How fast time flies—we are already at the end of 2024. So much has changed this year as we look back and reflect on what has been, but one thing is constant: a new year brings with it the chance for next year to be better. As each new generation of lighting professionals evolves, many of us who have experienced 40 or more years in this crazy world of lighting hope that our contributions have meant something, and that the next generation of lighting leaders will improve on the work that we have produced. Certainly, we all can learn from our past mistakes, as they come with a dose of wisdom. So, as we close out another year, let’s look at some past failures in the hope that we can gain greater insight.
The following is a list of some big whoppers, but it is not a complete catalog by any means. While lighting is paramount to improving the human condition, each new advancement finds Murphy (of Murphy’s Law fame) waiting in the wings to pounce.
Our story starts at the turn of the century, circa 1880, where electrical pioneers were in hot pursuit of the electrification of the world, with Thomas Edison leading the charge with direct current. Edison is credited with the first installation of lights onboard a vessel (the S.S. Columbia), comprising clothbraided copper wires affixed to his first lampholder base, which was wood and metal to energize the carbon filament lamps. Edison and his team of engineers failed to consider the ship’s vibration, which caused the lampholder assembly and the lamp filaments to break. The solution was creating string lights that would dangle and swing to absorb the vibration. So, out of failure, came the first string lights that are often utilized at many current venues. Today, the UL standard for safety of incandescent lampholders is UL 496: Edison Base Lampholders, which would not permit wood as a means of securement of a live part.
Lighting prior to the electrification period was from candles, oil lamps and gas lighting fixtures. Metal piping was run throughout buildings where the lighting fitting was secured. Edison was keen to realize that the electric wires for his new lighting scheme could be run in the obsolete gas pipes using a little fitting called a “crowfoot.” Later, steam heating pipes were also used; however, the problem was the steel pipes were corroded on the interior from prior use, and the insulation on the conductors would become abraded, shorting the circuit and creating smoke and, in some cases, fire. The current electrical code NFPA 70, published as the National Electrical Code by the National Fire Protection Association, outlines raceways for conductors and does not permit cast or wrought-iron pipes for the passage of electrical leads.
“So, out of failure, came the first string lights that are often utilized at many current venues”
Fast forward to the late 1890s where much experimentation took place to create a better lamp source with more light output and longer life than the incandescent lamp. Scientists such as Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich Geissler and Julius Plücker, among others, studied the ability to create light with a partially evacuated glass tube through which a current was passed, thereby creating various forms of the fluorescent lamp that is so ubiquitous today. But the scientists realized that a means of controlling the lamp current and starting voltages was required, and so the fluorescent ballast was born. Electrical current passing through the lamp and ballast did, however, create heat and, if left unchecked, the lamp and associated ballast would self-destruct. To decrease the temperature of the ballast, a metal case was used that contained a potting compound. The first material used as that potting compound was bituminous material, which is essentially a man-made product—asphalt.
Two significant problems occurred during the early days of fluorescent lamps and ballasts, the first being that if the enameled wire coils became overheated and shorted, it would cause thermal runaway—but then the bituminous material ignited and schools, hospitals and the like would suffer a fire and black billowing smoke. UL 935, Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts, required revision to address the safety concerns. The reworked standard addressed the potting compound, which was less bituminous and included more UL Recognized Components that were tested for electrical and thermal properties. The bigger change was that fluorescent ballasts required a thermal protector such that Class P was compulsory for all fluorescent ballasts except for small reactor types.
We can delineate many more examples of learning from technological mistakes; perhaps I will attack the topic again in 2025. My final parting comment for 2024 is to please be safe with festive lights and decorations, check all wires and electrical connections for damage, follow manufacturers’ instructions for safety and ensure that all exterior displays employ products that are suitable for outdoor use.
Jerry Plank, LC, is the CEO/founder of Wilger Testing, an accredited third-party laboratory testing for product safety and performance.
