florescent light tubes??

Anonymous-0 · Mar 28, 2012

Hey folks,

I've got a couple 3ft florescent lights that I put up about 10 years ago. They come on fine as soon as you flip the switch but one doesn't really light up real well for several minutes (maybe 30).... Is that just a tube going bad? I only remember some tubes having dark spots and/or flickering when bad but not just taking long to fully light...

Any ideas?

Thanks, Dave

souNdguy · Mar 28, 2012

10ys? replace the tubes!!!!

Anonymous-0 · Mar 28, 2012

(quoted from post at 11:42:49 03/28/12) 10ys? replace the tubes!!!!

'cmon.... The fixtures with tubes cost a whole 3 bucks, they oughta last longer than that :roll: Guess I'll go shopping then.... Sad part is, the light and tube will be cheaper than a replacement bulb.....

Anonymous-0 · Mar 28, 2012

Tubes can lose light out put.10 years is too much to expect.I am having trouble with Reserved name crap on here,may be my last post.

Zachary Hoyt · Mar 28, 2012

Once they have black rings that are as long as the diameter of the
tube they are on their last flickers, or that has been my experience.
Zach

souNdguy · Mar 28, 2012

sad ain't it!

Steven-Id · Mar 28, 2012

I was told once upon a time that stores will have their tubes replaced yearly. The reason is that the tubes will start to put out less light. The ballast has to work harder to get the tube to light up and it is hard on the ballasts. They figure it is cheaper to change the tubes more often and not burn out the ballasts. I would replace the tubes and if they don't come on right away take them back out and replace the ballast. A bad ballast will eat a new set of tubes real quick and a bad tubes will kill a ballast.

Steven

JMS/.MN · Mar 29, 2012

I always figger- if the end of the tube is getting black- replace the tube. If not, and it"s slow to light, replace the ballast. Tube end turning black IS hard on the ballast. On a fluorescent, there really are only two things that can go bad.

Texasmark1 · Mar 29, 2012

Yeah but you gotta work overhead to replace it........I hate that
with a passion. I have a store room that has 2ea. 4' dual 40w
fixtures that won't light the bulbs. Checked power at the input
receptacle. Gotta replace them if I want some light. Thought
about it for awhile and conclusion was: Shucks, I have other
lighting in this building and it IS just a store room.

Flipped the switch on the couple of lights remaining on, closed
the door and left. So much for that.

Oh and on the slow to come on, on cold days it can take time for
an ordinary bulb to warm up to full brightness. Neon goes
dormant as it gets colder. You can really notice on the little neon
lights that are replacing the old incandescent lights in household
fixtures. If you use one outside and it's cold, brand new bulb, no
external ballast, you can watch it come on dim and increase
brightness as it warms up.

Mark

florescent light tubes??

Anonymous-0

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souNdguy

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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Zachary Hoyt

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souNdguy

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Steven-Id

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JMS/.MN

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Texasmark1

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