Fluroescents burn out quickly

[expert]

Maybe the electricity is defective to that fixture. It might be coming from a different electric company than the electric used at the other fixtures. How many electric bills do you receive in one month? Do you pay more than one electric company? I'd complain to them, and tell them they are selling you bad electricity.

Also, be sure the wires going to that fixture are not sloping toward the fixture excessively. Wires should always slope back to the main fuse panel, so the left over electricity will drain back toward the panel when a light or other appliance is shut off. Otherwise the unused electricity lays in the wires and in the fixture. While laying in there, it not only costs you money for wasted power, but it corrodes the wires, fixtures and bulbs, and it also loses voltage while it gets stagnant. Stagnant electricity is the number one cause of light bulb and appliance failures.

Finally, be sure that the staples that attach the electrical cable to the walls are not too tight or too loose. A staple that is too tight causes the electricity to slow down, and thus damage light bulbs and appliances. Staples that are too loose, can cause "electricity hammer". This is a condition that causes the wires to vibrate excessively, and those vibrations are deadly to many electrical devices, particularly florescent light bulbs.

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[Wade Lippman]

I have 3 fixtures in my kitchen, each taking 2 48" bulbs.

The bulbs in two of the fixtures last for years and years. I have to replace the bulbs in the 3rd fixture every few months.

Is it just coincidence, or is there something wrong with the fixture?

[JM]

quoting:

Could be bad socket contacts, or the ballast is just went bad. Either way, the new bulbs will light easily, then as they're broken-in, a bad ballast won't light them any more. Assuming bad ballast or bad contacts, the bulbs will be dim and flickery, and the ends start to blacken.

First try the bulbs in one of the working fixtures to confirm that they are or aren't really burnt out. If they light then to replace the ballast, the wireing is color-match blue to blue, red to red, etc. And a basic 2 bulb, 48" ballast is only $13 at the orange box store.

What kind of bulbs are you using? 34w or 40w? plain cool white or warmer color? Just curious, except that 34w bulbs tend to cause problems in already dieing ballasts. Sometimes using 40w bulbs will squeeze a few years out of that dieing ballast than 34w bulbs will.

[Wade Lippman]

No, they don't work in other fixtures. They have dark discolorations on one end, like when bulbs are worn out. I am using 40w; there have probably been a variety of colors.