sitelights
05-12-2008, 01:12 AM
Lightcraft's Brass E.T. Wallwasher FL-113B-T3 gains the designation "mini" for 2008; the published dimensions in their 2007 catalog given as 4.5"w x 3"h are slightly larger than the product I received. Oddly the same model photograph in the 2007 catalog has a different appearance than that in the 2008 catalog. Perhaps these were pre-production samples that were photographed. Mysterious. The actual product in front of me has a glass dimension of 3.25"w x 1.75"h which is frosted but a clear and a striated lens are included with the fixture. A stake and a T-3 20w bi-pin lamp are also included. The stake depicted in the attachment has been modified to accept the Hadco stake cap; the reason for this is detailed in the spotlight review.
The oval shape of the face plate and shape of the fixture body in profile may account for the "E.T" designation. The lens is held in place by a gasket which can be slightly stretched to fit over the lens edges making lens insertion into the gasket easy. The portion of the gasket beyond the lens edge has holes that accept the threaded shaft of the knurled thumb screws that secure the lens to the shroud and the shroud to the body in a kind of sandwich. This is a nice touch spoiled by the holes in the gasket being too large to capture the thumb screws...an opportunity lost. I fitted the screws with O-rings as I did on the deck light. To my eye the shiny brass thumb screws shout for attention as If their questionable function was a benefit rather than a drawback. The deck and the flood do not have tapered walls at the top of the threaded holes which as stated before add to the difficulty of aligning the screws for proper insertion.
The "key" type turn screw for adjusting the toothed knuckle surfaces does not appear in the 2008 catalog image but is shown in the 2007 image. Mine had the key type that is now replaced with a knurled knob; my preference however would be a Phillips head in place of either.
This is another "tool-less" design but the head of the thumb screw is so close to the shroud edge that it can be gripped only with finger tips; this requires many more thumb/finger actions to loosen or secure the lens/shroud assembly to the body. This is very fussy and time-consuming compared to twirling a Phillips head screw unobstructed by the shroud edge. The head of the supplied "thumb" screw has a shallow X which will accept a straight, thin-bladed screwdriver so everyone will use this method of removal and replacement. "Tool-less" indeed!
I made similar comments about thumb screws and captured bolts in the review "Unique's New Flood" (2004) in this forum. The flood reviewed in 2004 now comes in a more compact version, named "Stellar" with a single socket. The compact Unique flood appears on their website and it too has the pointless and out-of-scale thumb screws.
Within the body of the fixture a curved mirror-finished stainless steel reflector is fixed behind the socket/lamp; this is best configuration I have seen. In reviewing every other floodlight I have had to scold the manufacturer for their flawed reflector. A glance at the comparison review for other floodlights indicates how poorly this important feature has been botched by others.
Beam quality with the frosted lens is very good and meets the criteria for a flood light by being twice as wide as the distance from the surface being illuminated. The photometric is given as "spread: 4 x 8 @ 4' position". The clear and the striated lenses produced a beam that I will term "blotchy". Beam quality was tested shining on a smooth blank wall painted medium gray. Other than slightly higher FC output than the frosted lens there seems no point in changing to the other lenses.
As is apparent, I have mixed feelings about this fixture. The physical size, the lamp wattage, beam quality and nicely done oiled brass finish (all three Lightcraft fixtures share the same finish) are all attractive. The tool-less concept, the details that produce a user unfriendly design (except for the spotlight) and the 2008 vs 2007 pricing are negatives. We might have added these three fixtures to our line; finish match is important to us we will probably have to pass on all three.
However if there is a deck light of conventional design out there with a similar finish we could bite the bullet on pricing. The 2008 prices suffer in comparison to the 2007 prices but even with an average 20% increase they pale next to inceases in our 10/2 cable of choice. Overall I think the prices are in line with other brass fixture prices for 2008; it is in the details that the Lightcraft spot, deck and flood suffer.
The oval shape of the face plate and shape of the fixture body in profile may account for the "E.T" designation. The lens is held in place by a gasket which can be slightly stretched to fit over the lens edges making lens insertion into the gasket easy. The portion of the gasket beyond the lens edge has holes that accept the threaded shaft of the knurled thumb screws that secure the lens to the shroud and the shroud to the body in a kind of sandwich. This is a nice touch spoiled by the holes in the gasket being too large to capture the thumb screws...an opportunity lost. I fitted the screws with O-rings as I did on the deck light. To my eye the shiny brass thumb screws shout for attention as If their questionable function was a benefit rather than a drawback. The deck and the flood do not have tapered walls at the top of the threaded holes which as stated before add to the difficulty of aligning the screws for proper insertion.
The "key" type turn screw for adjusting the toothed knuckle surfaces does not appear in the 2008 catalog image but is shown in the 2007 image. Mine had the key type that is now replaced with a knurled knob; my preference however would be a Phillips head in place of either.
This is another "tool-less" design but the head of the thumb screw is so close to the shroud edge that it can be gripped only with finger tips; this requires many more thumb/finger actions to loosen or secure the lens/shroud assembly to the body. This is very fussy and time-consuming compared to twirling a Phillips head screw unobstructed by the shroud edge. The head of the supplied "thumb" screw has a shallow X which will accept a straight, thin-bladed screwdriver so everyone will use this method of removal and replacement. "Tool-less" indeed!
I made similar comments about thumb screws and captured bolts in the review "Unique's New Flood" (2004) in this forum. The flood reviewed in 2004 now comes in a more compact version, named "Stellar" with a single socket. The compact Unique flood appears on their website and it too has the pointless and out-of-scale thumb screws.
Within the body of the fixture a curved mirror-finished stainless steel reflector is fixed behind the socket/lamp; this is best configuration I have seen. In reviewing every other floodlight I have had to scold the manufacturer for their flawed reflector. A glance at the comparison review for other floodlights indicates how poorly this important feature has been botched by others.
Beam quality with the frosted lens is very good and meets the criteria for a flood light by being twice as wide as the distance from the surface being illuminated. The photometric is given as "spread: 4 x 8 @ 4' position". The clear and the striated lenses produced a beam that I will term "blotchy". Beam quality was tested shining on a smooth blank wall painted medium gray. Other than slightly higher FC output than the frosted lens there seems no point in changing to the other lenses.
As is apparent, I have mixed feelings about this fixture. The physical size, the lamp wattage, beam quality and nicely done oiled brass finish (all three Lightcraft fixtures share the same finish) are all attractive. The tool-less concept, the details that produce a user unfriendly design (except for the spotlight) and the 2008 vs 2007 pricing are negatives. We might have added these three fixtures to our line; finish match is important to us we will probably have to pass on all three.
However if there is a deck light of conventional design out there with a similar finish we could bite the bullet on pricing. The 2008 prices suffer in comparison to the 2007 prices but even with an average 20% increase they pale next to inceases in our 10/2 cable of choice. Overall I think the prices are in line with other brass fixture prices for 2008; it is in the details that the Lightcraft spot, deck and flood suffer.