On 10/25/2018 5:18 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Thu, 25 Oct 2018 16:23:15 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 10/25/2018 3:27 PM, wrote:
Will someone please explain overhead fluorescent lights for me. What is a ballast--- or starter or light tube? Sometimes some of them work and sometimes others may work. Are LED lites much better? Thanx for any reply Herb

LED lights are much better. Last longer and are cheaper to operate.

Starters are a little metal can that screws into the fixture. They have
been pretty much eliminated in the past 25+ years now.

The ballast is a heavy electrical device that powers the tube. It is
inside the fixture, usually a long black thing. They do burn out at times.

The light tubes is the visible glass tube that lights up. Best to
replace both of them at the same time if a fixture has two, but can have
four. The ends often start to go black when old and ready to burn out.

If you are having problems, the smartest thing you can do is replace
them with LED fixtures.

ANd LED lights do not emit ultraviolet so they don't cause color
fading.

Best solution is to replace the flourescent fixture with dedicated LED
fixture rather than retrofitting

Â* The most cost-effective solution is to buy tubes on ebay and rewire
your existing fixtures . The ones I got were less than 5 bucks each ...
and it took an average of 10 minutes each to rewire the fixtures . More
light than I've ever had , and I have 2 spares if one ever fails .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !