A friend had a fluorescent light do something strange. Here's his email:

Had to take the kitchen fluorescent light apart as one pair of the lamps
started flickering and then went out. Had a hell of a time getting them
out, as the socket was corroded and the lamps did NOT want to come out.
Put the new ones in and found the one lamp would light about 8 inches
in from each end and the rest was just a shadow. Never saw a symptom
like that before. I figured that it was the ballast, as another new
lamp did the same thing. When I got it apart, I discovered the wires
just push in to the socket and seemed loose, but there was no release .
The harder I pulled, the looser they got, but would not come out.
Then I put the sockets on the lamps with the whole mess hanging by the
wires. Everything worked fine, so I twisted the wires together to put
some strain on the socket connection and put it back together. It is
working OK now. The ends of the lamps get VERY hot. I dont remember
that happening on the older fixtures, do you?

Strange .... any ideas?

On 05/04/2015 07:40 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
A friend had a fluorescent light do something strange. Here's his email:

Had to take the kitchen fluorescent light apart as one pair of the lamps
started flickering and then went out. Had a hell of a time getting them
out, as the socket was corroded and the lamps did NOT want to come out.
Put the new ones in and found the one lamp would light about 8 inches
in from each end and the rest was just a shadow. Never saw a symptom
like that before. I figured that it was the ballast, as another new
lamp did the same thing. When I got it apart, I discovered the wires
just push in to the socket and seemed loose, but there was no release .
The harder I pulled, the looser they got, but would not come out. Then
I put the sockets on the lamps with the whole mess hanging by the
wires. Everything worked fine, so I twisted the wires together to put
some strain on the socket connection and put it back together. It is
working OK now. The ends of the lamps get VERY hot. I dont remember
that happening on the older fixtures, do you?

Strange .... any ideas?




The sockets of course need to be replaced, just cut the wires to remove.

On 05/04/2015 07:02 AM, philo wrote:
The sockets of course need to be replaced, just cut the wires to remove.

With many of the sockets if you push something like an awl or thin
icepick in beside the wire it holds the spring back so the wire can be
pulled out. However after the attempt to pull them out be brute force,
cutting them close to the socket and stripping them may be best.

On 05/04/2015 08:32 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 05/04/2015 07:02 AM, philo wrote:
The sockets of course need to be replaced, just cut the wires to remove.

With many of the sockets if you push something like an awl or thin
icepick in beside the wire it holds the spring back so the wire can be
pulled out. However after the attempt to pull them out be brute force,
cutting them close to the socket and stripping them may be best.



Yep, the wire should be cut back far enough so that nothing tarnished is
used.

"Art Todesco" wrote in message
...
A friend had a fluorescent light do something strange. Here's his email:

Had to take the kitchen fluorescent light apart as one pair of the lamps
started flickering and then went out. Had a hell of a time getting them
out, as the socket was corroded and the lamps did NOT want to come out.
Put the new ones in and found the one lamp would light about 8 inches in
from each end and the rest was just a shadow. Never saw a symptom like
that before. I figured that it was the ballast, as another new lamp did
the same thing. When I got it apart, I discovered the wires just push in
to the socket and seemed loose, but there was no release . The harder I
pulled, the looser they got, but would not come out. Then I put the
sockets on the lamps with the whole mess hanging by the wires. Everything
worked fine, so I twisted the wires together to put some strain on the
socket connection and put it back together. It is working OK now. The
ends of the lamps get VERY hot. I dont remember that happening on the
older fixtures, do you?

Strange .... any ideas?

If the lamps are getting very hot on the ends it means that the heaters are
not turning off when the lamp lights, and will burn out and blacken the tube
ends. If you have starter cans, common on old fixtures, they have failed.
The starter cans have a bi-metallic strip in a glass tube that opens when it
heats up and a capacitor to reduce radio interference. Either could be
shorted or fused. Replace the starter cans.

If there are no starter cans, then there is only the ballast at fault and
needs replacing.

On 5/4/2015 9:32 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 05/04/2015 07:02 AM, philo wrote:
The sockets of course need to be replaced, just cut the wires to remove.

With many of the sockets if you push something like an awl or thin
icepick in beside the wire it holds the spring back so the wire can be
pulled out. However after the attempt to pull them out be brute force,
cutting them close to the socket and stripping them may be best.

Paperclip always does the trick.

"Art Todesco" wrote in message
...
A friend had a fluorescent light do something strange. Here's his email:

Had to take the kitchen fluorescent light apart as one pair of the lamps
started flickering and then went out. Had a hell of a time getting them
out, as the socket was corroded and the lamps did NOT want to come out.
Put the new ones in and found the one lamp would light about 8 inches in
from each end and the rest was just a shadow. Never saw a symptom like
that before. I figured that it was the ballast, as another new lamp did
the same thing. When I got it apart, I discovered the wires just push in
to the socket and seemed loose, but there was no release . The harder I
pulled, the looser they got, but would not come out. Then I put the
sockets on the lamps with the whole mess hanging by the wires. Everything
worked fine, so I twisted the wires together to put some strain on the
socket connection and put it back together. It is working OK now. The
ends of the lamps get VERY hot. I dont remember that happening on the
older fixtures, do you?

Strange .... any ideas?



LOL! Make sure the number to the FIRE DEPARTMENT is handy, ding-a-ling!

On 05/04/2015 09:13 AM, Meanie wrote:

Paperclip always does the trick.

A paperclip can also be used to open a DVD drive when it isn't powered
up. I was going to use that approach a couple of weeks ago and realized
not only am I paperless these days I am paperclipless too. It may not be
too many more years before school kids ask "A what?" They'll miss all
the fun of making a chain long enough to reach down a five store open
stairwell.

On 05/04/2015 05:01 PM, Col. Edmund Burke wrote:
"Art Todesco" wrote in message ...
A friend had a fluorescent light do something strange. Here's his email:

Had to take the kitchen fluorescent light apart as one pair of the lamps started flickering and then went out. Had a hell of a time getting them out, as the socket was corroded and the lamps did NOT want to come out. Put the new ones in and found the one lamp would light about 8 inches in from each end and the rest was just a shadow. Never saw a symptom like that before. I figured that it was the ballast, as another new lamp did the same thing. When I got it apart, I discovered the wires just push in to the socket and seemed loose, but there was no release . The harder I pulled, the looser they got, but would not come out. Then I put the sockets on the lamps with the whole mess hanging by the wires. Everything worked fine, so I twisted the wires together to put some strain on the socket connection and put it back together. It is working OK now. The ends of the lamps get VERY hot. I dont remember that happening on the older fixtures, do you?

Strange .... any ideas?



LOL! Make sure the number to the FIRE DEPARTMENT is handy, ding-a-ling!

I dunno, maybe when the wires get hot enough they'll weld themselves to the socket contacts?

Take the light fixture down, get a hammer, smash it into a million pieces and throw it away. Get a decent LED fixture and you'll never have to worry about it again.

On 05/05/2015 07:37 AM, wrote:
Take the light fixture down, get a hammer, smash it into a million pieces and throw it away. Get a decent LED fixture and you'll never have to worry about it again.




+1

wrote:
Take the light fixture down, get a hammer, smash it into a million pieces and throw it away. Get a decent LED fixture and you'll never have to worry about it again.

Very good idea. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

On 5/5/2015 1:01 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
wrote:
Take the light fixture down, get a hammer, smash it into a million
pieces and throw it away. Get a decent LED fixture and you'll never
have to worry about it again.

Very good idea. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
Thanks for the info ... I did pass it on. He was going to possibly
replace the fluorescents with LED cans. Right now everything seems to be
working so he's going to see if it holds up. Thanks.