"Robert11" wrote in message

Hello,

Put up the typical four foot (2 bulb) fluorescent light over my
workbench. Bought at HD.

Probably made in China?


Sometimes it takes, literally 3 or 4 tries turning the AC switch on
and off before it lights and stays lit. Other times, rarely, it'll
catch on the first turn-on.

Not unusual. The cheapie lights often only work well under ideal
conditions. As soon as anything changes, including the environment,
problems can start with the cheap ones. I'll bet it's worst when
humidity is highest.

Is this, likely, a bulb(s) problem or something wrong (like made too
cheaply) a Ballast problem.

New bulb sometimes helps. If they show any burn marks, etc., definitely
replace.

Is this a typical problem ?

Yes, with the cheapies stuff.


I see they don't use or have those little "Starter" small tubes
anymore. I guess this really dates me.

Yup. That's OK though; a lot of us are dated hereg!

If a defective Ballast, best to dump the whow thing and buy another,
at Lowe's this time, or are the Ballast themselves (cheaply)
replaceable ?

If new, bring it back to Lowes for replacement. But yes, replacement is
often as cheap as bulbs and almost always cheaper than a ballast. BUT,
a quality ballast might make the quality of the fixture rise
significantly, so ... .

Any thoughts would be appareciated.

These always require a good, properly applied ground wire. A bad earth
gnd can cause all of the problems you mentioned. Not only that, but
things like distance from grounded fixture metal to bulbs can be
critical too, so if you're bastadizing the fixtures at all or the design
is bad, there's another possibility.
Besides gnd, be certain Hot/Neutral polarity is correct too.

HTH,

Twayne`



Spend

Thanks,
Bob