Fluorescent lights dim and flashing

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Fluorescent Light

The most popular option to light large areas of buildings. They come in a variety of connection types and power ratings.

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Luke Soules @luke

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Fluorescent lights dim and flashing

I have a fluorescent light fixture that uses two 40-watt 4' long tubes. It has recently started acting strange. When first turned on, it works fine for a minute or two, then one of the tubes becomes dim and the other becomes dim and flashing. It's not the tubes, as I've replaced those and nothing changed. Someone suggested it might be the ballast. I'm not exactly sure exactly how old the fixture is, but I'd guess it's at least 10 years old and has been used daily for that entire time. Is the problem caused by the ballast, and if so is that something that can be changed, or should I just buy a new fixture?

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An update: I was able to get a replacement ballast at Home Depot. The bad news is the ballast was $18.49, only $1.50 less that a whole new fixture. It took about half an hour to install the replacement ballast. The replacement was successful and the lights are working great now. In my fixture there were eight 18 gauge wires that you have to cut and then attach to the new ballast. I used wire nuts to connect the wires, so it'll be a little easier to replace the ballast again in the future.

由 Luke Soules 完成的 2009年11月14日

That is the normal end-of-life behavior of a fluorescent tube.

You probably ruined the ballast by letting it continue to run while it was flashing.

If the ballast came with the lamp clips on the end of the wires, it is easier to just change out the clips too.

由 midimagic 完成的 2017年9月6日

We've had problems for years we are fluorescent lights dimming or not coming on at times of high humidity. Sometimes I can get them on by flipping the light switch off and on several times and out of the three maybe one will only come on. This is been going on for several years and just recently the lights are getting harder and harder to turn on.

由 Tim Houser 完成的 2017年5月12日

The good news is LED lighting is getting cheap fast. You may want to look here. https://www.instructables.com/howto/LED+...

由 Ricardo Furioso 完成的 2018年6月21日

I had the same problem. I could not go another way because I needed the fluorescent tube to work for a UV light for my pond. That was the only way to get the light to filter my water. With LED not doing the same job. I could not go for a bulky electronic balast because of the space of a sealable unit. So I had to get this one sorted out.

What solved my problem…

I found that this light needed a 4 micro farad capacitor with double the supply voltage of the mains connected across the Live and Neutral wire. The light flashed a few times and then can on to its full brightness. Be sure to use a ac capacitor normally comes with the light fixtures for your country and the balast wil have a drawing on it where to wire it in.

Marking s wil show the starters position and the —| |— wil indicate the capacitor position.

由 Juan Engelbrecht 完成的 2022年12月16日

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040304 @o40304

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The ballast is causing your problem, and it can be changed. You need to remove the original ballast, (after you shut off the circuit breaker) and take it to a lighting place or electrical supply house. Better yet, get the numbers off the ballast first and call. It may take them a little while to cross reference the part number, but they will find you a suitable replacement.

With any luck, the replacement ballast will be the same size as the old one. If it is not, you will need to find a way to secure it to the old fixture. Perhaps you will need to drill new pilot holes and use sheet metal self tapping screws. Rewire the light if you have to, plug in the new ballast, reset the breaker and you should have bright consistent light.

Otherwise, for a few dollars more, you can get yourself a new light fixture

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An update: I was able to get a replacement ballast at Home Depot. The bad news is the ballast was $18.49, only $1.50 less that a whole new fixture. It took about half an hour to install the replacement ballast. The replacement was successful and the lights are working great now. In my fixture there were eight 18 gauge wires that you have to cut and then attach to the new ballast. I used wire nuts to connect the wires, so it'll be a little easier to replace the ballast again in the future. — Luke Soules
That is the normal end-of-life behavior of a fluorescent tube.

You probably ruined the ballast by letting it continue to run while it was flashing.

If the ballast came with the lamp clips on the end of the wires, it is easier to just change out the clips too. — midimagic
We've had problems for years we are fluorescent lights dimming or not coming on at times of high humidity. Sometimes I can get them on by flipping the light switch off and on several times and out of the three maybe one will only come on. This is been going on for several years and just recently the lights are getting harder and harder to turn on. — Tim Houser
The good news is LED lighting is getting cheap fast. You may want to look here. https://www.instructables.com/howto/LED+... — Ricardo Furioso
I had the same problem. I could not go another way because I needed the fluorescent tube to work for a UV light for my pond. That was the only way to get the light to filter my water. With LED not doing the same job. I could not go for a bulky electronic balast because of the space of a sealable unit. So I had to get this one sorted out.

What solved my problem…

I found that this light needed a 4 micro farad capacitor with double the supply voltage of the mains connected across the Live and Neutral wire. The light flashed a few times and then can on to its full brightness. Be sure to use a ac capacitor normally comes with the light fixtures for your country and the balast wil have a drawing on it where to wire it in.

Marking s wil show the starters position and the —| |— wil indicate the capacitor position. — Juan Engelbrecht

Ricardo Furioso @ricardofurioso 声誉积分: 97 5 1 · Answer 1 · 2009-11-13T00:44:14-07:00

Ricardo Furioso @ricardofurioso

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Annoyingly true that sometimes it's cheaper to replace whole fixture than the ballast. Arrgh. LED lighting is getting cheap fast, and doesn't seem to include the environmental dangers of mercury (plus whatever evils lurk in the ballasts). Have a look here. https://www.instructables.com/howto/LED+...

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That's what I'm afraid I'll find. Home Depot sell the whole fixture for only $20, but at least online they don't list the ballasts separately. Hopefully I can replace just the ballast, even if it costs as much as a new fixture.

由 Luke Soules 完成的 2009年11月13日

That's true, that was my experience also.

由 040304 完成的 2009年11月13日

I was able to get a replacement that fit in the same mounting tabs as the original ballast. It was wider and taller than the original, but the same length.

由 Luke Soules 完成的 2009年11月14日

Luke, Well how much did the ballast cost? Did it fix the damned problem fixture?

由 Ricardo Furioso 完成的 2009年11月14日

The ballast was $18.49 at Home Depot. It did fix the issue completely, and was a lot less wasteful that throwing the entire fixture away.

由 Luke Soules 完成的 2009年11月16日

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