My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. That leaves the starter.

For whatever reason, I couldn't figure out how to release the cover
panels (it's an 8' fixture) so I couldn't get in to look any closer.
Would you agree it's probably the starter gone bad? We can get somebody
else to swap it but I just wonder if I'm in for a little or a lot.



Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerd at carolina.rr.com

My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. That leaves the starter.

For whatever reason, I couldn't figure out how to release the cover panels
(it's an 8' fixture) so I couldn't get in to look any closer. Would you
agree it's probably the starter gone bad? We can get somebody else to
swap it but I just wonder if I'm in for a little or a lot.



*Smell is not always a positive test for a bad ballast. You should not have
to remove the cover to replace a starter. If you cannot see a screw or
wingnut to remove the covers they are probably removed by squeezing the pan
a little.

I would say a basic service call and the cost of a ballast is what you are
looking at.

On Oct 23, 7:31*am, "John Grabowski" wrote:
My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. *I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. *I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. *That leaves the starter.

For whatever reason, I couldn't figure out how to release the cover panels
(it's an 8' fixture) so I couldn't get in to look any closer. Would you
agree it's probably the starter gone bad? *We can get somebody else to
swap it but I just wonder if I'm in for a little or a lot.

*Smell is not always a positive test for a bad ballast. *You should not have
to remove the cover to replace a starter. *If you cannot see a screw or
wingnut to remove the covers they are probably removed by squeezing the pan
a little.

I would say a basic service call and the cost of a ballast is what you are
looking at.

If you can do it yourself, you could replace the whole fixture with a
new one for less than the cost of a service call.

On Oct 23, 6:24*am, Mortimer Schnerd
wrote:
My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. *I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. *I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. *That leaves the starter.

On Oct 23, 6:24*am, Mortimer Schnerd
wrote:
My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. *I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. *I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. *That leaves the starter.

Mortimer Schnerd wrote:
My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. That leaves the starter.

For whatever reason, I couldn't figure out how to release the cover
panels (it's an 8' fixture) so I couldn't get in to look any closer.
Would you agree it's probably the starter gone bad? We can get somebody
else to swap it but I just wonder if I'm in for a little or a lot.



Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerd at carolina.rr.com

Someone has already mentioned a cold weather fixture. Standard
fluorescent fixtures and lamps will not light in cold temperatures.
The ballast should have a temperature rating on the label. You
can replace a 40 degree ballast with a zero degree and use the
same lamps but if you replace the whole fixture, I would install
a cold weather fixture and lamps designated "HO" for High Output.
The HO fixtures will light at very cold temperatures and put out
much more light at normal temperatures than a standard fixture.

TDD

"Mortimer Schnerd" wrote in message
...

My dad has a fluorescent light fixture in his garage with tubes that
barely glow. I went to the Borg and bought a pair of replacement tubes
but no improvement. I do not smell anything near the fixture so my
thinking is the ballast is probably still good. That leaves the starter.

For whatever reason, I couldn't figure out how to release the cover
panels (it's an 8' fixture) so I couldn't get in to look any closer.
Would you agree it's probably the starter gone bad? We can get somebody
else to swap it but I just wonder if I'm in for a little or a lot.

First check to see what sort of bulbs the older fixture requires. Lots of
older fixtures will not work correctly with the new "green ended" bulbs and
will glow dimly or not at all. The older, lower-efficiency bulbs are
getting harder and harder to find and as a result, more and more people end
up buying the green-ended bulbs for old-style fixtures and finding out they
don't work, or work poorly, or cause their light's ballast to meltdown (very
stinky!!!). As a result, I've replaced most of my older fixtures with
newer (and more efficient ones) designed to run the newer bulbs when their
ballasts start to fail.

What's the exact model number of the new bulbs? What does the fixture say?
It's worth noting that the older fixtures, designed before the new green
bulbs came on the market, are often not very informative about bulb types,
describing only length and socket type. IMHO, the switch to higher
efficiency bulbs was handled very badly. Ask any Borgster which bulbs
belong with which fixtures and you'll get every answer under the sun, most
of them wrong. Sylvania says this of their hi-efficiency T-34 bulbs:

http://www.sylvania.com/BusinessProd...D/Fluorescent/

"Not recommended as a direct replacement for 40-watt fluorescents in most
residential shoplight fixtures since it could cause the fixture to overheat.
Use only in fixtures specifically labeled for use with 4-foot, 34 watt
bulbs."

Gee, who would ever think that a bulb that looks the same and fits into the
same socket would be a potential fire hazard? Why should any average
consumer have to know the difference between magnetic or electronic
ballasts?

After noticing what looked to be hardly used fluorescent bulbs in my
neighbor's trash month after month, I spoke to her and found out she was
running T-34's in an old fixture. They would work for about two weeks and
then go dim. She said the HD guy said you could use the bulbs in any
fixture that took them. Once I told her to go back to the T-40 bulbs
designed for the fixture, the problem stopped and I got a home-baked cherry
pie for my assistance. I wonder how many times that scenario plays out in
the US every day and whether the bulbs that get trashed overwhelm most of
the savings that come from using them?

At least CFL's work in any standard screw based lamp that's sized to fit
them. I'm thinking they should have redesigned the fixtures and the
high-effiency bulbs to only work with each other. It's about time someone
came up with a better socket, anyway. I suspect there are a lot of people
who have dropped a bulb, thinking it was "clicked in" when it really wasn't.
Changing 4' bulbs is hateful enough for those with arthritis. Changing an
8' bulb alone is just about impossible, at least for me.

--
Bobby G.