If the line/neutral is flipped, or the grounding is bad/wrong, it's possible that a more sensitive (special snowflake?) ballast might have difficulty starting. Capacitive effects are part of the starting process. Or, bad bulb/ballast as has been suggested, or bad connections in the bulb sockets.
I like the 8' 96W cold-start HO fluorescents, which start up even in sub-zero weather. Yes, they flicker some when it's very cold, but they warm up after a bit and have full output. The new garage has 30 of these in it. (But no drywall or paint, so it soaks up light.) I have a bunch of those ultra-cheap electronic ballast 4' shop light fixtures in the old garage. They're always failing to start, etc. That garage never gets below maybe 45 degrees, but the lighting is still crappy. Also, those fixtures eat bulbs like popcorn. The few old-style magnetic ballast fixtures on the same circuit are still on their original bulbs. The cheap fixtures are seriously false economy. I just bought one of the $18 Costco 4' LED tube-replacement bulb kits to try in one. Instant starting, and a lot brighter. I think I'll be buying more of these! The biggest problem is that it's a T8 size, not T12, so the luminous flux density is a lot higher, so the bulbs are borderline annoying to have in your peripheral vision, unlike the old bulbs. (Similar to how much more annoying projector headlights are on an oncoming car when compared to old-school lights, even when both are using H4's or the like.) Of the 30 HO bulbs I've only lost two since I built the garage 17 years ago. Magnetic ballasts, fairly easy on the bulbs. (They're still out, 30 bulbs _is_ a lot!) I don't know if they have 8' HO LED replacements or not, though. If they do, I doubt they're as cost-effective as the 4-footers. -- Jim _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
