ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested. From googling i
guess the ballasts are too cheap in these things..

How can i tell if it has a good ballast? From googling the I read on
groups cheap ballast go through bulbs prematurely and leave black bands
on the ends which you can tell its a cheap ballast.

thanks for suggestions!

- shawn

ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested.

I assume you are talking about fluorescent lights?

If so, I recommend fixtures that use the thinner T8 style bulbs and low
temperature electronic ballasts. They turn on instantly, with no
flickering, even in the middle of winter.

I bought mine at Home Depot about 5 years ago, and paid $50 each for a 4'
long, dual bulb fixture. Sorry, I don't recall the brand.

I have four of these fixtures in my garage, and I haven't even replaced a
light bulb in the last 5 years. They still work as good as the day I
installed them.

Anthony

"shawn" wrote in message
oups.com...
ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested. From googling i
guess the ballasts are too cheap in these things..

How can i tell if it has a good ballast? From googling the I read on
groups cheap ballast go through bulbs prematurely and leave black bands
on the ends which you can tell its a cheap ballast.

Can't answer your question; I thought a bad ballast wouldn't light bulbs,
but your question implies otherwise.

I have three cheap ($10) fixtures in my shop. One is 15 years old; the
others are 4 and 2 years old (my shop kept getting bigger...). All work
fine, I think I have replaced one bulb in all three of them ever. You have
just had bad luck.

Some of the really cheap fixtures have non standard integral ballasts in
them. Look for any fixture with a removable ballast transformer, preferably
an electronic one for T8 32watt lamps



"shawn" wrote in message
oups.com...
ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested. From googling i
guess the ballasts are too cheap in these things..

How can i tell if it has a good ballast? From googling the I read on
groups cheap ballast go through bulbs prematurely and leave black bands
on the ends which you can tell its a cheap ballast.

thanks for suggestions!

- shawn

On 6 Sep 2006 20:17:43 -0700, "shawn" wrotF:

ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested. From googling i
guess the ballasts are too cheap in these things..

How can i tell if it has a good ballast? From googling the I read on
groups cheap ballast go through bulbs prematurely and leave black bands
on the ends which you can tell its a cheap ballast.

thanks for suggestions!

- shawn

I bought the cheapies too - 8 of them. I put them in my new garage.
The next winter, all of them went bad. As though only one bulb would
work. I replaced the "bad" ones with new bulbs, but still no luck.
Somebody told me that cold temps affect the cheapies. So I went back
to incandessant-style with neon insert bulbs.

Wish I could help you more.

Just throw out the fixture and replace it with one or more regular
light fixtures that just hold a standard light bulb. Then put compact
flourescent bulbs in them.

On 6 Sep 2006 20:17:43 -0700, "shawn" wrote:

ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested. From googling i
guess the ballasts are too cheap in these things..

How can i tell if it has a good ballast? From googling the I read on
groups cheap ballast go through bulbs prematurely and leave black bands
on the ends which you can tell its a cheap ballast.

thanks for suggestions!

- shawn


Wow...I bought 6 cheap fluorescent fixtures from Home Depot 12 years
ago and they are still going strong. I paid a little more for the
ones with a good-sized reflector on it as this casts more light. I'm
wondering if it's your environment (salty air, acids, moisture, etc)?

Wow...I bought 6 cheap fluorescent fixtures from Home Depot 12 years
ago and they are still going strong. I paid a little more for the
ones with a good-sized reflector on it as this casts more light. I'm
wondering if it's your environment (salty air, acids, moisture, etc)?


Could be they made em better 12 years ago too =)

I'm thinking on just going back to oil lamps =)

Could be they made em better 12 years ago too =)

Yes, they probably weren't made in China back then.

According to Phisherman :

Wow...I bought 6 cheap fluorescent fixtures from Home Depot 12 years
ago and they are still going strong. I paid a little more for the
ones with a good-sized reflector on it as this casts more light. I'm
wondering if it's your environment (salty air, acids, moisture, etc)?

Think temperature.

Standard magnetic ballasts don't like operating below freezing, and
at even brand new/peak condition might not start at all below -10C
(around 20F).

Electronic ballasts (more $) work vastly better at low temperatures.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

$$$
The easiest indicator of quality parts is cost of the fixture! I second
RBM's comment also.
You can buy reasonable replacement ballasts from most hardware and
electrical suppliers.

You'll be hard pressed to get the same light from screw-in fluorescents
as from 2- 4' T8s.

RickR

RBM (remove this) wrote:
Some of the really cheap fixtures have non standard integral ballasts in
them. Look for any fixture with a removable ballast transformer, preferably
an electronic one for T8 32watt lamps



"shawn" wrote in message
oups.com...
ok whats a good shop light? I've gone through 4 of the cheapies 10-12
bucks each, lowes and home depot...the lowes lasted about 2 years, 1
went bad already, the home depots i didn't even get 12 months out of
them and 1 went bad last week. Its not bulbs..i tested. From googling i
guess the ballasts are too cheap in these things..

How can i tell if it has a good ballast? From googling the I read on
groups cheap ballast go through bulbs prematurely and leave black bands
on the ends which you can tell its a cheap ballast.

thanks for suggestions!

- shawn