Troubleshooting CFL Lamp

[Arthur Shapiro]

I purchased three GE flourescent torchiere lamps a while back - they use the

55 watt 2D bulbs and have done a nice job of lighting up their respective rooms.

One of them has been acting up - it takes at least a few minutes to light up, has "burned out" one bulb, and the replacement bulb is quickly blackening near the terminal ends and probably won't last very long.

OK, these torchieres are less than forty bucks, and perhaps the right answer is to replace it, but I'm curious if there's any user-replaceable ballast or what-have-you inside. I'm quite ignorant of their operational specifics.

Appreciate any advice.

Art

[Joseph Meehan]

It likely has a replaceable ballast and that would be a good guess as to what the problem is. You could try taking it apart, finding the ballast and removing it. Take it to the electrical supply house, you could try the hardware store) and see if they have one or a replacement for it. My guess is it would be easier and maybe even cheaper to replace the lamp.