Re: [APD] Fluorescent light fixture

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

If it's a standard "magnetic" ballast; about the only thing that can go wrong with it is a break in the coil wire (in which case nothing will happen when you turn on the lamp) or it is internally shorted between coils (in which case it will allow too much current to pass through the bulb and cause it to overheat and possible bust immediately.

If it's an electronic ballast, it almost certainly has a coil and the above applies, but additionally, several solid state electronic components can fail. Ten years is not an uncommonly short life for solid state devices.

Since the ballast operate at a moderately high voltage, you don't want to fool around trying to see if you can fix them unless you know exactly what you are doing and how to avoid electrical shock.
 
sh
 
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----- Original Message ----
From: James E Newville <jenewville at juno_com>
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 1:29:20 AM
Subject: Re: [APD] Fluorescent light fixture


>At 08:56 PM 7/24/07 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>>Hi. I have a fluorescent light fixture that burned out 3 lamps in a row
>>as soon as I turned it on. Each lamp was a different brand, so I know
it
>>wasn't a case of defective lamps. Is it the starter or the ballast
>>causing this? Thanks for your help.

>Sounds like a bad ballast. Is it new or did it suddently start doing
this?

It's about 10 years old. It started doing this after a move by U-Haul
from Florida to Texas. 


James Newville
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