That’s a Spinal Tap reference for sure! Probably made by Marshall.
Colby said:
That’s a Spinal Tap reference for sure! Probably made by Marshall.
Same here, that was the first thing that came to mind. Classic!
Completely unrelated, but I’d send an RFI to confirm those color temperatures—they’re inconsistent everywhere.
Baylor said:
Completely unrelated, but I’d send an RFI to confirm those color temperatures—they’re inconsistent everywhere.
I’ve had so many jobs where I spec’d 3000K, and the contractor replaced them with a mix of 2700K and 5000K just because they were cheaper. It’s such a mess.
@Elliott
And, of course, they passed all the ‘savings’ onto the owner, right? Honestly, the design community needs to stand its ground more against contractors.
Lin said:
@Elliott
And, of course, they passed all the ‘savings’ onto the owner, right? Honestly, the design community needs to stand its ground more against contractors.
Totally agree. Punchlisting those kinds of things feels so satisfying. I always include in my contracts that no substitutions are allowed without written approval, but they still try to slip things through.
@Elliott
Honestly, I can’t imagine being bold enough to try that. If my submittal doesn’t match the lighting schedule, I send it straight back to the supplier to fix.
Lin said:
@Elliott
And, of course, they passed all the ‘savings’ onto the owner, right? Honestly, the design community needs to stand its ground more against contractors.
This kind of thing drives me crazy. I work with specifiers and try my best to keep the spec intact, but it’s such a losing battle with contractors.
@Tobin
The only reason they get away with it is because too many of us let them. If we all collectively pushed back harder and tightened specs, things might improve.
Lin said:
@Tobin
The only reason they get away with it is because too many of us let them. If we all collectively pushed back harder and tightened specs, things might improve.
As an electrical contractor, I completely agree. I spend so much time fighting to ensure we stick to the spec. Substitutions should only happen when:
a) The original fixture can’t meet the schedule.
b) The design team’s choice doesn’t work as intended.
c) They explicitly ask for a value-engineered option.
Trying to make extra money on the lighting package is just a bad business model.
I think that’s an error. Maybe that column refers to dimming type—0-10V? Let me know if you need help clarifying.
Adler said:
I think that’s an error. Maybe that column refers to dimming type—0-10V? Let me know if you need help clarifying.
Back in the day, we had standalone rheostats that could push bulbs to 110%. Killed them faster, though.
@Fintan
How does that work? Rheostats can’t output more voltage than they receive.
Grayden said:
@Fintan
How does that work? Rheostats can’t output more voltage than they receive.
It wasn’t a true rheostat. It was an amplifying coil. Gave a bit more punch when needed.
@Fintan
What’s an amplifying coil? And what kind of lights needed that kind of setup?
Grayden said:
@Fintan
What’s an amplifying coil? And what kind of lights needed that kind of setup?
They’re probably talking about a ‘Variac.’ It’s a transformer with a sliding tap to adjust output voltage, sometimes giving slightly more than input voltage.
@Kelley
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!
Grayden said:
@Fintan
What’s an amplifying coil? And what kind of lights needed that kind of setup?
It was for standard 120V setups like Lekos and pars, not high-voltage systems.
Grayden said:
@Fintan
What’s an amplifying coil? And what kind of lights needed that kind of setup?
It was for standard 120V setups like Lekos and pars, not high-voltage systems.
Got it. I assumed you meant something different. Thanks for clarifying.