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Subject Author Date
Finicky Fluorescent Light Jeffy3 06-01-2007
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Posted by Jeffy3 on June 2, 2007, 9:54 am
On Jun 1, 11:35 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 1, 9:34 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> > > Our kitchen ceiling fixture is driving us crazy. Its the kind that
> > > uses two compact fluorescent bulbs (rectangular shaped). It has
> > > worked fine for a few years but recently has been really hit or miss
> > > as to whether it fires on or not. It wouldn't come on for two days
> > > (we don't leave the switch in the on position, though, just keep
> > > trying it) and then suddenly this morning it turned right on foor us,
> > > then later it wouldn't turn on again. How do you troubleshoot these
> > > things? I put a new bulb in last night but it didn't work. I checked
> > > the wiring on the fixture and the switch and everything is connected.
> > > If it is part of the fixture itself, is it fixable or not worth it?
>
> > Some CFL's are not self ballasted. If yours is not then the
> > ballast(s) need to be changed. See figure 1 on the attached website.
>
> Oopps...here is the web site.
>
> http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/941114.html

Thank you all. I'll continue my investigation, although it's been
working fine for 3 days now, but I am sure it won't be long until it
acts up again!


Posted by Jeffy3 on June 2, 2007, 12:26 pm
On Jun 1, 11:35 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 1, 9:34 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> > > Our kitchen ceiling fixture is driving us crazy. Its the kind that
> > > uses two compact fluorescent bulbs (rectangular shaped). It has
> > > worked fine for a few years but recently has been really hit or miss
> > > as to whether it fires on or not. It wouldn't come on for two days
> > > (we don't leave the switch in the on position, though, just keep
> > > trying it) and then suddenly this morning it turned right on foor us,
> > > then later it wouldn't turn on again. How do you troubleshoot these
> > > things? I put a new bulb in last night but it didn't work. I checked
> > > the wiring on the fixture and the switch and everything is connected.
> > > If it is part of the fixture itself, is it fixable or not worth it?
>
> > Some CFL's are not self ballasted. If yours is not then the
> > ballast(s) need to be changed. See figure 1 on the attached website.
>
> Oopps...here is the web site.
>
> http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/941114.html

I'm not sure what I am looking at in figure one. My bulbs do look
like the ones in that picture though, although the base is sideways,
not up or down.


Posted by Jeffy3 on June 2, 2007, 12:29 pm
On Jun 1, 11:35 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jun 1, 9:34 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> > > Our kitchen ceiling fixture is driving us crazy. Its the kind that
> > > uses two compact fluorescent bulbs (rectangular shaped). It has
> > > worked fine for a few years but recently has been really hit or miss
> > > as to whether it fires on or not. It wouldn't come on for two days
> > > (we don't leave the switch in the on position, though, just keep
> > > trying it) and then suddenly this morning it turned right on foor us,
> > > then later it wouldn't turn on again. How do you troubleshoot these
> > > things? I put a new bulb in last night but it didn't work. I checked
> > > the wiring on the fixture and the switch and everything is connected.
> > > If it is part of the fixture itself, is it fixable or not worth it?
>
> > Some CFL's are not self ballasted. If yours is not then the
> > ballast(s) need to be changed. See figure 1 on the attached website.
>
> Oopps...here is the web site.
>
> http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/941114.html

Now the light has stopped working again, and this time it was making a
loud buzzing sound from the fixture. I assume this effectively rules
out the wall switch


Posted by Ken on June 2, 2007, 2:03 pm
Jeffy3 wrote:
> On Jun 1, 11:35 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Jun 1, 9:34 pm, tom.w.aitchi...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>>> Our kitchen ceiling fixture is driving us crazy. Its the kind that
>>>> uses two compact fluorescent bulbs (rectangular shaped). It has
>>>> worked fine for a few years but recently has been really hit or miss
>>>> as to whether it fires on or not. It wouldn't come on for two days
>>>> (we don't leave the switch in the on position, though, just keep
>>>> trying it) and then suddenly this morning it turned right on foor us,
>>>> then later it wouldn't turn on again. How do you troubleshoot these
>>>> things? I put a new bulb in last night but it didn't work. I checked
>>>> the wiring on the fixture and the switch and everything is connected.
>>>> If it is part of the fixture itself, is it fixable or not worth it?
>>> Some CFL's are not self ballasted. If yours is not then the
>>> ballast(s) need to be changed. See figure 1 on the attached website.
>> Oopps...here is the web site.
>>
>> http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/941114.html
>
> Now the light has stopped working again, and this time it was making a
> loud buzzing sound from the fixture. I assume this effectively rules
> out the wall switch
>

        You should still check the connections and the switch. If the
connections were poor (high resistance), you could have too low a
voltage at the fixture. That might explain the intermittent nature of
the lamp.

Posted by Don Klipstein on June 4, 2007, 3:46 pm

>Now the light has stopped working again, and this time it was making a
>loud buzzing sound from the fixture. I assume this effectively rules
>out the wall switch

Most likely a bad ballast, a short in the fixture, maybe a broken wire.
Slight chance of a poor connection arcing. If it is the ballast, then I
would replace the ballast immediately or before further use of the fixture
- the ballast could possibly now be a fire hazard.

See if removing the bulb makes the buzzing stop - that indicates a bulb
with a built-in starter (typically 2-pin base) with a shorted starter, and
that can cause the ballast to overheat.

- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

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