Hi all,

So, I have a couple of 6' single TL-D 70W tube fittings in the kitchen
and the other day one started flickering.

I had a box of new tubes so replaced them both (they were due anyway)
but one still wasn't right. I found a spare starter and replaced the
iffy one and all was well.

I ordered a cotchel of 4-80W basic starters cheap from ebay and when
they arrived, replaced both in the fittings and initially all seemed
well.

Then a couple of evenings later the Mrs reported one was randomly
blinking off and then seemed to do so nearly constantly. Replacing
that starter with an old Philips 70-125W one had everything stable
again ... until, the other new starter fitted lamp started blinking
off. ;-(

So, I bought a small cotchel of electronic starters, replaced the
kitchen ones again and they have been fine ever since. ;-)

So, after running the situation past the eBay seller of the first
starters we have been having a discussion where he seems to think that
it could be anything but the starters ... and I think it could be that
the starters are a bit underrated ... and so the range of voltages
seen across the starters are sometimes too much for those particular
items and hence why they are re-triggering, even when the tube is
running fine?

So panel, anyone experienced anything like this before and what was
it? Is it just that 70W is on the upper end of a starter rated as
4-80W, especially a cheap one?

One of the same two starters runs a 40W tube / fitting fine.

To add a bit more fuel to the fire. I thought I'd also test the other
4 new starters on the tubes when they were cold. The first caused the
tube filaments to glow but the tube didn't even try to start. The next
two caused the tube to try to start but not actually manage it. The
last did allow the tube to fire up, as then did the previous two but
once the tube was already warm?

Putting one of the electronic or one of the old Philips 70-125W
starters back in will start the same tube from any situation.

Now, What *I* think might be happening (on the first two new starters
at least) is they initially start and run the tubes (two separate
fittings) ok until everything warms up, when the voltage across the
tube increases slightly, causing the starter to re-trigger and the
tube to blink off and back on again. This process is fairly repeatable
(it might vary between fittings) and the blinking get's worse if
left.

Is it just duff (weak) starters or *could there* be something else?

Cheers, T i m