I Need Electrical Help!

[Bird]

Id say high humidity and dust on the tubes - but looks too clean. I dont know. My similar symptoms were due to such moisture situation.
luck, larry

The old tubes that I replaced in February were quite dusty. These are not. I only opened two of the fixtures this morning, cleaned some dust off the cover I removed, then blew out the interior of the fixtures with compressed air, although there wasn't much dust or cobwebs to blow out. And afterwards, those 2, along with another one were ones that had one tube light up and the other did not. And I just now went out and turned on the switch again; those 2 did not come on at all while the other 2 on that switch did.

 

[Bird]

Aaah, the plot thickens. It must be those gremlins again. Jim, in response to your suggestion . . . I threw away all the old tubes long ago, but I happened to have one new Sylvania F40W cool white tube on hand. So I thought I'd try changing a tube. Now I just posted that I turned one switch on a few minutes ago, the 2 fixtures I opened this morning did not come on, but the other two did. So I had turned the switch off again. Now I went out there and decided I'd try changing a tube with the switch on. I turned on the switch, both tubes in one of the fixtures lit up, but none of the tubes in the other 3 fixtures did. So I went up the ladder to change a tube, but didn't change any, because every time I touched a tube it lit up; all 6 of them came on, one at a time as I touched them. The crazy things act like they're computer controlled; i.e., unpredictable.

 

[Bird]

I went back out to do a couple of things about 30 minutes ago, turned on all the lights and all came on except 2 fixtures and neither tube lit up on those. Then I went out and put the battery charger on the boat and happened to notice, about 15 minutes later, that all the lights were lit up in the shop.

 

[MossRoad]

I know it sounds nuts, but take the bulbs out and turn them around and see if the problem goes away.

 

[mikim]

I know it sounds nuts, but take the bulbs out and turn them around and see if the problem goes away.

that does sound nutz ...... never tried it ... and I've heard crazier things. any idea why that may work?

 

[Bird]

I know it sounds nuts, but take the bulbs out and turn them around and see if the problem goes away.

Do you have to stand on your left foot and spit over your right shoulder for luck before you do that? But I'll try anything . . . well, almost anything.

 

[mjarrels]

Bird,

I have the same problem with a tube that I changed last week. Have to stand on the orange tractor and tap the bulb to get it to light up... another excuse to own a tractor to turn on light.

mark

 

[Bird]

Mark, I don't have a tractor any more, but I do have a Gorilla ladder.

 

[Marine1]

Bird,

The ballast in those fixtures call for 2 F40T-12 Rapid Start lamps. It looks like you have the right lamps in the attachment but you may want to double check the lamp type. It looks like the lamps in the attachment have the green ends on them. These might be the eco lamps in which case this could be part of your problem.

I don't think temperature is the issue because the min start temp is at about 50 degrees.

I don't think that there are any loose connections as far as the power goes because they are all lighting intermittently but you can certainly entertain that option if you so desire.

Try new lamps of a different type first. Install basic F40T12 G.E. lamps and put the print ends of the lamps on the same end of the fixtures.

If this doesn't work then the next step is to check the lampholders. Are the prongs getting a good grip on the lamp pins? Are the lampholder prongs bent? Are the lampholders cracked or broken? Are the backs of the lampholders seperating from the lampholder itself? Do the lampholders have signs of carbon on the prongs or on the lampholder? And finally, are the wires in the lampholders secure. Replace any lampholders that have a problem.

The next step is to check the ballast. Are they hot? Are they buzzing? Do the lamps burn dim even when new? Is the ballast leaking any tar? Replace any bad ballasts.

I would think that the lamps and the ballasts don't get along and that new lamps would do the trick but since you changed all the lamps at once it would be remiss to discount the other options lined out, especially the lampholders.

Good luck with those gremlins. I hope this helps.

 

[Bird]

the next step is to check the lampholders. Are the prongs getting a good grip on the lamp pins? Are the lampholder prongs bent? Are the lampholders cracked or broken? Are the backs of the lampholders seperating from the lampholder itself? Do the lampholders have signs of carbon on the prongs or on the lampholder? And finally, are the wires in the lampholders secure.

Now that sounds like a good suggestion. It'll be tomorrow before I get back to tinkering with them, but that's where I'll start.

check the ballast. Are they hot? Are they buzzing? Do the lamps burn dim even when new? Is the ballast leaking any tar?

No to all those questions. I've replaced a ballast before (many years ago) but can't see or hear a thing wrong with these.

It looks like the lamps in the attachment have the green ends on them.

That's true. Why would they all work great for over 2 months, then start erratic operation. And when they do come on, they're good and bright.