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#49928 03/20/05 01:42 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 524
Member
... I have a job at a cinema theater,where they have "Tivoli" type,low voltage lights on the floor,designating the aisles and walkways..The "genius" theater owner wants a different look,and bought lengths of LINE VOLTAGE rope lighting he expects me to insert into the channel where the existing low voltage lighting is and he wants to replace..his reason is that he's constantly replacing bulbs,as the high traffic area is given to abuse.He presumes(he was told at a trade show)that these line volt lamps last longer,and the tubing is more resilient to abuse..My take on this is ..I don't think it's a good idea to install this in a public,high traffic area,as it is LINE voltage,and could prove lethal should something go awry..What do you guys think??
Russ


.."if it ain't fixed,don't break it...call a Licensed Electrician"
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 99
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i believe it would have to be listed for commercial use

Joined: Jan 2003
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Moderator
IMO it would have to be listed for walking on. I doubt any rope light product is listed for that use.


Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,876
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e57 Offline
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The little bulbs in this crap go out, and you cant replace them, it's a diposable product! I have also seen many that have a tendancy toward "melting", at the lamps and connectors. Reguardless, it is up to your AHJ to allow them, as I doubt they have the fire rating for use in a place of assembely.


Mark Heller
"Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
Joined: Oct 2004
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Way back in the days of my youth I used to do "maintance" on those lights. (Mainly splicing in fixes for shorted sections.)

Yuck. And I don't know if it is offocially or not, but those tracks are a WET area. Trust me on that one.

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e57 Offline
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Oh, if this guy is cheap, he wouldn't go for the (expensive) idea of side-emitting fiber-optic lighting. But the selling idea is that he will only have to change a few bulbs ever and do it remote from the theater floor.
http://www.tprlights.com/fibercable/ http://www.lightdesignsystems.com/fiber.htm


Mark Heller
"Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 806
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Line voltage aisle lighting?! Is that owner nuts? Or just another victim of trade-show salesmanship?

bentruler is absolutely right, those tracks are a very wet area. In between soda spills (the most electrically conductive [and corrosive] fluid known to man) and janitors with wet mops, the stuff will short out or break down six times faster than the LV stuff. Now picture a cinema full of people when that stuff takes off, arcing and energizing the whole track... [Linked Image]

And the bulb life is a LOT less than LV.

Cinema owners are notoriously cheap, (e57 nailed it spot on) they'd rather spend thousands on the lobby decor than ensuring that their auditoria or projection equipment is up-to-date.

Attic rat, as someone who's dealt with cinema owners for 20+ years, I'd run away from this job. IF you're lucky enough to get paid for your labor, you'll be the one who gets blamed when the stuff breaks down. [Linked Image]

richard and iwire said it best, the answer to both of their points would be NO(not listed) and NO(not for walking on). [Linked Image]

edited for spelling

[This message has been edited by mxslick (edited 03-20-2005).]

[This message has been edited by mxslick (edited 03-20-2005).]


Stupid should be painful.
Joined: Jul 2004
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Hmmm.... Sounds like this should be just about ready for the premier showing of King Ralph II. [Linked Image]

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I like rope light (at my house) but I also dissagree it is commercial grade, in spite of seeing it in bars and resturants all the time.
They say bulb life is 25,000 hours, I assume that is how long it takes to burn out all of them. The first one (really 18 at a time) may go out in less than a week. It is not something I would want to warranty. I only use the stuff where it is easy to swap out and I do end up cutting bad segments out, using the good part on a smaller run. The stuff I have does say it is wet location listed but it is not OK for locations where it will be subjected to damage.


Greg Fretwell
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e57 Offline
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I figure all customers are cheap, especially if they come up with half-cooked ideas like this! $100 he wants to dimm them too! Or will after install.

Back to the fiber optic idea. The Trivoli led stuff can be pulled out and fiber laid back in. Maybe even pulled from the transformer location used for the original install. http://www.tivolilighting.com/docs/aislelighting104.pdf

Oh, and with a simple google seach I come up with what this guy probhably saw at the trade show. http://www.tivolilighting.com/docs/aislelighting104.pdf

I assume this guy wanted to do the same with the rope light garbage? Just doesn't know the differance.


Mark Heller
"Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
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