Fixing flourenscent lights?

[Remi]

I have a 4' flourescent light in my garage. When I turn it on it just has a dim glow. About 25% of the time it actualy "flicks" on and is working fine until the next day. I know it's not the bulbs because I replaced them.

I'm fairly certain it's the balast. But I have read something about how the wiring that leads to a flourenscent light might be at fault.

Before I replace the fixture (not much of a price difference over just replacing the balast) is there anything I should try? I'm handy with electrical wiring if thats what it takes.

 

[Luckydevil]

How old are the ballasts in the lights?

 

[Remi]

I have no idea. The fixture was here when I moved in. Does not look original to the house as the wiring was run on the outside of the drywall (something I have to remedy soon).

 

[wienerwater]

Hello Remi. I'm up here in Quesnel, and up here, tube lights are a pain. They don't like cold,and one trick you can try (that we all do here) is flick the switch fast, see if they start.It might take several tries, but they will go. The problem is the cold, they don't like it, unless your garage is always warm.Do yours always act like this, or just this time of year?In the winter months, I have gone to floodlights, as they at least start. Even "fast start" bulbs/starters might help you, since it's warmer there.
If the bulbs are old, try new ones since they're cheap.If ballasts are old, maybe time for new ones?
Good luck!

 

[Wildfire]

You can get new, 4' HO fixtures that will start down to 0 degrees for about $50 each and $4 bulbs.

I am using 14 of the $7 standard shop light fixtures in my new garage. These will typically start after a few minutes when it is cold (< 30 degrees). When they go bad, throw them away and replace. Where I live, temperature is usually not a problem. There are some incandescent bulbs in the garage as well for guaranteed, instant-on light.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I have a 4' flourescent light in my garage. When I turn it on it just has a dim glow. About 25% of the time it actualy "flicks" on and is working fine until the next day. I know it's not the bulbs because I replaced them.

I'm fairly certain it's the balast. But I have read something about how the wiring that leads to a flourenscent light might be at fault.

Before I replace the fixture (not much of a price difference over just replacing the balast) is there anything I should try? I'm handy with electrical wiring if thats what it takes.

I just encountered this on a four tube fixture. I picked up a troubleshooting chart and ballast interchange chart at HD and it kept talking about the ballast being grounded to the housing properly and the the tubes being within a 1/2 inch of the housing. I actually did replace one ballast, but neither was hot or swelled or smelled so I checked the mounting screw on the remaining ballast and it was loose (the one I changed was too. So I scraped the paint off good and tighened the screw and then I discovered the ground wire coming in grounded to a clip that was clipped to the painted housing so I ran a bare ground from the incoming ground to a new screw directly into the metal housing. The lights worked fine then.

Now wish I had done this before swapping the one ballast out. None of the four bulbs had worked prior to that, they all flickered and glowed dimly but would not start up.

Charles