About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.

Pete.

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 15:40:53 -0500, "Peter Reilley" wrote:
About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.

Pete.

I asume there is a certain ammount of diffusion in and out of the buld . That would kill it in the long run. But 5 years seems like a very short shelflife. Do they
get a lot of temperature changes?
Henning

Peter Reilley wrote:

About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

Try to flip a tube end for end around. That sometimes works.
--
SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS
Have 5 nice days! John
******************************
--- ILN 000.000.001 ---

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 15:40:53 -0500, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

"Typically, the lamp shelf life is over five years. However, long term
storage should include packaging with desiccants."

http://www.jkllamps.com/faqs.html

Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?

I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast transformer,
only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.


"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...
Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?

"henning" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 15:40:53 -0500, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:
About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.

Pete.

I asume there is a certain ammount of diffusion in and out of the buld .
That would kill it in the long run. But 5 years seems like a very short
shelflife. Do they
get a lot of temperature changes?
Henning

They are stored above a heating duct. Thus they cycle on and off with the
furnace.
Could this kill them?

Pete.

"John" wrote in message
...
Peter Reilley wrote:

About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

Try to flip a tube end for end around. That sometimes works.
--
SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS
Have 5 nice days! John
******************************
--- ILN 000.000.001 ---

I tried your suggestion but no improvement.

Thanks,
Pete.

"Peter Reilley" wrote in message ...
About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.

Pete.

Ordinarily, tubes don't deteriorate just sitting there. I supposed
you could get enough vibration to bust the starting filaments or the
contacts could get corroded from too much moisture, but they're like
normal light bulbs, nothing much to go bad from just sitting there.

You might have a marginal ballast, new tubes are harder to start and
will usually flicker a little(or a lot) until the discharge stabilizes
as the tube warms up. Sometimes takes a half hour or better,
depending on the ambient temperature. You could also have some
corroded contacts on either the tube or the fixture.

Is your shop inside or outside? If it's an unheated shop outside in
the winter, you won't get satisfactory results with regular tubes in
cold weather, you'd need outside-rated flourescent tubes. These are
higher pressure inside to make cold starting easier and have a shorter
life. There's some higher-voltage ballasts rated for outside use,
too, same reason. I've never used one but my dad installed a lot of
them at service stations.

Stan

Some fixtures state that they are only for 40 watt bulbs and will not
work with 34 watt bulbs.
Dan





"Peter Reilley" wrote in message ...
I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast transformer,
only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.

In article ,
(Dan Caster) wrote:

"Peter Reilley" wrote in message
...
I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast
transformer,
only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.


Some fixtures state that they are only for 40 watt bulbs and will not
work with 34 watt bulbs.

There's also the difference between "rapid-start" and "conventional"
tubes to worry about - Rapid-starts won't fire in conventional fixtures,
and although I've never researched it myself, I've been told (by people
who *SHOULD* know, since lighting is their profession) that
conventionals in rapid-start fixtures frequently misbehave. Sometimes
quietly (simply refusing to start) sometimes violently (actually
exploding when powered on)

--
Don Bruder - --- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See http://www.spamassassin.org for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html

Peter Reilley wrote:

I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast transformer,
only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.


"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...

Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?





Are those the ones with the green ring around one or both ends ? - a bit skinny also ?
They require different ballast units. I remember when the (prior) company changed out the
old ones for the new type - got them free with rebate from the city. Saved tons of electricity...

Wondering -

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
m...
Peter Reilley wrote:

I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast
transformer,
only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.


"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...

Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?





Are those the ones with the green ring around one or both ends ? - a bit
skinny also ?
They require different ballast units. I remember when the (prior)
company changed out the
old ones for the new type - got them free with rebate from the city.
Saved tons of electricity...

Wondering -

Martin

They do have green rings around both ends. They are the normal diameter.
What does the green ring mean?

Thanks,
Pete.

They do have green rings around both ends. They are the normal
diameter. What does the green ring mean?

Energy saving bulb, needs an energy saving balast to run
correctly.

--Glenn Lyford

Glenn Lyford wrote:

They do have green rings around both ends. They are the normal
diameter. What does the green ring mean?


Energy saving bulb, needs an energy saving balast to run
correctly.

Don't say that to the 20 or so I've installed at
my office. They don't know and they've been working
fine for about 4 years.

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:27:51 GMT, Glenn Lyford
wrote:

They do have green rings around both ends. They are the normal
diameter. What does the green ring mean?

Energy saving bulb, needs an energy saving balast to run
correctly.

--Glenn Lyford
OK, so what is the payback time for these tubes and ballasts assuming
an eight hour per day "on" time. How long before I see significant
savings in my pocket.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

Peter Reilley wrote:

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
m...

Peter Reilley wrote:


I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast

transformer,

only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.


"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...


Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?





Are those the ones with the green ring around one or both ends ? - a bit

skinny also ?

They require different ballast units. I remember when the (prior)

company changed out the

old ones for the new type - got them free with rebate from the city.

Saved tons of electricity...

Wondering -

Martin


They do have green rings around both ends. They are the normal diameter.
What does the green ring mean?

Thanks,
Pete.


I thought the green ends were :
1. more efficient
2. requires special ballasts
3. No Hg within. (requiring different ballasts to start...)

That is what I got in passing.

I think you can find something on the web at Phillips or Ge or somewhere.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:09:22 -0500, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:
"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...
Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?

I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast transformer,
only two plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no
label giving wattage rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and
"made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34
watt USA.
If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.

If those are the cheapie Lights Of America fixtures, they have
either simple reactance ballasts and some sort of a starter -
old-style preheat system. Or a homebrew electronic ballast that isn't
worth the powder it'd take to blow it to...

If you paid under $10 for the fixtures, they're junk. The cheapest
half-decent Lithonia (or other real name brand) shop lights are about
$15 each, and have a real rapid start ballast inside that can handle
the ES/EW lamps.

I toss the LOA or other ultra-cheap imported fixtures at the first
sign of trouble, they aren't even worth messing with.

Preheat ballasts and newer Rapid Start lamps do not get along,
especially Energy Saver 34W lamps and double especially the
low-mercury Alto lamps with the green end-shells.

And consider that the lower mercury bulbs may need to be warm to
start - the old rule was 50F to 60F range to start a regular 40W
fluorescent, and the Alto is probably more sensitive. Cold
temperatures require High Output lamps, special ballasts, or both.

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

Energy saving bulbs are really a crock. The bulbs are lower wattage
bulbs ( 34 watts instead of 40 ). So they use less power, but guess
what they produce less light. So if whoever did the lighting design
installed more fixtures than necessary, you can use energy saving
bulbs and save some money. You would have saved more by installing
fewer fixtures and using the full wattage bulbs.

Assuming 8 hr a day and 34 watts instead of 40, well that would be 48
watt hours a day. Assuming 50 weeks at 5 days a week, that would be
12 kwh and at 8 cents a kwh, why almost a dollar.

Dan


Gerald Miller wrote in message

Energy saving bulb, needs an energy saving balast to run
correctly.

--Glenn Lyford
OK, so what is the payback time for these tubes and ballasts assuming
an eight hour per day "on" time. How long before I see significant
savings in my pocket.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:09:22 -0500, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:
"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...
Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?

I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast
transformer,
only two plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no
label giving wattage rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and
"made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34
watt USA.
If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work OK.

Pete.

If those are the cheapie Lights Of America fixtures, they have
either simple reactance ballasts and some sort of a starter -
old-style preheat system. Or a homebrew electronic ballast that isn't
worth the powder it'd take to blow it to...


They probably are LOA.

If you paid under $10 for the fixtures, they're junk. The cheapest
half-decent Lithonia (or other real name brand) shop lights are about
$15 each, and have a real rapid start ballast inside that can handle
the ES/EW lamps.

I toss the LOA or other ultra-cheap imported fixtures at the first
sign of trouble, they aren't even worth messing with.

Preheat ballasts and newer Rapid Start lamps do not get along,
especially Energy Saver 34W lamps and double especially the
low-mercury Alto lamps with the green end-shells.

And consider that the lower mercury bulbs may need to be warm to
start - the old rule was 50F to 60F range to start a regular 40W
fluorescent, and the Alto is probably more sensitive. Cold
temperatures require High Output lamps, special ballasts, or both.

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

I think that you are probably right on. It looks like I will be changing
some fixtures.

Thanks,
Pete.

Which pretty much boils down to being in the dark 15% of the time to
gain a dollar's worth of political correctness. About what I thought.
My high school principal had it fairly close when he said that I was
used to being in the dark most of the time.(I was sitting upside down
in the driver's seat, installing a radio in my eight year old '50
Austin A40 at the time.)

On 22 Jan 2004 22:37:21 -0800, (Dan Caster) wrote:

Energy saving bulbs are really a crock. The bulbs are lower wattage
bulbs ( 34 watts instead of 40 ). So they use less power, but guess
what they produce less light. So if whoever did the lighting design
installed more fixtures than necessary, you can use energy saving
bulbs and save some money. You would have saved more by installing
fewer fixtures and using the full wattage bulbs.

Assuming 8 hr a day and 34 watts instead of 40, well that would be 48
watt hours a day. Assuming 50 weeks at 5 days a week, that would be
12 kwh and at 8 cents a kwh, why almost a dollar.

Dan


Gerald Miller wrote in message

Energy saving bulb, needs an energy saving balast to run
correctly.

--Glenn Lyford
OK, so what is the payback time for these tubes and ballasts assuming
an eight hour per day "on" time. How long before I see significant
savings in my pocket.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:30:55 -0500, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:

I think that you are probably right on. It looks like I will be changing
some fixtures.

Home Depot has good prices on the real Lithonia shop light fixtures
with real ballasts and real lampholders (that can really be repaired
instead of just tossed and replaced). Their $15 one isn't bad and the
$25 one is nice, with an oversized reflector. If you don't have a HD,
check with Lowes or one of the other biggies.

And look at the Special Order book for lots of other ideas.

Oh, and to get back to the original subject: Yes, lamps can go bad
just sitting around, but after maybe 10 or 20 years. They can lose
their vacuum through flaws in the glass, the seals around the wire
leads at the ends, and other odd stuff.

So if you find some oldies in the rafters try them, worst case you
toss a few bad ones. You can check the filament resistance with an
ohmmeter to toss the no-good used ones.

-- Bruce --

No ballast - that means an electronic / electrical control. Likely a high
frequency variable type ? or just a constant lamp.

Martin

Martin H. Eastburn wrote:
Peter Reilley wrote:

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
m...

Peter Reilley wrote:


I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast


transformer,

only two
plastic boxes that have two wires attached. There is no label giving
wattage
rating. The original bulbs say F40CW and "made in USA", no brand
name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34 watt USA.

If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures work
OK.

Pete.


"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...


Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?





Are those the ones with the green ring around one or both ends ? - a bit


skinny also ?

They require different ballast units. I remember when the (prior)


company changed out the

old ones for the new type - got them free with rebate from the city.


Saved tons of electricity...

Wondering -

Martin



They do have green rings around both ends. They are the normal
diameter.
What does the green ring mean?

Thanks,
Pete.


I thought the green ends were :
1. more efficient
2. requires special ballasts
3. No Hg within. (requiring different ballasts to start...)

That is what I got in passing.

I think you can find something on the web at Phillips or Ge or somewhere.

Martin



--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Peter Reilley wrote:
"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:09:22 -0500, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:
"Wayne" makowicki wrote in message
...
Are you using 40 watt bulbs in the 34 watt light?

I had a better look at the light fixture. There is no ballast
transformer, only two plastic boxes that have two wires attached.
There is no label giving wattage rating. The original bulbs say
F40CW and "made in USA", no brand name.

The new (bad) bulbs say Philips Econ-O-Watt F40CW/RS/EW 34
watt USA.
If I swap the remaining old but good bulbs around, the fixtures
work OK.

Pete.

If those are the cheapie Lights Of America fixtures, they have
either simple reactance ballasts and some sort of a starter -
old-style preheat system. Or a homebrew electronic ballast that
isn't worth the powder it'd take to blow it to...


They probably are LOA.

If you paid under $10 for the fixtures, they're junk. The cheapest
half-decent Lithonia (or other real name brand) shop lights are about
$15 each, and have a real rapid start ballast inside that can handle
the ES/EW lamps.

I toss the LOA or other ultra-cheap imported fixtures at the first
sign of trouble, they aren't even worth messing with.

Preheat ballasts and newer Rapid Start lamps do not get along,
especially Energy Saver 34W lamps and double especially the
low-mercury Alto lamps with the green end-shells.

And consider that the lower mercury bulbs may need to be warm to
start - the old rule was 50F to 60F range to start a regular 40W
fluorescent, and the Alto is probably more sensitive. Cold
temperatures require High Output lamps, special ballasts, or both.

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a
net.

I think that you are probably right on. It looks like I will be
changing some fixtures.

Thanks,
Pete.

Responding to Bruce- LOA sucks big time, that's for sure. As far as the cold
temperatures, I have a bunch of salvaged T8 fixtures in my garage and they
will start at 10 degrees- light output is reduced, but they always come on.

quoting:
About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.

Pete.


Fluorescent bulbs do not normally go bad by sitting in storage. However,
tiny defects in the seals can slowly let air into the bulbs. It is very
possible that air has made its way into the bulbs in the ceiling also, thus
making them go out. Another known defect, the bulbs could have not been
givin enough mercury, and making their light output drop suddenly.

On the general side of things, 34w bulbs are more prone to non-starting when
something's acting up. If it doesn't work, try it with 40w bulbs. Also,
stay away from 34w bulbs if you're using very inexpensive "shoplite" type
fixtures, or Lights of America brand. The ballasts in these cheap fixtures
often can't handle 34w bulbs. 34w bulbs do work in the cheap fixtures when
they're new, but problems always crop up years later. All in all, 40w bulbs
are always brighter than 34w ones, and are compatible with the majority of
ballasts. It's a good idea to stick with 40w bulbs.

On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 11:24:07 GMT, (JM)
wrote:

quoting:
About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent light
fixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs that
are rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a box
of 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs are
starting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More than
half of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flicker
on and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they work
OK so the fixture is good.

Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?
I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter they
are warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this have
an effect?

They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.

Pete.


Fluorescent bulbs do not normally go bad by sitting in storage. However,
tiny defects in the seals can slowly let air into the bulbs. It is very
possible that air has made its way into the bulbs in the ceiling also, thus
making them go out. Another known defect, the bulbs could have not been
givin enough mercury, and making their light output drop suddenly.

On the general side of things, 34w bulbs are more prone to non-starting when
something's acting up. If it doesn't work, try it with 40w bulbs. Also,
stay away from 34w bulbs if you're using very inexpensive "shoplite" type
fixtures, or Lights of America brand. The ballasts in these cheap fixtures
often can't handle 34w bulbs. 34w bulbs do work in the cheap fixtures when
they're new, but problems always crop up years later. All in all, 40w bulbs
are always brighter than 34w ones, and are compatible with the majority of
ballasts. It's a good idea to stick with 40w bulbs.
YEAH-BUTT they're not politically correctly energy efficient! Just
like the new PC toilets that you need to flush twice after every beer.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada