[BuzzKill]

...the other day at some JoAnn Fabric stores. Pretty nifty new tech: the emergency ballast is plugged into a modem that communicates with the mother ship; monitor's battery, charger, lamps, inverter, etc.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Are those standard ballasts or are they for LED? We did an entire laundromat with retro LED setups-- no modem connections just LED--

Wasn't sure the inspectors would buy it but I gave them all the info up front and they were okay with it.

What is the reason for a connection to a modem?

 

[BuzzKill]

Standard, T8's.
The modem's communicate with the lighting contractor's server the unit's status.
I saw another similar setup outside of the store used for the MH's over the parking lot.

 

[Cletis]

Are those standard ballasts or are they for LED? We did an entire laundromat with retro LED setups-- no modem connections just LED-- Wasn't sure the inspectors would buy it but I gave them all the info up front and they were okay with it. What is the reason for a connection to a modem?

Its so corporate has control of switching. If they only realized they went from a 1.5yr payback to about 7 yrs due to the high tech added cost of switching super efficient leds. I could see for 1000w parking lot lights but geez

 

[BuzzKill]

I'm certain this will be a brief sidestep in their eventual upgrade to LED's.

 

[Roger123]

Its so corporate has control of switching. If they only realized they went from a 1.5yr payback to about 7 yrs due to the high tech added cost of switching super efficient leds. I could see for 1000w parking lot lights but geez

I agree, but for a multi floor large building the ROI is much less.

 

[BuzzKill]

Its so corporate has control of switching.

More importantly, they can find out the exact problem with the unit and send out a tech with the proper part and instructions; saves T/S'ing time.

 

[azgard]

...the other day at some JoAnn Fabric stores. Pretty nifty new tech: the emergency ballast is plugged into a modem that communicates with the mother ship; monitor's battery, charger, lamps, inverter, etc.

How accurate and detailed is the logging? Could be pretty convenient for service calls, especially if you have a pretty large range in the life of whatever's installed and the business couldn't care less to track that type of stuff.

 

[jza]

Looks like another piece of junk to break and require servicing.

Bring it on.

 

[BuzzKill]

Looks like another piece of junk to break and require servicing.

Bring it on.

that could very well be the case: I had a return trip a few days later to replace two that I already replaced.

 

[jza]

that could very well be the case: I had a return trip a few days later to replace two that I already replaced.

:whistling2: Sounds about right.

 

[BuzzKill]

:whistling2: Sounds about right.

So they had a tech guy with me, the computer set up dude who was on the phone etc. getting the ballasts to sync up with the mothership; they could tell after awhile if everything with it is gravy or not, saving a future service call, although I was there for 4 hours correcting just a few ballasts., plus they pay the techie. You pay that guy, you pay me...ROI must work out I guess.:blink: