Garage flourescent lighting trouble

It might be a good idea to switch to new high efficient, cold rated fixtures and lamps. However you can fix the ones you have by fixing the bad ground wire.

Good advice... I would add that if you are changing the tubes, change them in pairs. Used tubes are characterized by a blackening of the cathodes (at the ends) but a bad tube doesn't always make itself visible.

Beachcomber

Spend the $30 and replace the entire fixtures. That or replace the balasts which probably cost nearly as much.

Washing and drying tubes has helped me. A new tube has a coating of silicone or something to repel moisture, but humidity affects older tubes. Washing seems to get rid of contaminants that hold moisture. Sometimes a nonstarting tube will feel moist when everything else in the room feels dry.

Help me here. To test the ground. Would I test continuity between the metal housing and the ground from an electrical outlet? If this tests okay, I'm thinking about replacing the tubes or the entire fixtures.

Well that will check out half of the problem. It is also possible that the outlet is not properly grounded. You can try one of the inexpensive tester than plug in and light up.

I removed the tubes, washed and dried them, and now they are lighting up properly. Thanks Choreboy!