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Posted by Don Klipstein on September 11, 2005, 6:07 am
>> This has come up before and I was about ready to replace the ballast. But
>> others have posted that sometimes corrosion could be preventing good
>contact
>> between the contacts on the long bulb and the fixture so I worked the bulb
>> in and out of the fixture several times and the fixture is now fixed. No
>> new ballast was needed.
>In this case your fix worked.
>There is also another thing people should check, make sure the ballast case
>has a good ground as well.
>(Sand off a bit of paint/rust if needed)
>Some cheaper ballasts/fixtures can be quite picky, right from new, and just
>will not "start" themselves without a solid ground connection.
Another issue to consider:
Many 1.5 inch diameter 4-foot "F40" "Cool White" fluorescent bulbs are
not "true 40 watt" but "energy saver F40" which is actually 34 (sometimes
35) watts. These are generally crankier.
True 40-watters are usually "deluxe cool white" (which have less light
output) or triphosphor (color-brightening - usually more expensive). I
consider it worthwhile to get true 40-watters in a "triphosphor" version
such as Philips Ultralume or Sylvania "Designer" or "Interior Design" in
order to get good performance, full light output, and color distortions
mostly in the direction of making colors more vivid when using 4-foot 1.5
inch diameter bulbs.
If the bulb size is not 4 feet by 1.5 inch diameter, the above has much
less relevance.
- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com, http://www.misty.com/~don/ltrouble.html)
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> others have posted that sometimes corrosion could be preventing good