My garage has several shoplights with the older type of fluorescent dual
light fixtures, 4 feet long, 40 Watt, thicker than the modern ones.

Both lamps went dead. I replaced only one of the lamps because it is
difficult for me to reach above my head. However, the new single lamp in the
fixture does not burn steady. It flickers mightily and also turns on and off
intermittently.

Does this mean the ballast is bad and that I should replace the fixture with
a more modern one?.

Thanks

Walter

On 03/18/2015 12:21 AM, Walter E. wrote:
My garage has several shoplights with the older type of fluorescent dual
light fixtures, 4 feet long, 40 Watt, thicker than the modern ones.

Both lamps went dead. I replaced only one of the lamps because it is
difficult for me to reach above my head. However, the new single lamp in
the fixture does not burn steady. It flickers mightily and also turns on
and off intermittently.

Does this mean the ballast is bad and that I should replace the fixture
with a more modern one?.

Thanks

Walter



You probably should have replaced both of the tubes...but I'd just
replace the whole thing with a more up-to-date unit.

On Tue, 17 Mar 2015 22:21:51 -0700, "Walter E."
wrote:

My garage has several shoplights with the older type of fluorescent dual
light fixtures, 4 feet long, 40 Watt, thicker than the modern ones.

Both lamps went dead. I replaced only one of the lamps because it is
difficult for me to reach above my head. However, the new single lamp in the
fixture does not burn steady. It flickers mightily and also turns on and off
intermittently.

Does this mean the ballast is bad and that I should replace the fixture with
a more modern one?.

Thanks

Walter


Replace the other lamp. Get a neighbor to help if you are unable and
the problem will be solved.

My garage has several shoplights with the older type of fluorescent dual
light fixtures, 4 feet long, 40 Watt, thicker than the modern ones.

Both lamps went dead. I replaced only one of the lamps because it is
difficult for me to reach above my head. However, the new single lamp in the
fixture does not burn steady. It flickers mightily and also turns on and off
intermittently.

Does this mean the ballast is bad and that I should replace the fixture with
a more modern one?.

Thanks

Walter


*Replace both lamps. If that doesn't work, replace the ballast and bulbs with T8's.

*Replace both lamps. If that doesn't work, replace the ballast and bulbs with T8's.


God I hate fluorescent lights. They're under my kitchen counters. Both bulbs stopped working on one fixture. Replaced bulbs and only one side works. Getting the bulb out if a fixture somebody installed in one of our bedrooms was a b*tch because the tube is too close to the fixture. And how many sizes/types of bulbs are there? You're assured of buying the wrong one. And it doesn't help that there's no standard way the bulbs engage/disengage from the fixture. Don't get me started on the bulbs with only one prong on each end.

If I were you and if it's possible, I'd throw the whole fixture away. There are better choices for lighting out there now.

"Walter E." wrote in message
... Does this mean the ballast is bad and
that I should replace the fixture with
a more modern one?

Yes, on both questions.

wrote in message
...


God I hate fluorescent lights. They're under my kitchen counters. Both
bulbs stopped working on one fixture. Replaced bulbs and only one side
works. Getting the bulb out if a fixture somebody installed in one of our
bedrooms was a b*tch because the tube is too close to the fixture. And how
many sizes/types of bulbs are there? You're assured of buying the wrong
one. And it doesn't help that there's no standard way the bulbs
engage/disengage from the fixture. Don't get me started on the bulbs with
only one prong on each end.

If I were you and if it's possible, I'd throw the whole fixture away. There
are better choices for lighting out there now.

I hate them also. Part of my job was to replace the lamps where I worked.
This is a building that has 3 to 7 floors depending on the part you are in.
There is about 40 acres under roof. They must have someof every kind made.
Some 8 feet long, some 4 feet , some with one pin on each end, some with 2
pins onthe end. A few years before I retired there was a big building
project. In the control room there was a room aabout 10 x 20 feet that was
suspose to have a drop cealing and several lights. When construction left
there was one dual bulb fixture held up by ty wraps. The sent me and
another worker to install another fixture. They would not buy one that
matched the other,but found an old one. It takes differant lamps than the
one already there. Tha tseems to be the way the whole plant is.
Then the low power stuff came out. That was another set of bulbs and we had
to replace the ballast when we changed out the bulbs.

On 3/18/2015 9:45 AM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
...


God I hate fluorescent lights. They're under my kitchen counters. Both
bulbs stopped working on one fixture. Replaced bulbs and only one side
works. Getting the bulb out if a fixture somebody installed in one of our
bedrooms was a b*tch because the tube is too close to the fixture. And how
many sizes/types of bulbs are there? You're assured of buying the wrong
one. And it doesn't help that there's no standard way the bulbs
engage/disengage from the fixture. Don't get me started on the bulbs with
only one prong on each end.

If I were you and if it's possible, I'd throw the whole fixture away. There
are better choices for lighting out there now.

I hate them also. Part of my job was to replace the lamps where I worked.
This is a building that has 3 to 7 floors depending on the part you are in.
There is about 40 acres under roof. They must have someof every kind made.
Some 8 feet long, some 4 feet , some with one pin on each end, some with 2
pins onthe end. A few years before I retired there was a big building
project. In the control room there was a room aabout 10 x 20 feet that was
suspose to have a drop cealing and several lights. When construction left
there was one dual bulb fixture held up by ty wraps. The sent me and
another worker to install another fixture. They would not buy one that
matched the other,but found an old one. It takes differant lamps than the
one already there. Tha tseems to be the way the whole plant is.
Then the low power stuff came out. That was another set of bulbs and we had
to replace the ballast when we changed out the bulbs.


I had 3 8w fluorescent fixtures under the upper cabinets. The provided
enough light for what I wanted and I had them turning on each day at
dusk and off at about midnight. Over 6 years I replaced the tubes
several times. Recently I replaced the fixtures with LED strips. I
didn't like the look of cool white, but warm white was really too
orangy. So, I have 2 strips, one of each. I was also able to put 2
strips on the range hood. It is all powered by 2 12 volt switching power
supplies, one for each cabinet bank. The results are great. The light is
much more even and the color is perfect. I actually put an extra 2
diodes in line with the cool white strip to reduce its brightness. The
whole thing uses just about the same amount of power as the 3
fluorescents, but provides a little more light, plus, as mentioned, a
better distribution.