fluorescent light

[buzzardgrant]

I have changed the ballast, light switch and bulbs, and the light still will not come on unless you touch the tube. Driving me crazy. It is an eight wire T-12 ballast for a two tube 24 inch fixture.

Thanks

 

[magova1104]

Maybe you have to replace the starter? Most of the light fixtures have one.

 

[buzzardgrant]

No starter in this type of fixture.

 

[magova1104]

One of the light bulbs should have the contacts wired as a switch in one side,check them, maybe one of them is not making good contact? tight them any way. Good luck.

 

[jbberns]

tombstones.
probably not a good connection

 

[Gary S]

Old florescent fixtures are seldom worth repairing. If replacing the bulbs doesn't fix the problem, junk the fixture and replace with a new one. New ones are sooooooo cheap today, and they work and are more energy efficient.

 

[buzzardgrant]

It's not old!! Had the house built in 1975.

 

[nehog]

It's not old!! Had the house built in 1975.

 

[sselander]

It's not old!! Had the house built in 1975.

sounds like my dad.
I recently helped him replace the fixtures in his garage from when he built the house.(1970)

I told him to toss the old ones, (they were salvaged from an old gas station).

 

[Hawk]

The tombstones are probably worn as stated earlier. I have a fixture that I am gong to replace all eight of them.

 

[buzzardgrant]

Both ends of both tubes glow bright orange!!!

 

[jbberns]

change the tombstones and you'll have a new fixture. (Already replaced the ballast)

 

[superdel]

Is the fixture in an air conditioned room? As strange as it sounds, they will not strike over if the ballast is too cold. If the AC is blowing directly on the fixture, it may be too cold. Turn the AC off for awhile and see if they strike. I have seen this is machine rooms that have super "blow snow" AC units to keep the stuff cool. A bulb goes bad and you replace them, but they will not ignite. Turn the AC off for an hour or so until the temp gets up to 70 or 80. Then try it.
Other than that, it seems to be a connection problem.
They do make some nice, inexpensive LED fixtures nowadays that will last your lifetime.
Good Luck.

 

[Norcal]

Should have changed to T8, the F17T8 lamps are a bit expensive compared to a 4' lamp, but do pretty good & the ballast is common.

 

[buzzardgrant]

I guess I'll change the tombstones as a last resort. I was also wondering if because i cut the wires from the ballast, and the wires on the power side of the ballast are three times longer than on the other end, if that would screw it up.

 

[ddawg16]

It's not old!! Had the house built in 1975.

1975? Hmmmmm...guess they are t12's as well.......

Ya know....you could dump those 37 year old fixtures and put in some T8's....and save about 25% on the electricity....

 

[buzzardgrant]

Chsn

 

[buzzardgrant]

Changed ballast, switch, tombstones and tubes. Still the same. Turn the switch on and off numerous time, then the light comes on. Calling an electrician on Monday.

 

[pattenp]

Have you thought about checking the line voltage?

 

[buzzardgrant]

Yes ,but don't have a meter to check it.

 

[Aceman]

Is it grounded properly?

Are you using the newer green tipped style lamps? Depending on what type of ballast you're using(magnetic or electronic) I've had problems with magnetic ballasts starting the newer green tipped T12 lamps.

It'd probably be cheaper to change the whole fixture yourself than call an electrician to work on the old one.

 

[chew]

Yeah it needs to be grounded. I've seen this before. Take a bond wire to the fixture and wrap it around any metal screw on the encloser preferably the bond (green) screw.

 

[RECox286]

Has the fixture got a good ground ? The reason it comes on when you touch it is:

the ballast needs a good ground. Make sure you ground the fixture. Did I mention

that the fixture needs a good ground ???

Try it, you'll like it.

Uncle Bob

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Girlfriend worked at a food place in the mall. One of the fluorescent lights (T12) in the back would not work. I could not find anything wrong other than a burned tombstone and I replaced it. Lowes had a tear off troubleshooting tips sheet at the shelf where the ballasts were, and sure enough, first item on the list was insure the ground wire was hooked up and the paint scraped away where it connected. As luck would have it, ground was not hooked up, but was there, so I connected it, and the light worked OK after that.

Charles