Ugh-- dimming ballast

[rt66electric]

I have a customer that has a room with 10 flour dimming fixtures, three of them are blinking, and asks If the problem is bulbs or ballast???

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I have a customer that has a room with 10 flour dimming fixtures, three of them are blinking, and asks If the problem is bulbs or ballast???

Is the dimmer rated for fluorescents?

 

[bradleyelectric]

do the tubes match the ballast?

 

[rt66electric]

tubes are all t-8

tubes are all t-8

all tubes are t-8

 

[bradleyelectric]

all tubes are t-8

but are all the ballasts t8? A ballast that has the wrong tubes will flash the tubes. and as 480 asks, the ballasts have to be dimming ballasts

 

[480sparky]

but are all the ballasts t8?........

And is it rated for use with a dimmer?

 

[rt66electric]

do flavor of bulbs matter??

do flavor of bulbs matter??

All of the bulbs Are t-8, but, I see different stlyes and brands. Would it make A difference if the bulbs have a different "K" number(4100, 5000, 6000 etc) color

The Maint man said he changed the bulbs??.

My basic question is " If the bulbs are blinking upon cold startup- could the solution be anything other than changing the ballast?" ?????????? Sometimes the bulbs will start up and other times they keep on flashing.

Some brilliant EE designer who also thought a you ought to put a emergency battery back-up ballast ( with dimming capabilities)(on a three-way) above the projector sceen in a smancy-fancy board room. All of the ballast dim except the one above the screen. The powers that be expect me (dumb-nuts,that does not a degree in education or marketing) to fix it in less than a hour, and parts should not be more than $10 per ballast ??

 

[iMuse97]

All of the bulbs Are t-8, but, I see different stlyes and brands. Would it make A difference if the bulbs have a different "K" number(4100, 5000, 6000 etc) color

The Maint man said he changed the bulbs??.

My basic question is " If the bulbs are blinking upon cold startup- could the solution be anything other than changing the ballast?" ?????????? Sometimes the bulbs will start up and other times they keep on flashing.

Some brilliant EE designer who also thought a you ought to put a emergency battery back-up ballast ( with dimming capabilities)(on a three-way) above the projector sceen in a smancy-fancy board room. All of the ballast dim except the one above the screen. The powers that be expect me (dumb-nuts,that does not a degree in education or marketing) to fix it in less than a hour, and parts should not be more than $10 per ballast ??

That's a big job and the ballast and lamps must match, and the dimmer rated and listed for the purpose. Who said anything was as easy as the customer says--for instance, I have a bad breaker... my light switch won't work... etc. Nothing's ever easy. ...That's why they called you!:grin: Charge 'em for it.

 

[480sparky]

The K refers to the color of the bulb.



Again, are the ballasts designed to operate T8 bulbs, and are they dimmable ballasts?

 

[whillis]

Fluorescent bulbs need to be burned in at 100% brightness for a minimum length of time before they can be dimmed. The length of time is normally printed somewhere on the ballast and is typically around 100 hours.

 

[rt66electric]

great bit of wisdom!!

great bit of wisdom!!

Fluorescent bulbs need to be burned in at 100% brightness for a minimum length of time before they can be dimmed. The length of time is normally printed somewhere on the ballast and is typically around 100 hours.

I"ll try that way first, If it works- I'll look as SMART as I LOOK !!!!!