I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and
one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs, a 22
watt and a 32 watt, with an electronic ballast and a round plastic
cover. The bulbs are constantly burning out. They are only 5 years old
and already I've replace most of them, some twice. Plus they are pretty
expensive, comparatively. I think the problem is the closets, actually
one of the closets. It gets used many times per day, so it is on/off a
lot, although the 2 in the utility room are close behind. The 2nd closet
gets used very little, so that one has not been a problem. I looked for
LED circline replacements and right now, they are super expensive. Of
course, you have to replace the ballast with an electronic power supply.
Even though the fixtures are cheap, I like the simple look and would
like to maybe put in some LED bulbs. I've found double, quad and even
quint sockets ... no triples ... kinda like these on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lamp-parts-4...em2eceee 2f50
Mini candelabra base LED bulbs would be best for size, however, they
are more expensive than the regular full sized base. I've even thought
of taking an old circline bulb and wrapping it with LED tape and using a
12 volt power supply. I've already put LED tape lights in the kitchen,
under the upper cabinets and they look really nice. Any other ideas?

On 10/20/2014 10:06 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and
one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs, a 22
watt and a 32 watt, with an electronic ballast and a round plastic
cover. The bulbs are constantly burning out. They are only 5 years old
and already I've replace most of them, some twice. Plus they are pretty
expensive, comparatively. I think the problem is the closets, actually
one of the closets. It gets used many times per day, so it is on/off a
lot, although the 2 in the utility room are close behind. The 2nd closet
gets used very little, so that one has not been a problem. I looked for
LED circline replacements and right now, they are super expensive. Of
course, you have to replace the ballast with an electronic power supply.
Even though the fixtures are cheap, I like the simple look and would
like to maybe put in some LED bulbs. I've found double, quad and even
quint sockets ... no triples ... kinda like these on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lamp-parts-4...em2eceee 2f50
Mini candelabra base LED bulbs would be best for size, however, they
are more expensive than the regular full sized base. I've even thought
of taking an old circline bulb and wrapping it with LED tape and using a
12 volt power supply. I've already put LED tape lights in the kitchen,
under the upper cabinets and they look really nice. Any other ideas?

Sounds like you might be best off to replace the
entire fixture. That said, you can look on Ebay,
Amazon, etc. That link to four hole Edison base
should hold the LED you like.

Since you have some LED tapes already, maybe
put them on the same power supply?

12 volts means you can put a car or trolling
battery some where, in case the grid power is
off. Blackout, who cares? We got light.


-
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

New fixtures probably best in the long run.

On Monday, October 20, 2014 11:36:05 AM UTC-2:30, Art Todesco wrote:
I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and

one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs` these on

Seems like a completely incorrect choice of and and use of circline lamps/fixtures. Surely fluorescent lamps should not be used where they are frequently switched on and off and are only used for brief periods?

On 10/20/2014 10:06 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and
one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs, a 22
watt and a 32 watt, with an electronic ballast and a round plastic
cover. The bulbs are constantly burning out.

Best solution is to replace the fixtures. They went out of style in
1962 and for good reason. LED with the daylight bulbs will brighten
things up.

On 10/20/2014 6:32 PM, terry wrote:
On Monday, October 20, 2014 11:36:05 AM UTC-2:30, Art Todesco wrote:
I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and

one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs` these on

Seems like a completely incorrect choice of and and use of circline lamps/fixtures. Surely fluorescent lamps should not be used where they are frequently switched on and off and are only used for brief periods?

Sorry I took so long to reply to this. Actually these circline bulbs
are run by an electronic ballast so the traumatic startup of a
traditional fluorescent, heater coils and magnetic ballast are
eliminated. The are just run on a high voltage that instantly causes the
gases to ionize. I don't know the science behind what is causing the
bulbs to fail, so electronic ballasts may not help anyway ... and it
certainly doesn't play out in my case. That said, I really want to make
a change to LEDs. As I said in the original post, I like the look of
these fixtures so I may just convert them ... at least the 3 that are on
and off a lot. I'll also have to look around to see what fixtures might
be available today.

On Monday, October 20, 2014 9:51:25 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 10/20/2014 10:06 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and
one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs, a 22
watt and a 32 watt, with an electronic ballast and a round plastic
cover. The bulbs are constantly burning out.

Best solution is to replace the fixtures. They went out of style in
1962 and for good reason. LED with the daylight bulbs will brighten
things up.

Or if he wants less expensive, I've used flourescent circular fixtures
made by Lights of America, bought in HD, for closets, mud room, etc.
I've had them for 15+ years, changed bulbs maybe once in some of them.
Similar should be available. Or, he could buy an inexpensive incandescent
type and put screw-in LED bulbs in it, which have come down in price.

On 10/23/2014 9:10 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Monday, October 20, 2014 9:51:25 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 10/20/2014 10:06 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I have 4 cheapo circline fixtures in my house; 2 in the utility room and
one in each of 2 bedroom closets. They each have 2 circline bulbs, a 22
watt and a 32 watt, with an electronic ballast and a round plastic
cover. The bulbs are constantly burning out.

Best solution is to replace the fixtures. They went out of style in
1962 and for good reason. LED with the daylight bulbs will brighten
things up.

Or if he wants less expensive, I've used flourescent circular fixtures
made by Lights of America, bought in HD, for closets, mud room, etc.
I've had them for 15+ years, changed bulbs maybe once in some of them.
Similar should be available. Or, he could buy an inexpensive incandescent
type and put screw-in LED bulbs in it, which have come down in price.

That's almost exactly what I have, except they were from Lithonia. And
they were sold for closets, etc. and have 2 circline fluorescents. I
think mine were from either HD or Lowe's. Oh well, I guess it's either
modify or replace.

Art,

The fluorescent light fixtures that use a high voltage to strike the arc still wear off a little of the activation chemical coating that is on all fluorescent bulbs. So, even though the lights are more or less instant on, and there is no wear and tear on the filament itself, each off-on cycle still uses up a little of the filament coating, hence the short lifetime of the bulbs.

On Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:11:56 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Art,

The fluorescent light fixtures that use a high voltage to strike the arc still wear off a little of the activation chemical coating that is on all fluorescent bulbs. So, even though the lights are more or less instant on, and there is no wear and tear on the filament itself, each off-on cycle still uses up a little of the filament coating, hence the short lifetime of the bulbs.

And just where would I find a filament in a fluorescent tube?

On 10/25/2014 08:20 AM, TimR wrote:
On Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:11:56 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Art,

The fluorescent light fixtures that use a high voltage to strike the arc still wear off a little of the activation chemical coating that is on all fluorescent bulbs. So, even though the lights are more or less instant on, and there is no wear and tear on the filament itself, each off-on cycle still uses up a little of the filament coating, hence the short lifetime of the bulbs.

And just where would I find a filament in a fluorescent tube?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluores...p#Construction

On 10/25/2014 8:20 AM, TimR wrote:
On Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:11:56 PM
Art,

The fluorescent light fixtures that use a
high voltage to strike the arc still wear off
a little of the activation chemical coating that
is on all fluorescent bulbs. So, even though the
lights are more or less instant on, and there
is no wear and tear on the filament itself, each
off-on cycle still uses up a little of the filament
coating, hence the short lifetime of the bulbs.

And just where would I find a filament in a fluorescent tube?

Usually at the end.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

Scroll down about 1/3 the page and read under
"starting"
Preheating

This technique uses a combination filament–cathode at
each end of the lamp in conjunction with a mechanical
or automatic (bi-metallic) switch (see circuit diagram
to the right) that initially connect the filaments in
series with the ballast to preheat them; when the arc
is struck the filaments are disconnected. This system
is described as preheat in some countries and switchstart
in others.[21] These systems are standard equipment in
200–240 V countries (and for 100–120 V lamps up to
about 30 watts).

-
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Saturday, October 25, 2014 8:46:16 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:

And just where would I find a filament in a fluorescent tube?

Usually at the end.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

Scroll down about 1/3 the page and read under
"starting"

I'm familiar with the operation of fluorescent lamps.

I objected to the use of the word filament because it's not, it's a cathode.. At least, it's always been a cathode for all the engineers I worked with.

But now I have to eat my words. Google tells me it's common to refer to it either way. I don't like that as it is imprecise except for those times where there really is a filament, but I have to accept that it is common practice, and apologize to the poster who first used the word above.

On 10/25/2014 5:19 PM, TimR wrote:
On Saturday, October 25, 2014 8:46:16 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:

And just where would I find a filament in a fluorescent tube?

Usually at the end.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

Scroll down about 1/3 the page and read under
"starting"

I'm familiar with the operation of fluorescent lamps.

I objected to the use of the word filament because it's
not, it's a cathode. At least, it's always been a cathode
for all the engineers I worked with.

But now I have to eat my words. Google tells me it's
common to refer to it either way. I don't like that as
it is imprecise except for those times where there really
is a filament, but I have to accept that it is common
practice, and apologize to the poster who first used
the word above.


I think it's used as a heater, so we can call it a
heater filament, not a light filament. Hope that
takes some of the strain off?
--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

I go back to vacuum tube days when the filament heated the cathode. If you were really old, like 100+ years old, the filament actually was also the cathode in the earliest vacuum tubes.

Apologies accepted............