My garage has several shoplights with the older type of fluorescent dual light fixtures, 4 feet long, 40 Watt, thicker than the modern ones.
Both lamps went dead. I replaced only one of the lamps because it is difficult for me to reach above my head. However, the new single lamp in the fixture does not burn steady. It flickers mightily and also turns on and off intermittently.
Does this mean the ballast is bad and that I should replace the fixture with a more modern one?.
Thanks
Walter
You probably should have replaced both of the tubes...but I'd just replace the whole thing with a more up-to-date unit.
Replace the other lamp. Get a neighbor to help if you are unable and the problem will be solved.
*Replace both lamps. If that doesn't work, replace the ballast and bulbs with T8's.
God I hate fluorescent lights. They're under my kitchen counters. Both bulb s stopped working on one fixture. Replaced bulbs and only one side works. G etting the bulb out if a fixture somebody installed in one of our bedrooms was a b*tch because the tube is too close to the fixture. And how many size s/types of bulbs are there? You're assured of buying the wrong one. And it doesn't help that there's no standard way the bulbs engage/disengage from t he fixture. Don't get me started on the bulbs with only one prong on each e nd.
If I were you and if it's possible, I'd throw the whole fixture away. There are better choices for lighting out there now.
I hate them also. Part of my job was to replace the lamps where I worked. This is a building that has 3 to 7 floors depending on the part you are in. There is about 40 acres under roof. They must have someof every kind made. Some 8 feet long, some 4 feet , some with one pin on each end, some with 2 pins onthe end. A few years before I retired there was a big building project. In the control room there was a room aabout 10 x 20 feet that was suspose to have a drop cealing and several lights. When construction left there was one dual bulb fixture held up by ty wraps. The sent me and another worker to install another fixture. They would not buy one that matched the other,but found an old one. It takes differant lamps than the one already there. Tha tseems to be the way the whole plant is. Then the low power stuff came out. That was another set of bulbs and we had to replace the ballast when we changed out the bulbs.
I had 3 8w fluorescent fixtures under the upper cabinets. The provided enough light for what I wanted and I had them turning on each day at dusk and off at about midnight. Over 6 years I replaced the tubes several times. Recently I replaced the fixtures with LED strips. I didn't like the look of cool white, but warm white was really too orangy. So, I have 2 strips, one of each. I was also able to put 2 strips on the range hood. It is all powered by 2 12 volt switching power supplies, one for each cabinet bank. The results are great. The light is much more even and the color is perfect. I actually put an extra 2 diodes in line with the cool white strip to reduce its brightness. The whole thing uses just about the same amount of power as the 3 fluorescents, but provides a little more light, plus, as mentioned, a better distribution.
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