weird question, but I found two of these on lights, and I was hoping someone has seen something like this before?? or has an idea or anything


I am kind of curious to know if it is a recording device

thank you

3/21/2016 3:29:53 PM

Have you tried pushing it?

3/21/2016 3:34:00 PM

It cannot be pushed, but I did try and I accidentally pushed it out of its location because it is not securely mounted

is this a typical fluorescent light feature? I have never seen it before, so I have to ask

[Edited on March 21, 2016 at 4:29 PM. Reason : .]

3/21/2016 4:18:05 PM

Looks like an indicator light for something but I don't know what. Could it be a motion sensor?

3/21/2016 6:34:11 PM

looks nothing like a camera

looks every bit like a panel indicator light

best guess: a cheap way of quickly determining whether the bulbs are dead or power is out
no lights, no indicator = power dead
no lights, indicator lit = bad bulbs/fixture

[Edited on March 21, 2016 at 6:43 PM. Reason : ]

3/21/2016 6:42:52 PM

If it is a commercial building it could be the indicator light for the battery backup in that fixture. A lot of places now use integrated battery backups on built in fixtures instead of separate units.

3/21/2016 7:44:56 PM

I think ^ is correct. This looks exactly like the indicator on the battery backup units we had when I worked for NCSU Housing. We needed them in areas that did not have emergency lights for building codes (mostly bathrooms). Likely, if you pull off that cover, you will find that the ballast is wired into the unit that that indicator is on. It may be a single unit with backup and ballast integrated together. If that's the case, you'll see wires running from the unit directly to the lamp holders. I can't remember since that was long time ago, but I think the light being off while the indicator is on means the lamps/ballast are bad, while the indicator being off means backup is bad.

3/21/2016 8:59:04 PM

Looks really ghetto-rigged (nice drilling!) to be a fixture with integrated battery, but the idea sounds more plausible than mine, ha

3/21/2016 9:46:42 PM

Thanks guys, I think you are correct. I appreciate the input

3/22/2016 10:30:42 AM