I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office (not
sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker on
the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a few
minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?



--
Jeff

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office (not
sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker on
the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a few
minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?




Hope we get some good answers to this Jeff, because I've had bad luck
with the T8's I get at the depot too. An election friend told me it may
be because they get turned on an off too much - they really prefer to
stay on for long periods of time.


--
-Mike-

On Fri, 22 Apr 2016 13:33:20 -0400, Mike Marlow
wrote:

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office (not
sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker on
the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a few
minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?




Hope we get some good answers to this Jeff, because I've had bad luck
with the T8's I get at the depot too. An election friend told me it may
be because they get turned on an off too much - they really prefer to
stay on for long periods of time.

They once advertised the life of fluorescent tubes as "xxxx hours,
less three hours per start" so apparently leaving them on is better
than turning them off when you go to lunch.

The alternative is to get LED replacement "tubes" and rewire the
fixtures *unless* they are electronic ballast. OK if you're the
electrician, expensive if you hire it done. The fixtures in my
basement are older T12 so would require rewiring. The LED tubes use
about half the power for the same number of lumens and they have a
predicted 50,000 hour life.

Example electronic ballast compatible tube here (it's a long URL so
watch for wrap on some newsreaders):
https://www.earthled.com/collections...d= 5bdd20d24e

These are $9 per tube in single quantity (includes shipping). That
drops to $8 per tube if you buy 25 or more.

If you get 10 times the life of a fluorescent from the LED tube, then
you'd be way ahead on the total cost of the tubes.

Mike Marlow wrote in
:

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office
(not sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker
on the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a
few minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?

Sounds like the wrong kind of ballast. T8's need a T8 ballast,
and by that I mean a ballast for T8 only. The ballasts that
claim to work with both T8 and T12 bulbs generally don't work
well with T8s (this tends to directly correlate to the cost
of the ballast - there are good electronic ballasts, but the
cheap ones at HD/Lowes are a crapshoot).

Hope we get some good answers to this Jeff, because I've had bad luck
with the T8's I get at the depot too. An election friend told me it
may be because they get turned on an off too much - they really prefer
to stay on for long periods of time.

I hate the T8 bulbs - the idiot that decided they should use
the same 2-pin base as T12s should be shot. I can't count
the number of cases I know of where T8 ballasts have been fried
by people putting T12 bulbs in, because they fit and there's
absolutely nothing on the fixture to say don't use them.

(to Mike's question, all flourescent bulbs don't like being
turned on & off, not just T8s. But the T8's seem much more
persnickety about the ballast they're used with).

John

On 4/22/2016 4:20 PM, John McCoy wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote in
:

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office
(not sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker
on the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a
few minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?

Sounds like the wrong kind of ballast. T8's need a T8 ballast,
and by that I mean a ballast for T8 only. The ballasts that
claim to work with both T8 and T12 bulbs generally don't work
well with T8s (this tends to directly correlate to the cost
of the ballast - there are good electronic ballasts, but the
cheap ones at HD/Lowes are a crapshoot).

Hope we get some good answers to this Jeff, because I've had bad luck
with the T8's I get at the depot too. An election friend told me it
may be because they get turned on an off too much - they really prefer
to stay on for long periods of time.

I hate the T8 bulbs - the idiot that decided they should use
the same 2-pin base as T12s should be shot. I can't count
the number of cases I know of where T8 ballasts have been fried
by people putting T12 bulbs in, because they fit and there's
absolutely nothing on the fixture to say don't use them.

(to Mike's question, all flourescent bulbs don't like being
turned on & off, not just T8s. But the T8's seem much more
persnickety about the ballast they're used with).

John


Best advice thus far.

Where are the lights being used? Are they constantly turned on and off?
As John said, are you using the proper T8 only ballast? In addition to
ballasts, is it Instant start, rapid start or program start? The type
makes all the difference in the world depending on where it's used. In a
constant on/off environment, you want program start. If the lights stay
on throughout the day, you want instant start. Don't buy the cheap home
depot ballasts. Pay a little more for something like Philips Advance
ballasts.

Many of the new Alto bulbs offer and average of 40,000 hours but newer
Altos offer a 60,000 to 80,000 hour range but cost much more. Though,
all that is meaningless if you use the wrong ballast.

Meanie wrote:

Best advice thus far.

Where are the lights being used? Are they constantly turned on and off?
As John said, are you using the proper T8 only ballast? In addition to
ballasts, is it Instant start, rapid start or program start? The type
makes all the difference in the world depending on where it's used. In a
constant on/off environment, you want program start. If the lights stay
on throughout the day, you want instant start. Don't buy the cheap home
depot ballasts. Pay a little more for something like Philips Advance
ballasts.

Many of the new Alto bulbs offer and average of 40,000 hours but newer
Altos offer a 60,000 to 80,000 hour range but cost much more. Though,
all that is meaningless if you use the wrong ballast.

My fixtures are now all T8 fixtures. Don't know the ballast details. I
use only Altos bulbs. My lights can get turned on/off several times per
day depending on what I'm doing.

--
-Mike-

On 4/22/2016 4:20 PM, John McCoy wrote:


I hate the T8 bulbs - the idiot that decided they should use
the same 2-pin base as T12s should be shot. I can't count
the number of cases I know of where T8 ballasts have been fried
by people putting T12 bulbs in, because they fit and there's
absolutely nothing on the fixture to say don't use them.

(to Mike's question, all flourescent bulbs don't like being
turned on & off, not just T8s. But the T8's seem much more
persnickety about the ballast they're used with).

John


Let's see if I understand this. You hate T8 bulbs because idiots put
T12 bulbs in the fixtures? I like them because I can put in a T8
ballast when the old fixtures die and upgrade them.

In our shop we replaced all the fixtures with T8 in 2008. We are
starting to replace many of the bulbs as they are stating to die with
about 100,000 hours on them. They typically are turned on once a day
for 10 hours

On 4/22/2016 4:39 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

In our shop we replaced all the fixtures with T8 in 2008.
We are starting to replace many of the bulbs as they are
stating to die with about 100,000 hours on them. They
typically are turned on once a day for 10 hours

Your numbers don't work. Ten hours a day, six days a week for
eight years is is ~ 25,000 hours, far short of 100,000 hours.

On 4/22/2016 6:49 PM, Just Wondering wrote:
On 4/22/2016 4:39 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

In our shop we replaced all the fixtures with T8 in 2008.
We are starting to replace many of the bulbs as they are
stating to die with about 100,000 hours on them. They
typically are turned on once a day for 10 hours

Your numbers don't work. Ten hours a day, six days a week for
eight years is is ~ 25,000 hours, far short of 100,000 hours.

Yeah, but I got more clicks on the calculator.

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from
HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home
and office
(not sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried
replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating
them in marker
on the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright,
but over a
few minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to
describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand
of tube
behave so poorly?

Stop buying them at HD. I have a friend that is an
electrican and he told me, like Walmart, HD tells suppliers
what they will pay. The manufacturers have to figure out how
to make them cheap enough for HD. Which means they put less
gas in them, thinner glass for the bulb and any other thing
they can do to make it cheap enough. He picks them up a the
supply house for me now and they last much longer than the
ones I use to get at HD. YMMV

Ed Pawlowski wrote in news:_7ydnSuYLPq3NYfKnZ2dnUU7-
:

On 4/22/2016 4:20 PM, John McCoy wrote:


I hate the T8 bulbs - the idiot that decided they should use
the same 2-pin base as T12s should be shot.

Let's see if I understand this. You hate T8 bulbs because idiots put
T12 bulbs in the fixtures? I like them because I can put in a T8
ballast when the old fixtures die and upgrade them.

Understand, I'm an engineer. I've spent 30 years designing
things to be as idiot-proof as possible, and one aspect of
that is, you don't use the same pinout for things unless they
are 100% compatible.

T8 and T12 bulbs are not interchangeable. Having the same
pinout is bad engineering, plain and simple.

BTW, changing the sockets when you change the ballast is
trivially simple.

In our shop we replaced all the fixtures with T8 in 2008.

Round about that same time I replaced the couple of T8
fixtures I had with T12 ballasts. They're more reliable,
brighter, and last longer, and I figure by the time I'm
out of T12 bulbs LEDs will be cheap enough to be an
economical replacement (I use the same thinking with Edison
base bulbs - after trying a couple of twisties, I'm
sticking with incandescents until the LED prices are low
enough to make switching make sense).

John

On 4/22/16 1:07 PM, wrote:

The alternative is to get LED replacement "tubes" and rewire the
fixtures *unless* they are electronic ballast. OK if you're the
electrician, expensive if you hire it done. The fixtures in my
basement are older T12 so would require rewiring. The LED tubes use
about half the power for the same number of lumens and they have a
predicted 50,000 hour life.

Example electronic ballast compatible tube here (it's a long URL so
watch for wrap on some newsreaders):
https://www.earthled.com/collections...ments-replace-

your-fluorescent-t8-t10-t12-lamps-with-led/products/luceco-led-

fluorescent-replacement-tube-generation-2-4-ft-15-watt-t8-ballast-

compatible-full-glass-body?variant=13929341956&mc_cid=f02a49d337&mc_eid= 5bdd20d24e

These are $9 per tube in single quantity (includes shipping). That
drops to $8 per tube if you buy 25 or more.

If you get 10 times the life of a fluorescent from the LED tube, then
you'd be way ahead on the total cost of the tubes.


I went with these in the 6 (4' x 4-tube) troffers I have in the shop.
The power/lumens is about the same as fluorescent tubes, but the light
stays bright as they age and that infernal buzzing is finally gone!
Since they direct light in only one direction (down) instead of 360
degrees, they seem brighter.

I just went ahead an bypassed my ballasts, no need to generate excess heat.

-BR

John McCoy wrote:

Understand, I'm an engineer. I've spent 30 years designing
things to be as idiot-proof as possible, and one aspect of
that is, you don't use the same pinout for things unless they
are 100% compatible.

T8 and T12 bulbs are not interchangeable. Having the same
pinout is bad engineering, plain and simple.

Well... not so much John. There are fixtures that are rated for either
T8 or T12. That makes the common pin out logical.


BTW, changing the sockets when you change the ballast is
trivially simple.


Yes, it is.


--
-Mike-

On Sat, 23 Apr 2016 10:16:51 -0400, Mike Marlow
wrote:

John McCoy wrote:

Understand, I'm an engineer. I've spent 30 years designing
things to be as idiot-proof as possible, and one aspect of
that is, you don't use the same pinout for things unless they
are 100% compatible.

T8 and T12 bulbs are not interchangeable. Having the same
pinout is bad engineering, plain and simple.

Well... not so much John. There are fixtures that are rated for either
T8 or T12. That makes the common pin out logical.

It's possible to design a connector that will take only T12 (old
connector), only T8 or either. That should have been the goal.

BTW, changing the sockets when you change the ballast is
trivially simple.


Yes, it is.

It costs an extra $1.50 (perhaps a big deal for institutions with
thousand) and some are riveted so not so trivial.

On 4/22/2016 4:20 PM, John McCoy wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote in
:

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office
(not sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker
on the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a
few minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?

Sounds like the wrong kind of ballast. T8's need a T8 ballast,
and by that I mean a ballast for T8 only. The ballasts that
claim to work with both T8 and T12 bulbs generally don't work
well with T8s (this tends to directly correlate to the cost
of the ballast - there are good electronic ballasts, but the
cheap ones at HD/Lowes are a crapshoot).

Hope we get some good answers to this Jeff, because I've had bad luck
with the T8's I get at the depot too. An election friend told me it
may be because they get turned on an off too much - they really prefer
to stay on for long periods of time.

I hate the T8 bulbs - the idiot that decided they should use
the same 2-pin base as T12s should be shot. I can't count
the number of cases I know of where T8 ballasts have been fried
by people putting T12 bulbs in, because they fit and there's
absolutely nothing on the fixture to say don't use them.

(to Mike's question, all flourescent bulbs don't like being
turned on & off, not just T8s. But the T8's seem much more
persnickety about the ballast they're used with).

John

These are all t8 ballasts. The shop has 3 bulb T8 dropped ceiling units,
(originally made for T8). The others have all been replaced with T8
Ballasts Ge Units. I had to rewire and jumper the tombestones for T8
and wire correctly.

--
Jeff

On 4/22/2016 12:33 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:

An election friend told me it may be because they get turned on an off
too much - they really prefer to stay on for long periods of time.

That's my experience.

Never turn my shop T-8's off ... on 24/7. Only time they go off is if
the power goes out, or the rare times I've needed to do some electrical
work.

Have probably replaced three of the ten bulbs in the five fixtures in 15
years.

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
https://www.facebook.com/eWoodShop-206166666122228
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

krw wrote in news:bm3nhbl2k8c4es4cuh9f2ke2d9752kplov@
4ax.com:

*snip*


It costs an extra $1.50 (perhaps a big deal for institutions with
thousand) and some are riveted so not so trivial.


If you buy good drill bits or can sharpen yours...

Right, not so trivial.

Moving on...

Puckdropper

John McCoy wrote:

Round about that same time I replaced the couple of T8
fixtures I had with T12 ballasts. They're more reliable,
brighter, and last longer, and I figure by the time I'm
out of T12 bulbs LEDs will be cheap enough to be an
economical replacement (I use the same thinking with Edison
base bulbs - after trying a couple of twisties, I'm
sticking with incandescents until the LED prices are low
enough to make switching make sense).

A problem I've experienced with LEDs...

Late last fall I installed four, flush mount ceiling fixtures with integral
LED; i.e., the bulb was built in...when it burned out, toss the whole
fixture. Within about 4 months, two of the four started flickering; a very
annoying flicker, maybe 25 cycles or a bit less per second.

Web research told me that LEDs are very susceptible to voltage variation and
that a poor switch could cause the problem. Each flickering light had its
own switch; each was on a separate circuit. I figured my best bet was to
toss them and replace with incandescent. Which I just did.

On 23 Apr 2016 17:21:23 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

krw wrote in news:bm3nhbl2k8c4es4cuh9f2ke2d9752kplov@
4ax.com:

*snip*


It costs an extra $1.50 (perhaps a big deal for institutions with
thousand) and some are riveted so not so trivial.


If you buy good drill bits or can sharpen yours...

Right, not so trivial.

Moving on...

That's easy for homeowners but not so easy for commercial
installations. You don't think they design this stuff for us?


Puckdropper

woodchucker wrote:
I am having a problem with some T8's that I bought from HD.
They are Phillips Altos.

I have two boxes, of 10 one is daylight, one is for home and office (not
sure of K).

Anyway they keep burning out in 3 months. I have tried replacing the
ballast, I have tried other fixtures, I started dating them in marker on
the bulbs.

They never are great, when they come on they are bright, but over a few
minutes they get darker and zebra lines (best way to describe the
pulsing) start appearing.

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?




Maybe the ballasts. I have the same brand, daylight, and all 16 in my
garage are over 5 years old. I have nor replaced any but have replaced 1
ballast. .

woodchucker wrote:

These are all t8 ballasts. The shop has 3 bulb T8 dropped ceiling units,
(originally made for T8). The others have all been replaced with T8
Ballasts Ge Units. I had to rewire and jumper the tombestones for T8
and wire correctly.

Shunted tombestones are for 'instant start' ballasts only (never 'rapid-start').


From NEMA document available he
https://www.1000bulbs.com/pdf/gcp-559-lampholders.pdf

Numerous ballast manufacturers have received and verified reports of incorrect applications of shunted
bi-pin lampholders (tombstones) used with rapid-start (RS), programmed start (PS) and dimming ballasts.
These incorrect applications have occurred in both new luminaires and field lamp and ballast retrofits.

For the purposes of this discussion, ballasts operating T8 rapid start lamps can be divided into two
classifications; rapid-start and instant-start.

Rapid-start, programmed rapid-start, and dimming models provide lamp cathode power
before striking the lamp (and sometimes after operation) and require that two wires be
connected between the ballast and each lampholder.

Instant-start ballasts do not preheat the lamp cathodes and need only one wire between
the ballast and each lampholder. Correct wiring of instant-start ballasts and rapid start
lamps necessitates that the lampholder terminals be shorted together, either via wiring
or the use of a shunted lamp holder.


There are two basic types of lampholders, normal (or non-shunted), and shunted. A normal lampholder
does not short or shunt the two lamp contacts within the lampholder, whereas a shunted lampholder
shorts the two lamp contacts within the lampholder. Other than possibly a manufacturers part number
that is stamped or molded into the lampholder, it is very difficult to identify whether the lampholder is
normal or shunted. These "shunted" lampholders were designed for instant start applications only.

On 4/24/2016 10:17 AM, Spalted Walt wrote:
woodchucker wrote:

These are all t8 ballasts. The shop has 3 bulb T8 dropped ceiling units,
(originally made for T8). The others have all been replaced with T8
Ballasts Ge Units. I had to rewire and jumper the tombestones for T8
and wire correctly.

Shunted tombestones are for 'instant start' ballasts only (never 'rapid-start').

Yep, The units required that. I thought I had chosen rapid start. But
found out Friday that they were instant start. Surprise, surprise. But
they are wired correctly.

When I looked up the model # of the ballast.

I don't know what the 3 bulb drop ceiling units in the basement are. I
didn't build them, just installed them.

The stripes have disappeared after the gases stabilized in a couple of
hours. New bulbs they told me (Philips) will do that.

At any rate they recommended I try other brands, which I have explained
I have, and they did work well. It's the phillips bulbs that are not
working well, and providing short life.

So, I think I've got to be tough and not take the easy way out while at
HD. I've got to either go to Lowe's or a supplier, or online.



From NEMA document available he
https://www.1000bulbs.com/pdf/gcp-559-lampholders.pdf

Numerous ballast manufacturers have received and verified reports of incorrect applications of shunted
bi-pin lampholders (tombstones) used with rapid-start (RS), programmed start (PS) and dimming ballasts.
These incorrect applications have occurred in both new luminaires and field lamp and ballast retrofits.

For the purposes of this discussion, ballasts operating T8 rapid start lamps can be divided into two
classifications; rapid-start and instant-start.

Rapid-start, programmed rapid-start, and dimming models provide lamp cathode power
before striking the lamp (and sometimes after operation) and require that two wires be
connected between the ballast and each lampholder.

Instant-start ballasts do not preheat the lamp cathodes and need only one wire between
the ballast and each lampholder. Correct wiring of instant-start ballasts and rapid start
lamps necessitates that the lampholder terminals be shorted together, either via wiring
or the use of a shunted lamp holder.


There are two basic types of lampholders, normal (or non-shunted), and shunted. A normal lampholder
does not short or shunt the two lamp contacts within the lampholder, whereas a shunted lampholder
shorts the two lamp contacts within the lampholder. Other than possibly a manufacturers part number
that is stamped or molded into the lampholder, it is very difficult to identify whether the lampholder is
normal or shunted. These "shunted" lampholders were designed for instant start applications only.




--
Jeff

woodchucker wrote:

On 4/24/2016 10:17 AM, Spalted Walt wrote:
woodchucker wrote:

These are all t8 ballasts. The shop has 3 bulb T8 dropped ceiling units,
(originally made for T8). The others have all been replaced with T8
Ballasts Ge Units. I had to rewire and jumper the tombestones for T8
and wire correctly.

Shunted tombestones are for 'instant start' ballasts only (never 'rapid-start').

Yep, The units required that. I thought I had chosen rapid start. But
found out Friday that they were instant start. Surprise, surprise. But
they are wired correctly.

When I looked up the model # of the ballast.

I don't know what the 3 bulb drop ceiling units in the basement are. I
didn't build them, just installed them.

The stripes have disappeared after the gases stabilized in a couple of
hours. New bulbs they told me (Philips) will do that.

At any rate they recommended I try other brands, which I have explained
I have, and they did work well. It's the phillips bulbs that are not
working well, and providing short life.

So, I think I've got to be tough and not take the easy way out while at
HD. I've got to either go to Lowe's or a supplier, or online.

I'm curious as to how those Feit A19 LEDs are doing for you now. I
remember you had a couple that flickered right out of the box. Did you
end up returning them all, or are you still using them. If so, do you like them?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Elec...6-48/206397936

On 4/24/2016 12:28 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
woodchucker wrote:

On 4/24/2016 10:17 AM, Spalted Walt wrote:
woodchucker wrote:

These are all t8 ballasts. The shop has 3 bulb T8 dropped ceiling units,
(originally made for T8). The others have all been replaced with T8
Ballasts Ge Units. I had to rewire and jumper the tombestones for T8
and wire correctly.

Shunted tombestones are for 'instant start' ballasts only (never 'rapid-start').

Yep, The units required that. I thought I had chosen rapid start. But
found out Friday that they were instant start. Surprise, surprise. But
they are wired correctly.

When I looked up the model # of the ballast.

I don't know what the 3 bulb drop ceiling units in the basement are. I
didn't build them, just installed them.

The stripes have disappeared after the gases stabilized in a couple of
hours. New bulbs they told me (Philips) will do that.

At any rate they recommended I try other brands, which I have explained
I have, and they did work well. It's the phillips bulbs that are not
working well, and providing short life.

So, I think I've got to be tough and not take the easy way out while at
HD. I've got to either go to Lowe's or a supplier, or online.

I'm curious as to how those Feit A19 LEDs are doing for you now. I
remember you had a couple that flickered right out of the box. Did you
end up returning them all, or are you still using them. If so, do you like them?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Elec...6-48/206397936


I kept them,
I like what I see so far. HD by work no longer carries the Feits, and
neither does my other store by my home.
Now they carry the ECO line (if I remember).

I would like some brighter bulbs 60w equiv is ok, but I want 75 and 100,
and those are still very , very pricey.

I'm considering what to do when I redo the bathroom. I haven't decided,
but the Vermont style ceilings are going away, which means fixtures or
recessed. Not sure I want recessed due to heat loss, and the bathroom is
where the roof comes down, so it's tight to work in; for insulating that is.


--
Jeff

On Fri, 22 Apr 2016 13:03:26 -0400
woodchucker wrote:

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?

do not know what they are but you may have a problem with your
electrical


have you ever checked your lines for excessive noise and other
anomalies

On 2016-04-24, Electric Comet wrote:
On Fri, 22 Apr 2016 13:03:26 -0400
woodchucker wrote:

Any idea why this is happening? What would make one brand of tube
behave so poorly?

do not know what they are but you may have a problem with your
electrical

One might try yer local hydroponics grow store. Yes, living in CO, I
know what hydro grow stores are for. Regardless, T8 bulbs and
fixtures play a huge part in indoor hydro grow lighting. I know
growers who use T8's exclusively. May be more costly than HD and
Lowe's, but yer not likely to get flakey flickers from grow-light
T8's.

nb

woodchucker wrote in
:

I kept them,
I like what I see so far. HD by work no longer carries the Feits, and
neither does my other store by my home.
Now they carry the ECO line (if I remember).

I would like some brighter bulbs 60w equiv is ok, but I want 75 and
100, and those are still very , very pricey.

I'm considering what to do when I redo the bathroom. I haven't
decided, but the Vermont style ceilings are going away, which means
fixtures or recessed. Not sure I want recessed due to heat loss, and
the bathroom is where the roof comes down, so it's tight to work in;
for insulating that is.


Have you looked at Home Depot's site to see if they're available online?
Sometimes you get free "ship to store" or "ship to home" (I think it's
$45 for Home Depot) shipping as well as more product availability.

Puckdropper

Puckdropper wrote:
woodchucker wrote in
:

I kept them,
I like what I see so far. HD by work no longer carries the Feits, and
neither does my other store by my home.
Now they carry the ECO line (if I remember).

I would like some brighter bulbs 60w equiv is ok, but I want 75 and
100, and those are still very , very pricey.

I'm considering what to do when I redo the bathroom. I haven't
decided, but the Vermont style ceilings are going away, which means
fixtures or recessed. Not sure I want recessed due to heat loss, and
the bathroom is where the roof comes down, so it's tight to work in;
for insulating that is.


Have you looked at Home Depot's site to see if they're available online?
Sometimes you get free "ship to store" or "ship to home" (I think it's
$45 for Home Depot) shipping as well as more product availability.

Puckdropper

I bought 12 and put them in the lamps that stay on all day. Installed
them in January and will see how well they last. So far they are ok.

--
GW Ross

If you keep an open mind, people will
throw a lot of garbage in it.