SON E car park light fitting replacement

[DirtySteve]

The underground car park where I live has light fittings like shown below (the image has rotated 90 degrees on uploading) with SON E bulbs in. After 8 years some of these light fittings are failing and won't work with new bulbs.

Is there a common part in fittings like these that can be replaced?

More preferably I'd like to just replace them all with new modern fittings and bulbs. There's ten in total. Can someone recommend a good alternative I can buy that will be well priced to buy and run with a long life?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Steve

Untitled

• DirtySteve
• 28 Jan 2015
• 1

 

[RF Lighting]

Are you using the correct lamps? There are two types of son lamps

If you need replacement fittings, you won't go far wrong with the same type fittings again.

 

[bernardgreen]

Who is responsible for the maintenance of the car park ?

Unless you have their written permission to repair / alter the lighting you should not do anything to the lighting. The legal implications following un-authorised / incompetent work could be extremely expensive for you.

 

[DirtySteve]

Yes, I'm using the correct bulbs. They come with or without internal igniters and I have the right ones. Unfortunately some of the fittings no longer work.
It's a small block of flats which is self managed and I'm responsible for the maintenance so yes I have the necessary permission. I've changed the bulbs myself but will instruct a qualified electrician to repair or replace the fittings.
I was hoping to buy the new fittings first and then get an electrician to fit them so was just enquiring if anyone would recommend anything different.
'RF Lighting' - You recommend sticking with the same fittings. Do you know anywhere I can buy them or what I can search online to find that type of fitting. My attempts so far to find the same type has failed.

Thanks for your comments and help.

 

[Spark123]

Try searching for SON bulkhead, I can see tlc direct do them but can't see where the cable entries are.

 

[RF Lighting]

I know them as son wall packs

 

[Spark123]

If the fittings are not degraded you can probably swop out the control gear

 

[flameport]

Is there a common part in fittings like these that can be replaced?

Yes, ignitor or ballast.

Ignitor more likely to fail. Both are cheap.

 

[Lectrician]

70watt ones rarely come with external ignitors (it's in the lamp), so just a ballast and PF cap in the fitting.

I know these as SON Wall Washers, SON Wall Pack(Thorns old name) or SON Bulkhead.

I would fit similar again personally.

 

[eveares]

70watt ones rarely come with external ignitors

The 70w HPS bulkhead light that I installed at the side of my old house had a external ignitor.

Don't know how LED/CFL bulkhead lights compare in regards of lumens per watt, but they may be an option if you want to replace all the lights; otherwise for fixing the existing ones, first try replacing the ignitors if their external followed by the ballasts and power factor correction cap if changing the ignitors does not work.

 

[RF Lighting]

It usually works out cheaper to buy a complete new fitting rather than buying the guts separately.

We often buy an off the shelf son flood and swap the guts out on failed fittings rather than trying to match an existing fitting.

 

[Lectrician]

Concur - A stocked 70watt flood is cheaper than a bulkhead, and cheaper than the separate components.

 

[eveares]

As others have said, it is likely cheaper to take the control gear out of new HPS floodlights rather than buying the parts separately.

Also and if your allowed to, have you checked that their is power to each light, that there is no loose connections (including junction boxes, known fcu's etc...) and that their are no broken or undiscovered photocells in the circuit.


I also know that 80w mercury vapour lamps usually work fine with HPS ballasts and don't need an ignitor to work. Have you tried a 80w MV lamp and see if it starts as if it does, it is a likely indication that something is wrong with the HPS ignitor.

On a side note to the people on this forum; can LED's exceed the lumens per watts that HPS bulbs can put out?