utility room at the back. As my job was international, it made far more sense to work from home and only go into the office when required....and it gave me somewhere to run trains. Next job will probably be to clean the roof.... Edited November 16, 2020 by gordon s 8 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted November 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 16, 2020 I didn't think 'sarky' for a moment. My 'funny' rating was because it made me laugh. BTW I rather like a roof with moss, lichen etc. It softens things in a natural way. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted November 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 16, 2020 17 minutes ago, teaky said: BTW I rather like a roof with moss, lichen etc. It softens things in a natural way. Same here - a bit like the housey equivalent of a weathered loco.... 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 G'Day Folks I like the Loco, Fire lighting equipment nonchalantly left against the engine shed wall !!!!!! manna 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted November 17, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 17, 2020 22 hours ago, manna said: G'Day Folks I like the Loco, Fire lighting equipment nonchalantly left against the engine shed wall !!!!!! manna Nah, Gordon bought a log cabin from IKEA. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 (edited) Trouble is I lost the instructions, so have no idea which piece goes with which piece....... Been to the tip again this week, with loads and loads of plywood off cuts. I can actually get into my garage/workshop now without tripping over bits of wood. Another appointment tomorrow when all the shed off cuts will go and another next Tuesday to get rid of another ton of stuff. I have to admit, my wife has been ‘giving constructive advice’ ( some may call it nagging, but not me....) for months now about clearing up and it really has made a difference. Absolute pleasure working in the garage this afternoon and the extra light upstairs has made ET a lot easier to see. Even the booking system at the tip works. Roll up at the prescribed time, no queueing and everything just happens without fuss or tension. I hope they stick with the system even after lockdown..... Edited November 17, 2020 by gordon s 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted November 17, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 17, 2020 1 hour ago, gordon s said: I have to admit, my wife has been ‘giving constructive advice’ ( some may call it nagging, but not me....) for months now about clearing up ...... Ahhhhh, that explains it..... For a railway modeller to be chucking out bits of ply (nothing bigger than 6" square I hope?) there has to be threats of serious violence, or even worse..... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 Depends how many pieces you have left over...... You can accumulate more than a few when you’ve made several false starts over the years. Getting rid of the scrap boards is easy.....it’s all the other remnants that are just left on the garage floor.... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted December 16, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 16, 2020 (edited) Three weeks, just 21 days can seem an eternity when you are a child and looking forward to the joys of Christmas. As the years go by, you wonder where three weeks went as it just disappears. Three weeks ago, I was in great health and attending my annual check up on my immune system at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. They are the renowned specialists in immune disorders and I have been going there for over 20 years, so always enjoy the banter with the doctors and nurses. As someone who has lived with this problem for years, I also get the opportunity to chat to others in the clinic who may be facing this treatment for the first time. Anyway all went well and I returned home to have a phone call from the clinic requesting a second blood test from my GP as my iron levels seemed way out of the norm. The next few days are just a blur as I was then taken into The Radcliffe for an MRI and two CT scans. Bottom line is that they have found a blockage in my bile duct which appears to be bile duct cancer and I’m going back for a PET scan to confirm things. The good news is that the CT scans show that the cancer is probably in one small area and hasn’t spread elsewhere. The bad news is that it means quite complex surgery to remove half to two thirds of my liver plus a few other surplus bits. They tell me this will be curative surgery and whilst my body will be like an empty cupboard (I had my colon removed 50 years ago), there is a good chance I will recover and could be golfing again after several months. They tell me removing a large chunk of liver is not an issue and it will regrow. The key for me is now being fit enough to survive the surgery..... Three weeks ago I was golfing two or three times a week and really well. Now, it appears I have another battle on my hands. It’s all happened so quickly, I have had no time to dwell on the situation, let alone think about a large layout and a ton of stock. I have to be upbeat and positive as I can’t change anything, but the next few weeks could be a challenge...... This is not meant to be a poor me or doom and gloom posting, just a note to let you know that updates on ET may be few for a while..... Edited December 16, 2020 by gordon s 90 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ray H Posted December 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 16, 2020 All the best Gordon, I was wondering whether you were still golfing in the rain and that's why we hadn't seen your posts. Did you ask the important question "Will I still be able to build points for my model railway"? Festive Greetings as well while I'm here. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted December 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 16, 2020 Hi Gordon, all the best for the up-coming op and hope it's not too far away - the sooner the better and the quicker to get back to golfing model railways. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesysmith Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 FFS gordon, life does have a way of throwing a curved ball ever so often. I will not say good luck, as luck is what you make it, but will say speedy recovery. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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