T8 Fixture Let the Smoke Out - Why?

[larry4406]

Wife left home at 530 am this morning leaving inside garage T8's on as normal. I leave at 545 am and smell electric burn smell. I then hear mad bee sound of buzzing, intermittent. Finally I home in on the ceiling fixture and smoke is whisping up from the tombstone to the ceiling! Remove bulb which is still lit as normal - charred end of bulb, bulged bulb socket and tombstone roached. Killed power to circuit and went to work.

Why? Leviton brand fixtures around 6 years old. GE brand bulbs. Thinking I want to yank all out and go LED.

 

[vhol5]

Yeah, sometimes the contact in the tombstone will barely make contact and just start arcing, till they finally let the smoke out.
If its just a couple fixtures, I would just replace them with LED fixtures as opposed to just installing LED lamps.

 

[Bert_]

Tubes probably weren't twisted it all the way. See it way to often, people just turn it until it lights up. There's a little indent on the end of the tube that needs to point straight down.

It possible it was a bad socket but I would say less likely. Either way change the socket and move on, they're $1

Instant start ballasts will do this. They can arc a lot because of the high voltage.

 

[Dagny]

The quality of electrical components has steadily declined over my lifetime. Many of the things that were made of brass or copper are now steel. Cheap but not as good. How can a light switch cost less then a kit kat?

 

[larry4406]

Tubes probably weren't twisted it all the way. See it way to often, people just turn it until it lights up. There's a little indent on the end of the tube that needs to point straight down.

It possible it was a bad socket but I would say less likely. Either way change the socket and move on, they're $1

Instant start ballasts will do this. They can arc a lot because of the high voltage.

Bert - I have never noticed the indent! I am guilty of turning the bulb till it lights up so perhaps you nailed it. I assume I have instant start ballasts as the lights (when they work) do come on instantly. My master electrician friend also thinks it was just a loose connection with the bulb to the tombstone; replace bulb and tombstone and move on...

I have a total of 6 of these fixtures, each 8' long with 4 bulbs per fixture. They are set up as 3-rows of 2. Some of the fixtures no longer lite up with a new bulb so I am thinking those ballasts have failed. Given the presumed ballast failures and this smoke test, I am thinking its time to upgrade to LEDs.

I need to get smart on the LED upgrade. I would prefer to keep the fixture housings, remove the ballasts, and replace the damaged tombstone and relamp.

 

[Innovate1]

Bert - I have never noticed the indent! I am guilty of turning the bulb till it lights up so perhaps you nailed it. I assume I have instant start ballasts as the lights (when they work) do come on instantly. My master electrician friend also thinks it was just a loose connection with the bulb to the tombstone; replace bulb and tombstone and move on...

I have a total of 6 of these fixtures, each 8' long with 4 bulbs per fixture. They are set up as 3-rows of 2. Some of the fixtures no longer lite up with a new bulb so I am thinking those ballasts have failed. Given the presumed ballast failures and this smoke test, I am thinking its time to upgrade to LEDs.

I need to get smart on the LED upgrade. I would prefer to keep the fixture housings, remove the ballasts, and replace the damaged tombstone and relamp.

That's a smart way to go IMHO. It allows you to replace the LEDs when the go out, and they will go out sooner or later. Many of the LED fixtures aren't made to replace just the LED assembly which forces you to replace the whole fixture.

 

[vavet]

I've seen a lot of recommendations for 1000bulbs.com. I bought some T8 LED tubes from there and I've been happy with them. As far as replacement tubes - some require removing the ballast, some allow you to leave the ballast in place. In my case, the electrician used a type that allowed the ballast to stay in place, but then the ballast failed and I had to switch them over. My recommendation, therefore, is to buy bulbs that require you to remove the ballast.

 

[mikedodge]

Fix what you have unless you want an excuse to upgrade. LED fixtures are no safer.

 

[Showkey]

Agree ^^^^^^^^^^^^The driver in LED fixtures can let the smoke just like T8.

 

[Grogg]

Tubes probably weren't twisted it all the way. See it way to often, people just turn it until it lights up. There's a little indent on the end of the tube that needs to point straight down.

Guilty. Wish I had known this as I was up on a ladder a mere 5 days ago replacing all my T8 tubes...

 

[larry4406]

Tried looking into just replacing the tombstone as some here have suggested. Having difficulty identifying the proper part number. Found nothing at Home Depot or Lowes and Rexell had nothing in stock either.

It is clearly made by Leviton and has 23661 molded into it. Googling this I find two variants: 23661-SNP and 23661-SWP. Not real clear to me which one I need? The difference appears to be "snap-in with no post mounted" vs "snap-in with post mounted" which means nothing to me.

23661-SNP

www.leviton.com

23661-SWP

www.leviton.com

 

[cybrdyke]

You have to look reeeeallly close to see the difference. The SWP has 2 little vertical posts, one on each side, toward the back of the base. These posts are there to poke up through the metal of the fixture to better secure the socket from moving back and forth. If your fixture has 2 tiny little holes where the socket mounts, then get the SWP. If not, then get the SNP.

 

[larry4406]

You have to look reeeeallly close to see the difference. The SWP has 2 little vertical posts, one on each side, toward the back of the base. These posts are there to poke up through the metal of the fixture to better secure the socket from moving back and forth. If your fixture has 2 tiny little holes where the socket mounts, then get the SWP. If not, then get the SNP.

Sounds like I need the SNP then as no little holes for pins/posts to engage.

 

[marak]

I replaced 48" fluorescent lamps/tombstones with these about 2 or so years ago: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OMAM7CI/?tag=atomicindus08-20
I have been very pleased with the result. These bypass the ballast and require non shunted tombstones, which were supplied and easy to rewire. I should note that I wanted high lumens and these LED's are headache bright, so I use two layers of waxed paper (aluminum foil section at the grocery store) to act as a diffuser. This has worked very well and I couldn't be happier...especially since I have some old, well made fixtures that I wanted to keep using, but make more energy efficient.

 

[larry4406]

Found an E-bay seller with a package of 8 new 23661-SNP tombstones for $8.00 delivered so shall see where this goes.

I am thinking more and more about upgrading to double ended LED ballast bypass bulbs to work with the shunted tombstones I have.

Currently I have 9 operable 4' T8 tubes out of 24 tubes (37.5%). With all the junk in the garage, it is a real PIA to get access to many of the tubes; something to think about when picking fixtures to begin with.

 

[BreeStephany]

As others have suggested, I would just replace the tombstones, remove the existing ballast and use 120V LED bypass lamps or just replace the fixture with LED fixtures. Fluorescents are older tech, fail more often than LEDs and consume more power than LEDs. Bypass LEDs are quick and easy to install.

Just my two cents