Lighting pictures - Low tech weather-proofing techniques for outdoor lighting

I took the following picture of outdoor lighting to show you a real original technique of custom weather-proofing of light fixtures. These light were installed at a tomyam restaurant by a highway in the east coast. The restaurant was located about thirty kilometers to Kuala Krai from Gua Musang.

Picture 1 - Improving the IP rating

Picture 1- Here I think the electrician was trying to improve the IP rating of the light fixture. Since the raindrops would come in the vertical direction, improving the top end of the fixture would be a sensible guess. At the price of wiring jobs normally paid by the local population, there were not that many alternative materials available to the rural electrician. However the restaurant was located by one of the busiest main artery roads between Kota Bharu and Kuala Lumpur. So there were plenty of empty cans of soft drink and plastic bottles of mineral water thrown away by road users, especially near popular stops like this restaurant.

So that was the solution for our creative electrician in order to give a quality electrical installation within contract cost paid by his client. The size of the 1.5 liter plastic bottle would give enough diameter for the light fixture. The length was also just nice enough to cover down to the starter unit at the side of the metal casing.

So there you have it. An increase of the IP rating for the fluorescent light fitting. It now become a weather-proof, outdoor type so the owner did not need to spend the extra money for a factory manufactured outdoor light fixture.

The electrician has done a very good job. The client was happy and was more than willing to recommend him to others who were looking for a good electrician. This was really a good advertising for the electrician since it was a very popular restaurant by a main highway. The satisfied customer himself was the owner of a restaurant in a rural area, which means he was also a reputable source of information for whoever was looking for anything.

I think that is enough for today's lesson. However I am feeling generous today, so I have decided to throw a bonus. Look at the picture below.

Picture 2 - Providing a shade over a fixture with low IP rating

Here our electrician wanted to show off his skills further more. It was also at the same restaurant, but at another corner of the metal sheet roof.

Instead of improving the IP rating of an electrical appliance or equipment, we can use a low IP rating type but provide a shade over it so the rainwater from above would have no effect. So that was what our electrician did. He provided a metal sheet roof over the light fitting.

Well, I will not elaborate further. A picture says a thousand words.

See you in the next post.

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