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| MonMotha:
The fixture is the correct size, at least in terms of width and length. The thing is meant to take the 36" tube that I'm using. The issue is that the channel formed underneath it (where the ballast is mounted and the wires are meant to be run) is far too tall. My biggest concern is heat from this stuff, actually. It's a fairly tight space. You really can spare me the "dude, electricity is dangerous, you're going to kill yourself" lecture. The EE degree taught me plenty of that, and if I wasn't aware of it beforehand I would be dead by now anyway. I appreciate your concern and information (including safety info, especially application specific or otherwise non-obvious safety info that I might not be aware of), but the alarmist stuff is unneeded. The guy who sold me the fixture (and actually saw what I was going to do) was fairly optimistic that this would work fine, but apparently did not take into account the ground plane requirement, hence why I decided to ask - I don't do fluorescent lighting (my work is mostly digital and RF). The person who sold it to me is, after all, just your average hardware store lackey: a fair bit of experience selling them, but likely very little in actually installing or using them. The issue with using most stock fixtures is vertical clearance. In most cases, the problem is dead space underneath things. My objective was to elimate that dead space: for the "metal plate" I was just going to use the mounting plate for the original fixture. It may be that I just can't fit a fluorescent in there (especially given heat concerns), and I'll just leave it unlit in that case since it isn't worth moving to more esoteric methods of lighting. I'm guessing that it's probably easier to just attempt to cram an undercabinet light in there (though even that'll be fun...these lights have lots of extra plastic on them). It's too bad though - I wanted the more even light. |
| SirPeale:
An F15 fixture (undercounter) are dead easy to replace, they're an industry standard. And once behind a marquee, you'll never notice. |
| MonMotha:
I managed to find a 22" T5 undercabinet type fixture that (just barely) will fit in the space needed with no modification. Unfortunately, I don't believe T5 comes in 36" (or if it does, you can't buy it at your average hardware store), and as a result of it being so much shorter, the lighting is a bit uneven, but concentrated at the center it doesn't look too bad - I'd still like more even though. At least the shorter stuff is lower power, so there is less of a heat concern. It's solid state, so no giant ballast, too - definately a plus. |
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