flourescent light problem

[rustrunner]

bought property in florida with a great garage. has 8 flourescent light fixtures.
2 in each of 2 bays and 4 in a long bay. each bay fixtures are controlled by 3 way switches. i turn them on and it takes forever for them to come on. sometimes one after a while and the the other(s) later. i come home to vermont, come in and turn the 2 kitchen flourescent lights on and same problem. lights in vermont weren't turned on for approx a month and a half and the ones in florida weren't turned on for about 10 months. anyone know what might be happening? bulbs, ballasts, switchs?

 

[JoeFin]

Old ballast

Take a look at one of the ballast and it will have a "Date of Manufacture". Fairly simple in a commercial application to calculate hours based open and closed hours / hours of operation. Lighting maintenance folk will use that information to determine when it is cost efficient to just "Re-Ballast" the whole facility.

I can say with some certainty the slow start up is a sure sign those ballast have reached the end of their life expectancy.

The cost difference between whole light fixtures with a "High Efficiency Ballast" or just the High efficiency Ballast is not the great nor worth the added hassle of broken tombstones or filthy reflectors.

Best just to bite the bullet and shop for a deal on new fixtures

 

[rustrunner]

thanks for the reply. i'll start the quest for new fixtures.