My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

depends what the lights are fluorescent yes – you shouldn’t use fluorescent lights around rotating machinery
fatigue yes i’d say
smooth the voltage to the lights or change the type of lights

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

Yes.. circuitry to correct the sine wave.

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

depends what the lights are fluorescent yes – you shouldn’t use fluorescent lights around rotating machinery
fatigue yes i’d say
smooth the voltage to the lights or change the type of lights

his power comes from a genset.

Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?

What’s a Bay light? More info required.

Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?

Maybe.

Is there any way to stop it?

Yes, turn the lights off.

Can you count?

(e^j*pi) + 1 = 0

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

depends what the lights are fluorescent yes – you shouldn’t use fluorescent lights around rotating machinery
fatigue yes i’d say
smooth the voltage to the lights or change the type of lights

They are mercury vapour or sodium vapour lights, not fluorescent. They start off pink and take several minutes to come up to full intensity.

sibeen said:

Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?

What’s a Bay light? More info required.

Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?

Maybe.

Is there any way to stop it?

Yes, turn the lights off.

Can you count?

(e^j*pi) + 1 = 0

Is that what makes hydro give off bad vibes, man?

morrie said:

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

depends what the lights are fluorescent yes – you shouldn’t use fluorescent lights around rotating machinery
fatigue yes i’d say
smooth the voltage to the lights or change the type of lights

They are mercury vapour or sodium vapour lights, not fluorescent. They start off pink and take several minutes to come up to full intensity.

i have heard that the frequency of the light isn’t so great

if you are worried about it you can buy powerful LEDS now with something driving them that means no flicker

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

wookiemeister said:

depends what the lights are fluorescent yes – you shouldn’t use fluorescent lights around rotating machinery
fatigue yes i’d say
smooth the voltage to the lights or change the type of lights

They are mercury vapour or sodium vapour lights, not fluorescent. They start off pink and take several minutes to come up to full intensity.

i have heard that the frequency of the light isn’t so great

if you are worried about it you can buy powerful LEDS now with something driving them that means no flicker

i was told once that the low pressure sodium light had been linked with cancer

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

wookiemeister said:

depends what the lights are fluorescent yes – you shouldn’t use fluorescent lights around rotating machinery
fatigue yes i’d say
smooth the voltage to the lights or change the type of lights

They are mercury vapour or sodium vapour lights, not fluorescent. They start off pink and take several minutes to come up to full intensity.

i have heard that the frequency of the light isn’t so great

if you are worried about it you can buy powerful LEDS now with something driving them that means no flicker

:) that’s what I meant.

wookiemeister said:

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

They are mercury vapour or sodium vapour lights, not fluorescent. They start off pink and take several minutes to come up to full intensity.

i have heard that the frequency of the light isn’t so great

if you are worried about it you can buy powerful LEDS now with something driving them that means no flicker

i was told once that the low pressure sodium light had been linked with cancer

Like I said, that hydro is scary shit, man.

wookiemeister said:

i was told once that the low pressure sodium light had been linked with cancer

That was before they discovered the healing properties of sticking apricot seeds up the bum.

>his power comes from a genset.

Which may make the problem worse.

sibeen said:

>his power comes from a genset.

Which may make the problem worse.

indeed, my point.

I’ve tried all sorts of lighting for seeing opal with in the dark.. running off a genset.

These lights form the base load for the genset.

Is it a 3 phase genset? Spread the lights across the three phases, that will reduce the flicker by a factor of three.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Is it a 3 phase genset? Spread the lights across the three phases, that will reduce the flicker by a factor of three.

Yes it is 3 phase. There are six lights and they were supposed to be spread across the phases, but they are all on the one phase I think.

morrie said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Is it a 3 phase genset? Spread the lights across the three phases, that will reduce the flicker by a factor of three.

Yes it is 3 phase. There are six lights and they were supposed to be spread across the phases, but they are all on the one phase I think.

It is time to fix it then.. It can be very unsettling, working under flickering light. That comes from a watchmaker looking at pivots as thin as the tip of a needle… under a fluro reading light.

when you say it will reduce the flicker by a factor of 3, does that mean it will be faster, slower, or less intense?

I am taking video at 240 fps and I can see it like a strobe light. I have to turn off the high bay lights and use one of those small lights you get from hardware shops. The 500 watt ones with a 100mm glass tube bulb in them. No flicker from those. I thought it was the whirlybirds in the roof at first.

morrie said:

when you say it will reduce the flicker by a factor of 3, does that mean it will be faster, slower, or less intense?

Currently, your flicker is like this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Simple_full-wave_rectified_sine.svg

Spreading the lights across three phases will give you the bottom half of this:

http://openbookproject.net/electricCircuits/Semi/03269.png

Will require two or three times the wiring though…

Morrie, in all seriousness, if you are running from a generator, that ‘may’ cause an issue. Hard to diagnose from far away.

Not exactly relevant, but about two years ago I was called to a large international airport that is quite close to where I live cough. They were having problems with runway lighting, where the lights would vary in brightness on a steady and periodic basis, over a few seconds. Whilst on mains power there was no issues but on generator supply the problem would kick in. Runway lighting is powered by a constant current supply, so the mains, or generator, fed a rectifier system which was set up to feed a constant current out to the runway. The varying brightness was disconcerting for incoming pilots as it appeared as if the runway was getting closer, then further away, then closer……..

I spent two days examining the problem and then told them that it was caused by the generator system and the df/dt (rate of change of frequency) of its output. I was then informed (quite harshly) by both the rectifier and generator manufacturers that I had no idea what I was talking about. It took me quite a while to get the airport administrators to get behind me and support my position and force both manufacturers to heed my advice and carry out further testing to verify my position.

After about three days more of testing, farnarkling about, yelling and screaming, i eventually got the gen manufacturer to change the governor on the genset to one with a lot slower feedback loop. The problem disappeared.

Of course, for all concerned, I was still a dickhead :)

Found better a better image:

Currently, your flicker is like this:

Spreading the lights across three phases will give you the bottom half of this:

Will require two or three times the wiring though…

morrie said:

I am taking video at 240 fps and I can see it like a strobe light. I have to turn off the high bay lights and use one of those small lights you get from hardware shops. The 500 watt ones with a 100mm glass tube bulb in them. No flicker from those. I thought it was the whirlybirds in the roof at first.

The halogens can cope.. it is the circuitry, you need to fix.. these days, about $2 per light.

>Will require two or three times the wiring though…

DO, surely just changing a few of the feeds at the switchboard will do it.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Found better a better image:

Currently, your flicker is like this:

Spreading the lights across three phases will give you the bottom half of this:

Will require two or three times the wiring though…

Thanks. I will investigate that. Thats going to take quite a bit of cable.

sibeen said:

Morrie, in all seriousness, if you are running from a generator, that ‘may’ cause an issue. Hard to diagnose from far away.

Not exactly relevant, but about two years ago I was called to a large international airport that is quite close to where I live cough. They were having problems with runway lighting, where the lights would vary in brightness on a steady and periodic basis, over a few seconds. Whilst on mains power there was no issues but on generator supply the problem would kick in. Runway lighting is powered by a constant current supply, so the mains, or generator, fed a rectifier system which was set up to feed a constant current out to the runway. The varying brightness was disconcerting for incoming pilots as it appeared as if the runway was getting closer, then further away, then closer……..

I spent two days examining the problem and then told them that it was caused by the generator system and the df/dt (rate of change of frequency) of its output. I was then informed (quite harshly) by both the rectifier and generator manufacturers that I had no idea what I was talking about. It took me quite a while to get the airport administrators to get behind me and support my position and force both manufacturers to heed my advice and carry out further testing to verify my position.

After about three days more of testing, farnarkling about, yelling and screaming, i eventually got the gen manufacturer to change the governor on the genset to one with a lot slower feedback loop. The problem disappeared.

Of course, for all concerned, I was still a dickhead :)

doesn’t sound like the same problem I think, sibeen.

morrie said:

I am taking video at 240 fps and I can see it like a strobe light. I have to turn off the high bay lights and use one of those small lights you get from hardware shops. The 500 watt ones with a 100mm glass tube bulb in them. No flicker from those. I thought it was the whirlybirds in the roof at first.

Incandescent lamps do not flicker, as they are essentially a piece of red/white hot metal – it doesn’t cool down enough between cycles to diminish light output.

Your metal vapour lamps are a different matter, and do strobe considerably. (as you have noticed)

sibeen said:

Morrie, in all seriousness, if you are running from a generator, that ‘may’ cause an issue. Hard to diagnose from far away.

Not exactly relevant, but about two years ago I was called to a large international airport that is quite close to where I live cough. They were having problems with runway lighting, where the lights would vary in brightness on a steady and periodic basis, over a few seconds. Whilst on mains power there was no issues but on generator supply the problem would kick in. Runway lighting is powered by a constant current supply, so the mains, or generator, fed a rectifier system which was set up to feed a constant current out to the runway. The varying brightness was disconcerting for incoming pilots as it appeared as if the runway was getting closer, then further away, then closer……..

I spent two days examining the problem and then told them that it was caused by the generator system and the df/dt (rate of change of frequency) of its output. I was then informed (quite harshly) by both the rectifier and generator manufacturers that I had no idea what I was talking about. It took me quite a while to get the airport administrators to get behind me and support my position and force both manufacturers to heed my advice and carry out further testing to verify my position.

After about three days more of testing, farnarkling about, yelling and screaming, i eventually got the gen manufacturer to change the governor on the genset to one with a lot slower feedback loop. The problem disappeared.

Of course, for all concerned, I was still a dickhead :)

Yep, we all are until we act like the engineer who worked all his life for a company and developed a machine which improved the efficiency out of sight.. no extra money came his way.. he retired, all he got was the fake gold watch blues.. They called him back in to fix a seemingly insurmountable problem.. he put a chalk mar X on one part.. said replace this part, here’s my bill.

it read.. for placing one chalk mark, $1. for knowing where to put the mark, $999, 000

Far out, both Wokkie and Sibeen don’t know what a High Bay is. 400w MV lamp in a very cheap spun ali reflector and used in almost every warehouse and factory.

Yes wookie you can get LED replacements for High Bays, but a) they still draw 150-225w so not a huge power saving and b)they are not as bright as a 400w MV and c) they effing expensive. I just had a sample in brought in two weeks ago and coulnd not justify the price.

sibeen said:

>Will require two or three times the wiring though…

DO, surely just changing a few of the feeds at the switchboard will do it.

Potentially, yes. If he is lucky.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

sibeen said:

>Will require two or three times the wiring though…

DO, surely just changing a few of the feeds at the switchboard will do it.

Potentially, yes. If he is lucky.

a pun on the potentiality?

>They called him back in to fix a seemingly insurmountable problem.. he put a chalk mar X on one part.. said replace this part, here’s my bill.
it read.. for placing one chalk mark, $1. for knowing where to put the mark, $999, 000

Charles Steinmetz

Morrie High Bays flicker a bit when brand new (when they still have the pink tinge) and when they are old (2-4 years). But are pretty stable for the inbetween period. However I would not be suprised if the genset was also an issue.

>Far out, both Wokkie and Sibeen don’t know what a High Bay is.

Never designed a factory in my life, never will :)

sibeen said:

>They called him back in to fix a seemingly insurmountable problem.. he put a chalk mar X on one part.. said replace this part, here’s my bill.
it read.. for placing one chalk mark, $1. for knowing where to put the mark, $999, 000

Charles Steinmetz

:)

Stealth said:

Morrie High Bays flicker a bit when brand new (when they still have the pink tinge) and when they are old (2-4 years). But are pretty stable for the inbetween period. However I would not be suprised if the genset was also an issue.

it is that the genset is the problem.. fix that first ie: the circuitry and then see if the rest is still a problem.

Stealth said:

Morrie High Bays flicker a bit when brand new (when they still have the pink tinge) and when they are old (2-4 years). But are pretty stable for the inbetween period. However I would not be suprised if the genset was also an issue.

I can’t recall how long I have had the shed. A couple of years I guess. I had not noticed this strobe effect earlier on, but then I haven’t been doing the high speed video for long either. The fatigue problem has been around since the beginning I think.

it is that the genset is the problem.. fix that first ie: the circuitry and then see if the rest is still a problem.
—————-
If the genset is the problem then fix it. But it is cheaper to buy a $30 lamp and see if old lamps are the problem before trouble shooting a genset.

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

morrie said:

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

It may be more electrical than mechanical in the genset. Back EMF, reactance… other random electrical jargon.

Stealth said:

it is that the genset is the problem.. fix that first ie: the circuitry and then see if the rest is still a problem.
—————-
If the genset is the problem then fix it. But it is cheaper to buy a $30 lamp and see if old lamps are the problem before trouble shooting a genset.

I’ve done a lot of that.

gensets can have voltage adjusters added etc., lights can have circuitry added. Earth leakage can be made up.. just take the problem to an electrician if in doubt.

morrie said:

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

it isn’t about fixing the generator.. it is about fixing what is between it and the lights in use.

Stealth said:

morrie said:

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

It may be more electrical than mechanical in the genset. Back EMF, reactance… other random electrical jargon.

yeah.. that stuff. ;)

Stealth said:

morrie said:

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

It may be more electrical than mechanical in the genset. Back EMF, reactance… other random electrical jargon.

Hmmm. I will consult with my electrical engineer mate. The flicker is 50 hz by the looks of it.

morrie said:

Stealth said:

morrie said:

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

It may be more electrical than mechanical in the genset. Back EMF, reactance… other random electrical jargon.

Hmmm. I will consult with my electrical engineer mate. The flicker is 50 hz by the looks of it.

it should simply be a matter of matching the light usage with the generator output.

morrie said:

Stealth said:

morrie said:

The genset sits on a rock steady 50 hz as far as I can tell. It was the best machine available. A Shindaiwa 12 kVa. Serviced regularly, never misses a beat.

It may be more electrical than mechanical in the genset. Back EMF, reactance… other random electrical jargon.

Hmmm. I will consult with my electrical engineer mate. The flicker is 50 hz by the looks of it.

That’s what I thought. Each time the 50hz sine wave reaches a peak, the arc lamp arcs.

But then, I’m just a dumb truck driver, what would I know?

Kingy said:

morrie said:

Stealth said:

It may be more electrical than mechanical in the genset. Back EMF, reactance… other random electrical jargon.

Hmmm. I will consult with my electrical engineer mate. The flicker is 50 hz by the looks of it.

That’s what I thought. Each time the 50hz sine wave reaches a peak, the arc lamp arcs.

But then, I’m just a dumb truck driver, what would I know?

I’m not an electrician either. ;)

Some light reading for you Morrie,
Extensive, but working up from basics to movie production considerations.

But then, I’m just a dumb truck driver, what would I know?
—————————
(bites tongue really hard…)

http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html

I would of thought the light would dim when the volts crosses 0 volts, that happens twice per cycle.

Stealth said:

But then, I’m just a dumb truck driver, what would I know?
—————————
(bites tongue really hard…)

Don’t be shy ;)

Glance Fleeting said:

I would of thought the light would dim when the volts crosses 0 volts, that happens twice per cycle.

Ballasts and caps help smotth out the power.

Tejay said:

http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html

Ah. Interesting. While not a portable generator, it is of the brushless type. I will examine the output with my oscilloscope.

Kingy said:

morrie said:

Hmmm. I will consult with my electrical engineer mate. The flicker is 50 hz by the looks of it.

That’s what I thought. Each time the 50hz sine wave reaches a peak, the arc lamp arcs.

You are close – the arc also strikes on the negative half-cycle, so it is a 100hz flicker.

A 100hz flickr (and optional feeling of discomfort it causes) is normal for the way you have things set up. If the flicker is closer to 50hz, then it may be an issue with the supply.

I have also heard of modifying gas discharge lamps (a bridge rectifier between the ballast and the lamp itself) so that it runs flicker free on DC. The mod is a bit of a cludge though and shortens lamp life. Personally, I think spreading them across phases is the best way to go.

morrie said:

Tejay said:

http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html

Ah. Interesting. While not a portable generator, it is of the brushless type. I will examine the output with my oscilloscope.

Yes, looks an interesting read. And for all intents and purposes, your genset being self-contained is “portable”.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

morrie said:

Tejay said:

http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html

Ah. Interesting. While not a portable generator, it is of the brushless type. I will examine the output with my oscilloscope.

Yes, looks an interesting read. And for all intents and purposes, your genset being self-contained is “portable”.

All being well, this thread should be of help to morrie. I need to work it out too. my genset is on wheels, retractable wheels. Nobody else has one like mine but that’s not the point. the Halogen light bulbs that mimic the old incandescents in appearance.. blow out because I believe the sine wave from the genset is wrong for them the 240v LED ones flicker, the Halogen down light type work well but they are way too hot to have near your face while swinging a pick.

Morning all. Pouring down here, which is great, as the blokes will be picking up smouldering logs today and carryng theme around the place. No chance of stray sparks setting off the adjacent Nat. Park. It might even help put out a couple of the fires.

morrie said:

Morning all. Pouring down here, which is great, as the blokes will be picking up smouldering logs today and carryng theme around the place. No chance of stray sparks setting off the adjacent Nat. Park. It might even help put out a couple of the fires.

Best of luck but when you finish with the rain.. point it towards my place.. ;)

morrie said:

Morning all. Pouring down here, which is great, as the blokes will be picking up smouldering logs today and carryng theme around the place. No chance of stray sparks setting off the adjacent Nat. Park. It might even help put out a couple of the fires.

Whoops. Fred Wong.

party_pants said:

wookiemeister said:

i was told once that the low pressure sodium light had been linked with cancer

That was before they discovered the healing properties of sticking apricot seeds up the bum.

oohhhh this must the other side of panty pants coming out rather than angry pants

it might be frequency or anything else

i still stick by suggesting changing the light source

if you change the light source you’ll change the frequency of the light source as in spectrum and cure any strobing effect

an led light should have something decent to drive it without causing problems and last longer

you’ll need to look around for something that drives the LED with a smoothed wave ie little to no pulsating effect

http://www.olino.org/us/articles/2010/04/12/the-flickering-of-light-bulbs

If one is working in an enviroment where is it of vital importance whether a part is moving or not (or rotating or not) then the choice of a lamp should be the one with low (<<40 %) modulation index value.

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.
==

then there is a flicker i guess

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.
===

no fumes in workshop area?

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

can the genset handle the load

you might get strobing if the genset can’t put out enough juice

with fluoros you can get strobing when all lights are in synch

turn something else on that draws some juice and see if the flicker can be picked up in the high speed video ie worse or better

HID ballast cycles can create a stroboscopic effect, and can cause a
potentially dangerous condition where rotating machinery appears to be
not moving.http://www.designlights.org/downloads/highbay_guide.pdf

HID “strobe effect” can be minimized by connecting adjacent fixtures to
different phases of a three phase power system, as shown by the numbering
system in Layout 1 shown to the right on page 5.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) Fixtures designed for
metal halide lamps is often categorized as highbay or lowbay
distribution. The light distribution of highbay fixtures is usually
symmetrical, and is often adjustable to produce narrow to medium
wide (44 – 60 degrees) with spacing criteria values of 1.0 or less. This
light distribution is meant to concentrate light on horizontal work
surfaces from lofty mounting heights of 25 feet or more

High-intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps) are a type of electrical gas-discharge lamp which produces light by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc tube. This tube is filled with both gas and metal salts. The gas facilitates the arc’s initial strike. Once the arc is started, it heats and evaporates the metal salts forming a plasma, which greatly increases the intensity of light produced by the arc and reduces its power consumption. High-intensity discharge lamps are a type of arc lamp.

High-intensity discharge lamps make more visible light per unit of electric power consumed than fluorescent and incandescent lamps since a greater proportion of their radiation is visible light in contrast to heat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_discharge_lamp

http://www.candelo.com.au/iinno-products/industrial/high-bay-lights/45w-eco-high-bay-light-detail

•Environmentally friendly •Low heat •Noise free •Soft light beams and strobe flash free •Wide-range of adjustable voltage •High efficiency •No mercury or lead •No UV or radiation

wookiemeister said:

http://www.candelo.com.au/iinno-products/industrial/high-bay-lights/45w-eco-high-bay-light-detail

•Environmentally friendly •Low heat •Noise free •Soft light beams and strobe flash free •Wide-range of adjustable voltage •High efficiency •No mercury or lead •No UV or radiation

What to use for my genset base load?

wookiemeister said:

HID ballast cycles can create a stroboscopic effect, and can cause a
potentially dangerous condition where rotating machinery appears to be
not moving.http://www.designlights.org/downloads/highbay_guide.pdf

HID “strobe effect” can be minimized by connecting adjacent fixtures to
different phases of a three phase power system, as shown by the numbering
system in Layout 1 shown to the right on page 5.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) Fixtures designed for
metal halide lamps is often categorized as highbay or lowbay
distribution. The light distribution of highbay fixtures is usually
symmetrical, and is often adjustable to produce narrow to medium
wide (44 – 60 degrees) with spacing criteria values of 1.0 or less. This
light distribution is meant to concentrate light on horizontal work
surfaces from lofty mounting heights of 25 feet or more

High-intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps) are a type of electrical gas-discharge lamp which produces light by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc tube. This tube is filled with both gas and metal salts. The gas facilitates the arc’s initial strike. Once the arc is started, it heats and evaporates the metal salts forming a plasma, which greatly increases the intensity of light produced by the arc and reduces its power consumption. High-intensity discharge lamps are a type of arc lamp.

High-intensity discharge lamps make more visible light per unit of electric power consumed than fluorescent and incandescent lamps since a greater proportion of their radiation is visible light in contrast to heat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_discharge_lamp

Thanks for the links.

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

My workshop is lit by high bay lights. These produce a flicker that is visible when I take high speed video.
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then there is a flicker i guess

I can’t notice the flicker, but I had someone come in the other day who was quite distressed by it. Others describe a mysterious fatigue when they work in there.

The lights are driven from a good quality diesel genset.
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no fumes in workshop area?

Two questions. Is this flicker normal for this type of lighting?
Is it likely to be the cause of the fatigue?
Is there any way to stop it?
Can you count?

can the genset handle the load

you might get strobing if the genset can’t put out enough juice

with fluoros you can get strobing when all lights are in synch

turn something else on that draws some juice and see if the flicker can be picked up in the high speed video ie worse or better

lights are 2.4 kw. Genset is 12 kVA. No issue with power.

morrie said:

wookiemeister said:

http://www.candelo.com.au/iinno-products/industrial/high-bay-lights/45w-eco-high-bay-light-detail

•Environmentally friendly •Low heat •Noise free •Soft light beams and strobe flash free •Wide-range of adjustable voltage •High efficiency •No mercury or lead •No UV or radiation

What to use for my genset base load?

Glance Fleeting said:

morrie said:

wookiemeister said:

http://www.candelo.com.au/iinno-products/industrial/high-bay-lights/45w-eco-high-bay-light-detail

•Environmentally friendly •Low heat •Noise free •Soft light beams and strobe flash free •Wide-range of adjustable voltage •High efficiency •No mercury or lead •No UV or radiation

What to use for my genset base load?

LOL :-)

i’m thinking change the type of light to the LED type

you’ve mentioned that you aren’t short of a quid so you might as well take the simple option to remove the strobing effect