Curious to learn - what is a realistic life expectancy for a garage flush mounted fluorescent light fixture?

Discovered to my dismay that all three fixtures were dim and flickering. The house itself is 40 years old but the fixtures appear to be 10-20 years old based on the press fit connectors used. Garage is neither heated or cooled. Temps here can be teens in the winter to over 100 in the summer.

When I went to test whether the tubes were good I discovered a tombstone very stiff. So stiff I was afraid I might break the tube trying to put it in.. Even the original tube balked at going back in. In the process I also managed to snap a mounting tab from the tombstone. Do these become brittle over time?

Original intent was to put in new tubes if that was all that was needed. If ballasts were bad I considered reconfiguring for led's. But if the tombstones need to be replaced it seems maybe replacing the entire fixture with one designed for led's would make sense.

With that final thought in mind. Assuming a standard junction box is hidden by the existing fixture would a square or round flush mount ceiling light be a viable alternative? Say something like this?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercia...3141/206589815

On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

PIZZA

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

On 1/10/2017 6:39 PM, wrote:
What is a tombstone called by regular people?


I never knew them as anything other than sockets or lamp sockets.

Never heard of them referred to as "tombstones" but it's pretty damn apropos

On 1/10/2017 7:39 PM, wrote:
What is a tombstone called by regular people?

It's where the bulb is attached, one at each end.
We've all screwed with these with flickering bulbs.
I was glad to get rid of one in the kitchen years ago.

On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

The lamp socket.

To the OP, I am migrating all of my old T12F40s to LED as they go bad.
So far so good but considering most of these are 20-26 year old cheap
"shop lights", they have a lot to live up to.

On 1/10/2017 7:39 PM, wrote:
What is a tombstone called by regular people?


Monument.

On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 6:58:44 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), hrhofmann wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

The lamp socket.

To the OP, I am migrating all of my old T12F40s to LED as they go bad.
So far so good but considering most of these are 20-26 year old cheap
"shop lights", they have a lot to live up to.

Did you find any of the plastic parts became brittle? As I seldom use the garage lights I would have stayed with fluorescent tubes but when tubes won't twist into place and tabs snap off I get doubtful.

Chiefjim writes:

Curious to learn - what is a realistic life expectancy for a garage flush mounted fluorescent light fixture?

Discovered to my dismay that all three fixtures were dim and
flickering. The house itself is 40 years old but the fixtures appear
to be 10-20 years old based on the press fit connectors used. Garage
is neither heated or cooled. Temps here can be teens in the winter to
over 100 in the summer.

For florescents, that sounds like normal aging.

When I went to test whether the tubes were good I discovered a
tombstone very stiff. So stiff I was afraid I might break the tube
trying to put it in. Even the original tube balked at going back in.
In the process I also managed to snap a mounting tab from the
tombstone. Do these become brittle over time?

Yes they do. But they are easily replaceable.

Original intent was to put in new tubes if that was all that was
needed. If ballasts were bad I considered reconfiguring for led's.
But if the tombstones need to be replaced it seems maybe replacing the
entire fixture with one designed for led's would make sense.

Interesting. I have the LEDs on order, and I plan to install
the LED tubes in an existing fixture. Today I took the fixtures apart
and found one socket (not tombstone) was missing a chunk.

Since the new LED tubes are single end I know one socket just has to
hold the bulb in place, so I may or may not order a new socket.

Looks like new sockets are easy to identify and order.

With that final thought in mind. Assuming a standard junction box is
hidden by the existing fixture would a square or round flush mount
ceiling light be a viable alternative? Say something like this?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercia...3141/206589815

It's "home repair", not "home replace".

--
Dan Espen

On 01/10/2017 06:12 PM, Chiefjim wrote:
Curious to learn - what is a realistic life expectancy for a garage flush mounted fluorescent light fixture?


Depends on the quality of the light fixture. If the fixture came from your local BigBoxSuperMart, it prolly won't last long.

"Chiefjim" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 6:58:44 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), hrhofmann wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

The lamp socket.

To the OP, I am migrating all of my old T12F40s to LED as they go bad.
So far so good but considering most of these are 20-26 year old cheap
"shop lights", they have a lot to live up to.

Did you find any of the plastic parts became brittle? As I seldom use the
garage lights I would have stayed with fluorescent tubes but when tubes
won't twist into place and tabs snap off I get doubtful.

I have 20 year old shop lamps too, NP with the tabs, I'm in Florida. How
cold was it when yours broke?

On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 4:32:31 AM UTC-5, devnull wrote:
On 01/10/2017 06:12 PM, Chiefjim wrote:
Curious to learn - what is a realistic life expectancy for a garage flush mounted fluorescent light fixture?


Depends on the quality of the light fixture. If the fixture came from your local BigBoxSuperMart, it prolly won't last long.

I've got cheap big box fixtures that are well over 20 years old. Still going strong.

I recently rewired some of them for use with the new direct connect LED tubes. Now there's
nothing much left to go bad, so they'll probably last forever.

On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 7:39:27 PM UTC-5, wrote:
What is a tombstone called by regular people?

Tombstone.

More specifically, shunted or non-shunted tombstone.

https://www.earthled.com/blogs/led-l...nted-tombstone

On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 7:46:31 PM UTC-5, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
On 1/10/2017 6:39 PM, wrote:
What is a tombstone called by regular people?


I never knew them as anything other than sockets or lamp sockets.

Never heard of them referred to as "tombstones" but it's pretty damn apropos

https://www.earthled.com/blogs/led-l...nted-tombstone

On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 5:17:27 AM UTC-6, dadiOH wrote:
"Chiefjim" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 6:58:44 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), hrhofmann wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

The lamp socket.

To the OP, I am migrating all of my old T12F40s to LED as they go bad.
So far so good but considering most of these are 20-26 year old cheap
"shop lights", they have a lot to live up to.

Did you find any of the plastic parts became brittle? As I seldom use the
garage lights I would have stayed with fluorescent tubes but when tubes
won't twist into place and tabs snap off I get doubtful.

I have 20 year old shop lamps too, NP with the tabs, I'm in Florida. How
cold was it when yours broke?

18

On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 7:58:57 AM UTC-5, Chiefjim wrote:
On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 5:17:27 AM UTC-6, dadiOH wrote:
"Chiefjim" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 6:58:44 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), hrhofmann wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

The lamp socket.

To the OP, I am migrating all of my old T12F40s to LED as they go bad.
So far so good but considering most of these are 20-26 year old cheap
"shop lights", they have a lot to live up to.

Did you find any of the plastic parts became brittle? As I seldom use the
garage lights I would have stayed with fluorescent tubes but when tubes
won't twist into place and tabs snap off I get doubtful.

I have 20 year old shop lamps too, NP with the tabs, I'm in Florida. How
cold was it when yours broke?

18

At 18°F I would expect standard florescent tubes to be dim and flickering.
They may eventually warm up enough to stop flickering, but cold temp
flickering of florescent tubes is common. The fact that all 3 of your
fixtures are acting the same way, I'd really suspect cold temp issues.

I have begun to convert my shop light fixtures to direct wire LED's tubes.
You can get versions that work with ballasts and those where the tombstone
is direct wired to the 120VAC. I'm not talking about replacing the fixtures
with LED fixtures, just the tubes as shown he

https://www.earthled.com/blogs/light...lacement-tubes

When using direct wired tubes, you need to make sure that you have/use
non-shunted tombstones. So far, I've been lucky and all my fixtures have
non-shunted tombstones

https://www.earthled.com/collections...it-lampholders

One thing to be aware of is how bright these LED tubes can be. Even at a
lower lumen value, they may be much brighter because all of the light is
directed downward. It took me a while to get used to how bright my garage
and shop are now that the LEDs are in use. I'm actually hesitating to
convert a few of the fixtures in my basement because I really don't need
that much light. I may opt for a lower lumen value so that I go all LED
but without the brightness.

"Chiefjim" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 5:17:27 AM UTC-6, dadiOH wrote:
"Chiefjim" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 6:58:44 PM UTC-6,
wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:39:23 -0800 (PST), hrhofmann wrote:

What is a tombstone called by regular people?

The lamp socket.

To the OP, I am migrating all of my old T12F40s to LED as they go bad.
So far so good but considering most of these are 20-26 year old cheap
"shop lights", they have a lot to live up to.

Did you find any of the plastic parts became brittle? As I seldom use
the
garage lights I would have stayed with fluorescent tubes but when tubes
won't twist into place and tabs snap off I get doubtful.

I have 20 year old shop lamps too, NP with the tabs, I'm in Florida. How
cold was it when yours broke?

18

Could be why they broke, stuff gets more brittle when it is cold.

Removed one fixture and discovered it had been installed without a junction box behind it. Seems all the replacement fixture instruction sheets call for connecting to a box.

Guess I'll need to spend some time on YouTube searching for how best to use old construction boxes when the wire is already present. I've done others in the past but always had access to the space behind the drywall. Not the case this time around.