GTD – A New Barn Light

I may be slow, but I do eventually get things done. At least some things. Today it was a barn light. The old one had burned out last month. I replaced the bulb after a couple weeks (it’s a slow process to get the specialty high pressure sodium bulb. It didn’t work, so I wasn’t sure if it was a fuse/wiring issue or perhaps the ballast.

A ballast online was about $28, so I debated about what to do. Last night after karate we ran down to Lowes and I checked out other lamps. I found an outdoor CFL, that’s supposed to work in winter for $30, so I grabbed it. At the very least it would tell me if the other light is broken because of wiring.

I knocked off work around 5 and walked out to the barn, wrench, electrical pliers, and the new light. Removing the old one was easy, and I was glad I’d put a switch on it to kill power and get me working quickly without messing with circuit breakers.

Then I forgot the electrical tape and needed a screwdriver for the new light. A trip back to the house for supplies, and water, and then only about 15 minutes spent making sure things were connected securely and the wiring put together OK. I threw the switch and…

nothing

Well, I didn’t expect it since it has a photocell on the top. I covered it up and briefly got a flicker, so I thought it was working, but it needs like 5 minutes of dim light to come on. So I headed off to Boy Scouts with Delaney, hoping it would work.

I came home to find it working, which is always a good feeling. Now I have another light to debug and figure out what broke on it. I think I’ll wait to see if this one works in the cold. If it does, I’m not sure it’s worth the $30 to fix the old one when that buys a new one.