"Victor Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 21:46:47 GMT, "James Sweet"
wrote:


"Victor Roberts" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 19:44:12 GMT, "James Sweet"
wrote:


"Sean" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the answer. I was hoping to simply bypass the switch, but
it
doesn't look like that is going to happen. I guess I'll have to
replace
the
ballast after all.
Thanks, Sean


You can buy a glowbottle starter at any hardware store, usually under
a
dollar.

But it must match his lamp. While the Op did not give us lamp data, he
indicated it was a 40-watt ballast. Therefore I am assuming the lamp
is a 40-watt or 34-watt lamp (until I get better information.) If the
OP lives in the US, I do not believe he can purchase a glow starter
for 40-watt lamps since they will not operate from 120 volt power
supplies. if the OP lives in a part of the work where the normal
supply voltage is 220 to 240 volts, he should be able to find a glow
starter.

40W glowbottle starters are readily available in the US, they were widely
used up until the 70's when rapid start came out and there's still quite
a
few old fixtures that use them. I have a 4 lamp 4' preheat fixture from
the
60's that uses 120v autotransformer ballasts and glowbottle starters.

Actually rapid start is much older than the 1970's, but you are
correct about 40-watt preheat start lamps. The 1981 IES Handbook lists
both 40-watt T12 and 90-watt T17 preheat start lamps. Thanks - I
learned something new today.


Perhaps it was 60's? I'm not sure really, but I do know that preheat start
40W tubes were very common in the 50's and at least partly into the 60's, RS
didn't seem to catch on until the 70's. One possible reason is that RS has
much more trouble starting in cold weather or high humidity and requires a
grounded reflector in close proximity to the lamp.

The 90W T17 lamps are dinosaurs, I've never actually seen one up close but
they were used in streetlighting some in the 50's. Another neat lamp I'd
love to get my hands on are the GE PowerGroove PG17 series of VHO (1500mA)
lamps that were somewhat common in the 70's. They use a rippled tube that
allows a 9' arc length in an 8' tube and were available in 4' as well.