If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains on
perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter? Are
starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a replacement which
is compatible? Do you need a different starter depending on the length of
tube?

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one or
both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide *some*
light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may be better
or cheaper to run.

On 01/01/2021 16:18, NY wrote:
Do you need a different starter depending on the
length of tube?

Yes. They are rated by wattage.

In article , NY wrote:
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains
on perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter?
Are starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a replacement
which is compatible? Do you need a different starter depending on the
length of tube?

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one
or both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide
*some* light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may
be better or cheaper to run.

Starters tend to be universal these days. cost 53p + vat at TLC, so that
would be a cheap test,

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

In article ,
NY wrote:
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains
on perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter?
Are starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a
replacement which is compatible? Do you need a different starter
depending on the length of tube?

For some reason cold makes them worse.

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one
or both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide
*some* light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may
be better or cheaper to run.

Or change the ballasts to electronic ones. But likely as expensive as
changing to LED.

--
*Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP .

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 01/01/2021 16:18, NY wrote:
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains
on perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter?
Are starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a replacement
which is compatible? Do you need a different starter depending on the
length of tube?

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one
or both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide
*some* light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may
be better or cheaper to run.

Swap the starters around to prove they are at fault?

Actually just removing them often fires the tube instantly (on a one
shot basis) if the starter is faulty.

--
Adam

NY pretended :
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting) fails
to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains on
perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter? Are
starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a replacement which is
compatible? Do you need a different starter depending on the length of tube?

Whilst it is struggling to stay on, try twisting the starter out. If it
then remains lit, it usually means that fitting a new starter will fix
the issue. You can buy universal starters, but sometimes a fitting can
be fussy. If you buy a specific one, then it has to be the correct
wattage.

On 01/01/2021 16:51, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
NY wrote:
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains
on perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter?
Are starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a
replacement which is compatible? Do you need a different starter
depending on the length of tube?

For some reason cold makes them worse.

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one
or both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide
*some* light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may
be better or cheaper to run.

Or change the ballasts to electronic ones. But likely as expensive as
changing to LED.



Electronic starters
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELECTRONI...-/153453947627

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

They don't like starting in cold weather. I worked in a huge unheated building where they were never turned off, because if they did they'd never re-light until the Summer!

" wrote in message
...
They don't like starting in cold weather. I worked in a huge unheated
building where they were never turned off, because if they did they'd
never re-light until the Summer!

Where I used to work, there was a server computer with that reputation: it
was never powered down because it was a right pig to make it reboot. There
was one guy who possessed the black art to get it going again. All went well
until the day a JCB operator on a housing estate drove his back-hoe through
an underground high voltage cable, not doing himself or the JCB much good,
and plunging the whole town into a power cut. The sudden loss of power, not
even a tidy shutdown, caused even Our Guru a challenge to get the server
going again.

Cold weather affects the starting of tubes significantly. They usually stay
on once their internal temperature reaches a sufficiently high level. Some
tubes seem to be better than others and the older they are the worse they
get. You should match starters to the tube wattages. You used to be able to
get them so marked. If you want to find out if its the tube or the starter
and there is more then one simply swap the starters. If the fault moves with
the starter its a no brainer.

As for getting away from the standard tubes, well there are lots of options
depending on how much work you want to get involved in. I'll leave this
discussion to others. Its certainly not the length that is the issue, since
I had a Woolworth double short fitting with two tubes that hated the cold.

Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"NY" wrote in message
...
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains
on perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter? Are
starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a replacement which
is compatible? Do you need a different starter depending on the length of
tube?

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one
or both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide
*some* light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may be
better or cheaper to run.

Swap the starters and see if the fault moves.
However some of the older fittings do not like so called universal
starters.

Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"charles" wrote in message
...
In article , NY wrote:
If a fluorescent tube (about 5-6 feet long, one of a pair in a fitting)
fails to strike or takes many attempts before striking (and then remains
on perfectly), is that likely to be a failed tube or a failed starter?
Are starters labelled with a code which makes sure you buy a replacement
which is compatible? Do you need a different starter depending on the
length of tube?

We have several fittings in the garage which are reluctant to start (one
or both tubes in the pair) and I want the cheapest solution to provide
*some* light, even if an array of LED GU10s or of CFL bayonet bulbs may
be better or cheaper to run.

Starters tend to be universal these days. cost 53p + vat at TLC, so that
would be a cheap test,

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle