Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices & often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could use
to fit all applications?

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices &
often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler
to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could
use
to fit all applications?

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove
the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing
the
little buggers?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257


A box of FSU starters will suit most3ft, 4f, 5f & 6ft tubes.
8 footers can be a bit more tricky, have some FS 125 ready for them.

You will need FS2 starters for the 2ft tubes in those grids.

I have found most of the grids (2ft & 4ft) just slot in.
Push up one side (not end) as far as you can and pull down the other side.
The ends do not rest on anything.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:03:03 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices & often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could use
to fit all applications?

No they have to suite the tube (wattage) and setup (tubes connected in
series or not).

But from RS components and other cheaper suppliers you can get them in
big bags for very little money. You'd probably have to carry 4
variations maximum.


And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?

Dunno I've been defeated by replacing plain crystalline diffusers in
flush mounted luminaires in suspended ceilings. They are bigger than
the hole they have to go through, and shatter if twisted to conform to
the opening. :-(

DG

On Jun 20, 9:03 pm, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices & often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could use
to fit all applications?

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?

--
Dave
The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

FSU Starters 4-80W ie 3' 4' 5'
FS2 twin series lamp 2'
FS125 6' and 8'

No such thing as a universal starter,sorry


Diffuser removal, wear surgical gloves. Push one side of diff
[parallel to tubes] as high as it willgo, then pull down the opposite
edge in a sort of rotating arc type sort of a way . IYSWIM

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:13:03 -0700, mused:

FSU Starters 4-80W ie 3' 4' 5'
FS2 twin series lamp 2'
FS125 6' and 8'

No such thing as a universal starter,sorry

Apart from the aforementioned universial starter, which isn't entirely
universal but is reasonably universal.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:03:03 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
mused:

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids -

They may be bloody awful, but they're a lot easier to remove than some
of the prismatic diffusers, especially once they've gone nice and
brittle.

I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?

Some are easy to remove, some are not quite so easy to remove.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Lurch wrote:

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:03:03 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
mused:


And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids -


They may be bloody awful, but they're a lot easier to remove than some
of the prismatic diffusers, especially once they've gone nice and
brittle.

IKWYM I took on a job as site supervisor at the local primary school
and we had lots of those, where they had melted and welded themselves to
the metal fitting. I ended up with lots of lights that had no diffusers.
There was a survey done to replace all the old light fittings, but
nothing had been done when I went back into retirement at the end of
last December, six months after the survey.

I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?


Some are easy to remove, some are not quite so easy to remove.

I found that out as well. We had some new build classrooms and all the
lights were electronic starters and twin tubed with these diffusers.
Some were a PITA to get out and replace, as well as which, being on a
tight budget, I had to find out which tube went out and which one went
to half light, so I could change one tube at a time.

As you can guess, I am very happy to have those times behind me now.

Dave

On 20 Jun, 21:03, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices & often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could use
to fit all applications?

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?

4-80w starters are good for most lights, but not all.
Commercial good practice is to replace the starter when you replace
the tube. And of course to use a tube that more or less matches the
colour temp of the others there.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...scent_Lighting
for more.


NT

Heliotrope Smith wrote:
A box of FSU starters will suit most3ft, 4f, 5f & 6ft tubes.
8 footers can be a bit more tricky, have some FS 125 ready for them.

You will need FS2 starters for the 2ft tubes in those grids.

I have found most of the grids (2ft & 4ft) just slot in.
Push up one side (not end) as far as you can and pull down the other
side.

The ends do not rest on anything.

They do in all the buildings I've worked in. The grid is the same size in
both directions as the rebate in the ceiling grid.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Lurch wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:13:03 -0700, mused:

FSU Starters 4-80W ie 3' 4' 5'
FS2 twin series lamp 2'
FS125 6' and 8'

No such thing as a universal starter,sorry

Apart from the aforementioned universial starter, which isn't entirely
universal but is reasonably universal.

So, given that most of the fittings I come across have 4 x 4' tubes with 4 x
starters, would these be OK?
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/BGFSU.html


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

wrote:

On 20 Jun, 21:03, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices & often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could use
to fit all applications?

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?


4-80w starters are good for most lights, but not all.
Commercial good practice is to replace the starter when you replace
the tube. And of course to use a tube that more or less matches the
colour temp of the others there.

When I had the job at the school, I was convinced that all the tubes in
the hall should be changed at the same time that 3 of them had failed.
They were all different colours, indicating that they were all different
ages. The colours were nothing to do with different colour temperature,
just old age. My reasoning was that the scaffolding was so expensive,
that it was economical to replace all the tubes in one operation. I was
over ruled by the head. Such short sightedness


Dave

On 2007-06-21 00:19:03 +0100, Dave said:
My reasoning was that the scaffolding was so expensive, that it was
economical to replace all the tubes in one operation. I was over ruled
by the head. Such short sightedness


Dave

People who can, do.

People who can't, teach.

Andy Hall wrote:

People who can, do.


People who can't, set up as builders.

People who don't have a clue work behind the counter in a plumber's
merchant and believe every word they read in the trade literature.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-21 00:19:03 +0100, Dave said:

My reasoning was that the scaffolding was so expensive, that it was
economical to replace all the tubes in one operation. I was over ruled
by the head. Such short sightedness


Dave


People who can, do.

People who can't, teach.


And people who can't teach become heads.
;-)

On 2007-06-21 03:31:41 +0100, PJ said:

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-21 00:19:03 +0100, Dave said:

My reasoning was that the scaffolding was so expensive, that it was
economical to replace all the tubes in one operation. I was over ruled
by the head. Such short sightedness


Dave


People who can, do.

People who can't, teach.


And people who can't teach become heads.
;-)

Yes. Education is not immune from the Peter principle.

On Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:16:06 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
mused:

Lurch wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:13:03 -0700, mused:

FSU Starters 4-80W ie 3' 4' 5'
FS2 twin series lamp 2'
FS125 6' and 8'

No such thing as a universal starter,sorry

Apart from the aforementioned universial starter, which isn't entirely
universal but is reasonably universal.

So, given that most of the fittings I come across have 4 x 4' tubes with 4 x
starters, would these be OK?
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/BGFSU.html

Yep.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:12:06 +0100, Dave
mused:

Lurch wrote:

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:03:03 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
mused:


And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids -


They may be bloody awful, but they're a lot easier to remove than some
of the prismatic diffusers, especially once they've gone nice and
brittle.

IKWYM I took on a job as site supervisor at the local primary school
and we had lots of those, where they had melted and welded themselves to
the metal fitting. I ended up with lots of lights that had no diffusers.
There was a survey done to replace all the old light fittings, but
nothing had been done when I went back into retirement at the end of
last December, six months after the survey.

I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?


Some are easy to remove, some are not quite so easy to remove.

I found that out as well. We had some new build classrooms and all the
lights were electronic starters and twin tubed with these diffusers.
Some were a PITA to get out and replace, as well as which, being on a
tight budget, I had to find out which tube went out and which one went
to half light, so I could change one tube at a time.

As you can guess, I am very happy to have those times behind me now.

Complete contrast to when we installed lights in schools. Most of the
stuff was ridiculously expensive and overspecced. We did one school
and fitted a load of 5' flourescent battens with diffusers on one
floor full of classrooms, only these were swedish or something,
Zumtobel Staff IIRC, the fittings were about 300 and odd quid per
unit.

Installs were always no expense spared to some extent, maintenance was
a bit tighter.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On Jun 21, 12:34 am, Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-06-21 00:19:03 +0100, Dave said:

My reasoning was that the scaffolding was so expensive, that it was
economical to replace all the tubes in one operation. I was over ruled
by the head. Such short sightedness

Dave

People who can, do.

People who can't, teach.

People who can't teach, work for Ofsted.

MBQ

On 21 Jun, 00:19, Dave wrote:
wrote:
On 20 Jun, 21:03, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Hi All

I quite often get asked to change fluorescent tubes in local offices & often
the starter is at fault. Since they all seem to be different makes with
different part numbers I usually take an old one to the local wholesaler to
buy them.

I'd rather keep some on the van - is there a 'universal starter' I could use
to fit all applications?

And - those bloody awful chrome plated plastic grids - I usually remove the
ceiling tile next to the light box & slide the grid aside - but sometimes
the adjacent tiles are above partitions - ant tips on removing/replacing the
little buggers?

4-80w starters are good for most lights, but not all.
Commercial good practice is to replace the starter when you replace
the tube. And of course to use a tube that more or less matches the
colour temp of the others there.

When I had the job at the school, I was convinced that all the tubes in
the hall should be changed at the same time that 3 of them had failed.
They were all different colours, indicating that they were all different
ages. The colours were nothing to do with different colour temperature,
just old age. My reasoning was that the scaffolding was so expensive,
that it was economical to replace all the tubes in one operation. I was
over ruled by the head. Such short sightedness

Dave

Standard practice in big businesses, but like you say short
sightedness rules elsewhere. Or is it stupidity.


NT