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Re: fluorescent lighting problem
On Tue, 20 Jul 1999, Sam Dotson wrote:
> Do Tritons and other lights become harder to start as they get older?
> Has anyone else experienced this problem? And if so, how did you resolve
> it?
Mine do. I replace them when they get hard to start.
> I'm not sure this has anything to do with anything, but....My lights are
> mounted in my hood with plastic clips screwed directly to the Oak lid and
> there are no metal reflectors used. I have simply painted the inside of the
> lid with a VERY white paint to act as a reflector. The ballasts are mounted
> in the cabinet below the tank and are grounded, but nothing is grounded in
> the hood.
If you have the installation instructions for your ballasts you might
check and see what they say. A couple of mine specify that the lights
should be mounted within 1/2 inch of a ground that runs the full length of
the tube. That's to help with starting. Usually it means that you need a
grounded metal reflector. It might be that when the lights are new the
ballasts can start them dependably, but as they get older the ballasts
needs the help from the grounded reflector.
Roger Miller