4ft floresent bulb help

[sweetk30]

so i have 3 4ft black lights from the early to mid 70's that require starter fixtures .

what the best way a simple guy like me can hook these up for use today ?

they were my dads old stash of stuff and have a lot of sentimental value . so this is why i wish to hook them up and use them . . . and there so old there BLACK trying to look threw them unlike today's purple bulbs they say are black light bulbs .

 

[white6589]

Convert them to LED t-8 bulbs. Just did 20 bulbs in my shop, wished I did it sooner.

 

[c39er]

The guy wants to save and use those cool old black lights. Not replace them with chinese T-8's.

 

[Bert_]

You just have the bulbs and no fixtures?

They are no different than other fluorescent lamps. Read the label on the end of the lamp. If they are F40T12 then the will run in any F40T12 fixture.

 

[Bert_]

Convert them to LED t-8 bulbs. Just did 20 bulbs in my shop, wished I did it sooner.

Wow you put in 20 black light bulbs in your shop? Sounds like it would make it hard to work...

 

[sweetk30]

i tried using a newer fixture for the bulbs but the newer one had no starter on it and these older bulbs didnt like to fire off . i had to twist the bulb in the socket heads to get a jump in power from no contact to contact and they would start and run fine until i cut the power .

and yes my shop is all led now . . . . these are just for them night when you want to sit out here and relax and remember the good old days .

 

[Mick56]

If you had to twist the bulbs to get them to light up, maybe the pins are corroded a little, and not making good contact. Clean the pins with some sandpaper, and put a little dielectric grease on the pins.

 

[Bert_]

i tried using a newer fixture for the bulbs but the newer one had no starter on it and these older bulbs didnt like to fire off . i had to twist the bulb in the socket heads to get a jump in power from no contact to contact and they would start and run fine until i cut the power .

and yes my shop is all led now . . . . these are just for them night when you want to sit out here and relax and remember the good old days .

You need to look at the label on the end of the bulb. Just because it fits a fixture it is not necessary right. If the bulb is old enough it might be preheat only. Meaning it won't work right in a rapid start fixture.

 

[American Locomotive]

Something else to keep in mind is that fluorescent tubes are susceptible to the mercury and argon charge diffusing out through the glass, and atmospheric gas diffusing in. At ~45 years old, there's a fairly good chance the bulbs are starting to run out of life.

 

[sweetk30]

You need to look at the label on the end of the bulb. Just because it fits a fixture it is not necessary right. If the bulb is old enough it might be preheat only. Meaning it won't work right in a rapid start fixture.

since there from the 70's i dont think they had rapid start setups yet . . . . thats why i asked how would i go about doing this with starters like the old days .

i will have to dig them out and see if i can read them . the glass is so dark on them i might not be able to read them .

years ago i did have a fixture with a starter on it and they all worked great with no problems .

 

[Bert_]

Rapid start came out in the late 50's. By sometime in the 60's they mostly quit making preheat only lamps. Anything labeled preheat-rapid start or just rapid start will work in both types of fixtures. If it labeled preheat then it will only work on preheat.

Preheat only lamps need like 8 or 9 volts for filament heating. Rapid start only uses 3.5 volts. Rapid start lamps work on preheat, they get more voltage than they are designed for but it's only for a few seconds so it works fine. Rapid start doesn't have enough filament voltage to warm up a preheat lamp and make it start reliably.

 

[sweetk30]

i see said the blind man

i will dig them out and check in the next few days .

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I'm not sure if you can still get preheat fixtures, but you can get tombstones, starters and starter sockets. Maybe you can retrofit a rapid start fixture. If not, most aquarium fluorescent fixtures are preheat. By a cheap one for the same rating bulb and gut it.

Tommy