eLivermore.com - By Bill Nale

 

2018 Little LeagueŽ Intermediate World Series
Installing the new Lights on MB1
Page 2

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Old Lights and their removal
New lights and installation description
Installing the lights

New Lights in Operation
 

 

On June 29 and 30, the field lights on Max Baer 1 field were replaced with new Musco lights.
The lights are Metal-Halide lights, like the previous ones, but will provide much more light than the old set, and be much more evenly distributed.
The old lights had dark spots on the field, especially in the outfield.

The company doing the installation is out of Modesto.  They have installed lights on many ball fields and stadiums.
This job was a retrofit, using the existing poles and wiring to the poles.
They often do the full new installation, including installing the poles.
I would like to thank them for their cooperation and patience with me as I took photos of them working.
It was a 97 degree day when the lights were installed.

All of the photos here, plus many more can be found on the photo site at: http://elivermore.zenfolio.com/lliws
The direct link to these photos is:  http://elivermore.zenfolio.com/mb1_lights
Photos on the photo site are at full resolution, and can be downloaded for free.  Photos on this page are reduced in resolution for fast page loading.

 

Old Lights and their removal

The first photos below are of the removal of the old lights, which occurred on June 29, 2018.


Old lights on the pole near the photo booth on the 3rd base side.

Old lights on one of the infield poles.
Those two poles had 3 lights each while the other four had 4 lights each.
 

One of the old bulbs in the fixture.
 

Old lights being removed.  They used a band saw which went through the metal posts in just a few seconds.

Lowering the old lights to the ground.

Removing the old boxes.
 

Three of the old bulbs.  One of them was not in great shape.
 

 

The new lights
No aiming of the lights is necessary, as that was all done at the factory.
Using a computer model of the field, the exact positioning of each light was determined.
This was used to set the position of the brackets on the mounting bars (see below), as well as the tilt of each light at the factory..
The lights are numbered, and must be installed at the proper place as each has the tilt is different on each.

To get the proper positioning, installers need to position the mounting brackets at the right angle on the poles.
Each mounting bracket has a laser pointer installed at exactly the right direction to point to home plate when the bracket is properly installed on the pole.
Photos below show the laser pointer, and an installer standing on home plate to indicate to the others when the bar is properly positined.

Once the mounting bar is positioned properly, the lights are mounted to the individual brackets, and they are pointing in the proper direction.


Boxes of lights next to the visiting team's dugout.
Each box contained one light.
 

The new ballast boxes, mounted on the poles.
 


Another view of a ballast box.  This is on one of the infield poles with 4 lamps.
One ballast (two on each side in the upper portion of the box)
and capacitor can (center section on right) per light.
 

This is a photo of a light bracket on the mounting bar.
Orange cap covers the electrical connection, that mates with the one on the lamp (see photo at right).
The position of this bracket is factory set to aim the light in the proper direction.
 

The mounting point on the light.  Electrical connection in the middle.
This fits into the bracket shown on the left.
It is rotated 180 decrees from how it is installed.

Mounted lights.  The tilt on the light is also factor set.
 

This is the laser pointer mounted on the light bar.
This laser was factory set to point right at home plate when the light bar is in the proper position.

One of the installers is standing on home plate, indicating that the laser is pointing right at home plate.
The light bar is now properly positioned.
 

One of the new lights.

Closeup of one of the lights after installation.
 

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Actual Installation

 


The first light heads up to be installed.
 

The first light being installed.

 

The first pole (1st base side infield) after all 4 lights installed.
 

Installing the support bar on the 2nd pole.

 

Light being mounted.
 

 

 

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The last mounting bar being put into place.

 

The last light is pulled up.
 

Last light being installed.

 

Almost finished outfield light set.
The wiring must still be completed.

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New Lights in Operation
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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