On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:02:45 -0500, dpb wrote:

Don Klipstein wrote:
In article , Bob M. wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 14 Sep 2009 07:21:12 -0400, "Robert11" wrote:
...
...fluorescent light over my workbench.
...
Sometimes it takes, literally 3 or 4 tries turning the AC switch on and
off before it lights and stays lit. ...
It sounds like you lack a good ground. Make sure the fixture
is properly electrically grounded.
Irrelevant. ...

Fluorescent fixtures that lack the widely-recommended grounding
*usually* "work anyway". But not always.

For what reason? Makes no sense unless the neutral is bad.
You need to understand how discharge tubes light. Flourescents are
gas discharge tubes, and they work something like a xenon strobe -
which will not fire untill the "trigger" is energized - and the
"trigger" is not inside the tube.. The capacitive coupling of the tube
to groud reduces the amount of voltage required to fire the tube,

It is a well known fact among electricians and knowlegeable homeowners
that a bad or missing ground can make a flourescent fixture difficult
to start - particularly if cool or danp.