Anthony R. Gold said the following on 07/02/2006 15:23:
Apology if this is a dumb question but is there any easy way to tell
whether a reluctant-to-strike light needs the tube or starter changed?

Tony


If (as the OP says) you take the starter out then put it back in and the
tube fires, the starter's dead.

If the tube starts and the starter/tube keeps flashing after the tube
starts, the starter's dead.

If the tube glows at the ends and takes ages to start (or doesn't start
at all) and the starter seems to be working, the tube's dead.

The ends of a flu tube go black (and the light output drops off to about
50%) as it gets older so you may want to consider replacing both the
tube and the starter.

If the fitting has more than one tube, (i.e. 2 or 4 tubes) then the
tubes might be wired in series pairs. If so, make sure you get the
correct starter which is a 120V series starter.

Finally, generally the tube will be slower to start in the cold weather.

HTH