fluorescent light problems

[Dave85]

I'm not sure whats up with one of our lights out of the 6 that are installed in our basement but we have had problems with most of them after two years of them being installed.

Problem one which is with all of the lights and the most common.

The bulbs only last about a year. If we swap out bulbs in the light and it's still not working we will normally put a new ballast in it.

The ballasts have been lasting anywhere from only one year to a year and a half.
Is that normal for these type lights?
The ones I replace in offices normally last a good 10 years.

These lights are the standard 2' x 2' with two 34 watt U bulbs in them.
-----------
Problem two:

Last night one of the lights over my computer would not turn on. It's been a while since it was a new bulb so I went to home depot and got two more for it. After installing it still didn't work so I thought, must be the ballast as its about 1.5 years old as well. After I put a new ballast in it still wont work so I get a bulb from another light and put it in place and it works...The new bulb in another light stays dark so it was a bad bulb.
Another trip to home depot and we get the light working without a problem.

This morning I turn the lights on and the one above my computer isn't working once again.
I'm not sure what it is..I tap and shake the light...nothing
However, if I take the bulb out all the way the other light tries to light and then I put the bulb back in and they both work.

Turning the switch off turns all the lights off and anything over a 10 second delay wont let that one light turn on anymore until the bulb is taken out and reinstalled.

I'm starting to think it's the connector pins in the light and wanted to replace them but home depot and lowes don't have any.

On the other hand, it may not be the connectors at all.


Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[celtic]

Many times it is simply more cost efficient to just change out the fixture than go through the ...change lamps, still NG; change ballast, still NG; change sockets approach.
This is assuming you are sure there are no wiring problems leading to the fixture.

 

[iwire]

Many times it is simply more cost efficient to just change out the fixture

I agree, the last few days I have been repairing T-5 HO strip lights.

$26 for four lamps, $30-$40 for the ballast.

I could probably buy a new fixture with lamps for less.

 

[Dave85]

Yea we were thinking of just taking out the light for a new one.


They are about $35 new

Ballasts - $30
Bulbs - $8 each

Whats the average life span of this type ballast?

I'm sure the wiring is right as I looked it all over myself.

 

[barbeer]

I once replaced every electronic ballast in a 47 floor building (for the second time) after Advance admitted they had a bad lot of ballasts and were burning out after 1 year. It happens! Check for warranties!

 

[LarryFine]

Dave, try another brand of tube. Seriously.

Try the line the blue store carries, instead of the orange store.

I'll tell you my story on this if you want to hear about it.

 

[celtic]

Dave, try another brand of tube. Seriously.

Try the line the blue store carries, instead of the orange store.

I'll tell you my story on this if you want to hear about it.

I'll go one step further than Larry, I would avoid the Big Box stores like the plauge.....

 

[goldstar]

I agree with the others on this. If you went to Big Orange to buy U-bent 48" bulbs they customarily carry Phillips bulbs. IMHO they are not only the cheapest but also the worst on the market (you can identify them by the silver stripe around the outside of the bulb). Go to an electrical supply house and either buy GE, Westinghouse or Sylvania bulbs and I'd be willing to bet you'll see the difference. Same goes for the ballasts. Spend a few $$ more and buy a quality ballast like Magnetek and not a Lithoinia.

Finally, and I know this may sound wierd, but make sure the fixture is grounded. The ballasts won't ignite the gas inside the flourescent tubes if the fixture is not grounded. I found out about this the hard way when some smacker decided to install a 4" round box in the ceiling of a closet and then install a fluorescent fixture with only the hot and neutral wires extending into the casing of the fixture. Bulbs wouldn't fire until I grounded the fixture.

 

[Dave85]

Dave, try another brand of tube. Seriously.

Try the line the blue store carries, instead of the orange store.

I'll tell you my story on this if you want to hear about it.

We used to get all the parts from home depot but tried a bulb from lowes this time and the quality looks to be 20X better.

The balasts are all from home depot as they are priced lower there.

Everythings grounded too.

Yea these bulbs have the metal tape on them.

I'll head to cooper electric this weekend and pick some more bulbs and balasts up for the install.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

 

[LarryFine]

(you can identify them by the silver stripe around the outside of the bulb)

Finally, and I know this may sound wierd, but make sure the fixture is grounded.

That's actually the purpose of the foil tape: to bring the grounding from the tube clips closer to the tube. That's how unreliable they know their tubes are.

Note that ballasts have grounding warnings for both the ballast and the metallic reflector.

I'll head to cooper electric this weekend and pick some more bulbs and balasts up for the install.

I suggest trying just the tubes first. And another thing: leave them on for at least 24 hours the first time they're fired up.

 

[wireman3736]

I researched this problem after having similar problems and was told that there was a design problem in the early to mid 90's with the bulb being too far away from the metal housing on these U bulb type of fixtures, They corrected this problem on existing fixtures by putting a metal strip the length of the bulb, after talking with a lighting representative I was told that the problem has come back over the years due to the energy efficient ballast and lamps now being used and his solution for solving this problem was to replace the fixtures. I took his advice and never had a problem after that, I don't know if this is fact or fiction.:roll:

 

[robbietan]

I have even seen a client buy those china ballasts for their price. trouble is, they are rated 50Hz (philippines is 60Hz) so they replace lamps every other month

 

[goldstar]

That's actually the purpose of the foil tape: to bring the grounding from the tube clips closer to the tube. That's how unreliable they know their tubes are.

Looks like a band-aid cure somebody developed in their garage. The guy probably received the company's nobel prize for that one.

 

[Dave85]

I'm convinced about the low quality of fluorescent bulbs in the large box stores like home depot now.

I had one of the better Sylvania bulbs in the fixture with a cheaper Phillips on the other side.

I decided to get both Sylvania bulbs from Lowes in the same fixture and it solved the problem as its lighting up....even faster than all the other bulbs.

The Phillips brand has the tape going around the bulb and is from Home depot. The Sylvania bulb doesn't have any tape, seems much better built, and lights much faster...only $1 more for something that works.

From this point on I'm going to start getting my bulbs from the supply houses.

I'm going to keep the fixture in place now and get some new ballasts along with bulbs for thee other lights and when they start to go I'll just replace both the ballast and bulbs.


Thanks for the suggestions everyone.