wide-lite 1000
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| I've seen numerous LED installations in which new LEDs were installed on existing systems only to have old rotten wiring fail causing large outages ! I-84 in Connecticut is experiencing this as we speak . Most of the system is close to 40 yrs. old . Even parts of the existing HPS sections have large sections out .
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Collector,Hoarder,Pack-rat! Clear mercury Rules!!
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Cole D.
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| I saw similar here on the main highway in my town. They replaced GE M400A2 Powr Door fixtures with the Philips Roadfocus, and I noticed sections being out. I don't know if the replacement caused this to happen or not but it's been fixed. I don't know how old the wiring was though, or if the Powr Door lights were original, I just know they've been there since the 90s.
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Collect vintage incandescent and fluorescent fixtures. Also like HID lighting and streetlights.
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wide-lite 1000
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| Over time , wiring insulation dries out and crumbles , connections can corrode or come loose . All valid reasons for upgrading wiring when replacing fixtures. Plus , when installing LEDs in place of the original incandescent or HID the amp draw will usually be much less requiring lower amp fuses/breakers for protection from shorted wiring or defective fixture gear .
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Collector,Hoarder,Pack-rat! Clear mercury Rules!!
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High Intensity
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A few years ago (early 2017), I saw a thing on the local news about old wiring causing new LED streetlights to go out prematurely in one neighborhood in San Bruno, CA, (I can't find the local news article about it, but here is another one I found) and the city, as a temporary solution, connected extension cords to the bases of the poles and started paying residents to run the streetlights until the underground wiring could be fixed. I also noticed that in one article, they were referring to the circuits the streetlights were on as "Regulated Output Circuits", I'm not sure if that's at all related to the old 6.6A series circuits, but in part of the article, it does mention crews recommending that the RO circuits be replaced with parallel circuits, which seems to be what they ended up doing. |
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Joe Maurath, Jr.
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Transgender, Avid About Street Lamps, Insulators.
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I've seen numerous LED installations in which new LEDs were installed on existing systems only to have old rotten wiring fail causing large outages ! I-84 in Connecticut is experiencing this as we speak . Most of the system is close to 40 yrs. old . Even parts of the existing HPS sections have large sections out .
I think the sections with HPS that are along I-84 still out might be part of the older series loops. Especially those with wiring placed underground. Many Hubbell 6.6A HPS street series luminaires were installed wired underground through at least Y2K especially where road work was being done. |
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« Last Edit: September 13, 2021, 08:10:15 PM by Joe Maurath, Jr. »
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"A secret to happiness is letting every situation be what it is, instead of what you think it should be, and then making the best of it."
Please refer to www.insulators.info where I periodically post many images of lights and insulators in the group's Picture Poster Gallery. Thank you.
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wide-lite 1000
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| I didn't realize that I-84 used a 6.6a system . I got the remains of a roadkill GE M250R2 250w HPS from I-84 in Danbury CT back in the early to mid 80's . I pitched the ballast shortly after I got it as it was damaged in the fall . I assumed it was 480v as I didn't know anything about the series systems back then .
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Collector,Hoarder,Pack-rat! Clear mercury Rules!!
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Joe Maurath, Jr.
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I didn't realize that I-84 used a 6.6a system . I got the remains of a roadkill GE M250R2 250w HPS from I-84 in Danbury CT back in the early to mid 80's . I pitched the ballast shortly after I got it as it was damaged in the fall . I assumed it was 480v as I didn't know anything about the series systems back then .
Connecticut liked to use 6.6A series for their highway lighting in the 1950s. Generally most of it was overhead with a single wire (with a break in the line for the series IH transformer). Some I think was underground and yes, 480V in some places too. |
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"A secret to happiness is letting every situation be what it is, instead of what you think it should be, and then making the best of it."
Please refer to www.insulators.info where I periodically post many images of lights and insulators in the group's Picture Poster Gallery. Thank you.
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Gearjammer
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I wouldn't put it past some of them 
Gotta agree with that! |
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wide-lite 1000
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@ Joe Maurath : Such as this ? https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=5207&pos=49&pid=159299 I have one of these exact clam shells in my collection . I also had a GE 480v remote ballast (long gone now !) I'm assuming at some point these were converted from 6.6a to 480v ?? When these were all replaced back in the mid 80's they still had the overhead line . |
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« Last Edit: September 18, 2021, 01:17:16 AM by wide-lite 1000 »
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Collector,Hoarder,Pack-rat! Clear mercury Rules!!
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Joe Maurath, Jr.
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@ Joe Maurath : Such as this ? https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=5207&pos=49&pid=159299 I have one of these exact clam shells in my collection . I also had a GE 480v remote ballast (long gone now !) I'm assuming at some point these were converted from 6.6a to 480v ?? When these were all replaced back in the mid 80's they still had the overhead line .
Yes, that is classic overhead CT street series overhead wiring. Most of what I recall remained that way (notably I-95) until everything went HPS but even at that there were some series (Hubbell) HPS lights installed in later years in certain areas, particularly where road work was being done. Along most CT 50s highways there was underground wiring; most were series. Perhaps others and later highways others at 480V, could never tell one way or the other. I think the 480V and underground routes came a bit later. |
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"A secret to happiness is letting every situation be what it is, instead of what you think it should be, and then making the best of it."
Please refer to www.insulators.info where I periodically post many images of lights and insulators in the group's Picture Poster Gallery. Thank you.
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Econolite03
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Matthew E.
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Speaking of older wiring, I’ve heard of a place (on a non-lighting forum) that replaced some lights on a old series circuit and put in Leotek LEDs, just to have the electronic components literally fry themselves to the melting point.  |
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”The Shape of Quality… in Lighting” - Philips Lighting, 1985
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CreeRSW207
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Speaking of older wiring, I’ve heard of a place (on a non-lighting forum) that replaced some lights on a old series circuit and put in Leotek LEDs, just to have the electronic components literally fry themselves to the melting point.
They put the Leoteks on a series circuit? What were the old lights? |
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Long live the Incandescent streetlights!
Power Company: Eversource
Startup Landscaping/LED retrofit business.
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Econolite03
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Matthew E.
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| IDK what the old lights were, but they replaced them with Leoteks that self destructed. Apparently the surge suppressor and photocell just turned into melted globs if I remember correctly.
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”The Shape of Quality… in Lighting” - Philips Lighting, 1985
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CreeRSW207
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IDK what the old lights were, but they replaced them with Leoteks that self destructed. Apparently the surge suppressor and photocell just turned into melted globs if I remember correctly.
That's weird. Clearly they weren't meant for series lines! |
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Long live the Incandescent streetlights!
Power Company: Eversource
Startup Landscaping/LED retrofit business.
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Ugly1
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| eBay item number 310372615814 is a GE M250A2, 175 watt mercury luminaire equipped with a 6.6 amp series ballast. Expensive, but the seller takes offers and there appears to be over 100 units available.
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