Search for the missing pole light

[jeremysterling]

Service manager tells me this morning to put 2 each 1000W pulse start MH lamps and ballasts on the bucket truck and drive across town to work on a parking lot light that was not working and "possibly hit."

I don't know who, but someone beat me there. They may not have had a bucket truck, but they did have a bucket.

http://forums.mikeholt.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2833&stc=1&d=1234318379

So I ask the manager of the big box if he knows where the pole has gone. He points south and says in a field past the parking lot. He tells me its been there for almost three weeks. So, I'm thinking, you've got a bucket full of 480 volts every night for three weeks! A full mile down the road, I found the pole.

http://forums.mikeholt.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2832&stc=1&d=1234318379

Tomorrow, I'll return with a PVC box to cover the wires in place of the bucket.

http://forums.mikeholt.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2834&stc=1&d=1234318826

http://forums.mikeholt.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2835&stc=1&d=1234318826

 

[LarryFine]

Why didn't you put in the ballasts while you were there? They're easier to do when the lights are on the ground.

 

[normbac]

Why didn't you put in the ballasts while you were there? They're easier to do when the lights are on the ground.

wouldnt hurt to put a couple new bulbs in just in case the old ones were bad:grin:

 

[SiddMartin]

I've removed 'hit' poles before, but I've always duct-taped an orange cone on top w/ the caution tape. :smile: (and yes, I tape the top of the cone off too, so water wont rain in)

 

[jeremysterling]

Why didn't you put in the ballasts while you were there? They're easier to do when the lights are on the ground.

The big box manager asked me to salvage the entire pole. That is why he called us out. To fix and reinstall this pole with these heads. I should only need brown paint and some lexan.

wouldnt hurt to put a couple new bulbs in just in case the old ones were bad:grin:

... and lamps!

 

[SiddMartin]

The big box manager asked me to salvage the entire pole. That is why he called us out. To fix and reinstall this pole with these heads. I should only need brown paint and some lexan.



... and lamps!

How can you fix that pole so that you know it will hold up to what it's s'pose to?? , Like heavy winds and everything else? How do you know there won't be a weak spot ?

 

[jeremysterling]

I've removed 'hit' poles before, but I've always duct-taped an orange cone on top w/ the caution tape. :smile: (and yes, I tape the top of the cone off too, so water wont rain in)

A traffic cone sounds good to me, but truthfully, don't you think a temporary j-box should be installed? This is a very busy shopping center.

 

[jeremysterling]

How can you fix that pole so that you know it will hold up to what it's s'pose to?? , Like heavy winds and everything else? How do you know there won't be a weak spot ?

Exactly... my service manager asked me to get measurements to order a new pole and heads. I'm thinking an engineer should look at the pole base bollard and anchor bolts before we install a new pole (not the old one, of course:smile.

BTW, this is a 40' pole.

 

[SiddMartin]

ya, 40' pole , 2 - 1000w heads, that's a heavy pole. Good idea, chk damage to bolts

 

[Cow]

This is a very busy shopping center.

From the pic with the bucket on the pole base, cars are surrounding it. Had you needed to work on the pole(if it was still standing), do you wait for a parking spot? Or just park in the aisle and boom over the cars?

Seems like shopping center lot lighting is best done before/after business hours.

 

[quogueelectric]

The big box manager asked me to salvage the entire pole. That is why he called us out. To fix and reinstall this pole with these heads. I should only need brown paint and some lexan.



... and lamps!

Aisle 19 has parkinglot poles fully dressed.

 

[quogueelectric]

ya, 40' pole , 2 - 1000w heads, that's a heavy pole. Good idea, chk damage to bolts

Check damage to other cars up to two aisles away.

 

[sii]

Sooooooo....someone drug the pole for a mile with their car?:-?

 

[charlietuna]

Couple of months ago they caught a guy with a 40 foot aluminum street light pole on the top of his van headed for the scrap yard in Miami. Pole was knocked down that morning.

 

[G0049]

Missing poles are quite common in Michigan this time of year. However, unlike Austin, they won't be found untill the snow melts. Drive by any big snow dump in the spring and you'll see light poles, orange barrels, traffic cones, loading dock wheel chocks, concrete parking bumpers, and heaven knows what else, sticking out of the piles of snow as thy melt. When its pretty much gone, you'll find the car keys and loose change that fell out of people's pockets into the street during the winter.

You gotta love winter to live in Michigan. Or just be a little nuts.

 

[jeremysterling]

From the pic with the bucket on the pole base, cars are surrounding it. Had you needed to work on the pole(if it was still standing), do you wait for a parking spot? Or just park in the aisle and boom over the cars?

Seems like shopping center lot lighting is best done before/after business hours.

Daylight is generally the best time...

I keep an eagle eye out for shoppers leaving from around non-working poles and dash across the parking lot with cones. Days like this entail more walking than you would think at first. The ones up front are easier. The shoppers leave after awhile. Its the car-poolers in the back that mess things up. With all the wide open spaces, they tend to huddle around the poles, too. And they park there before business starts and who knows when they get off work.