(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

OT.Best way to check flouresant bulbs.

P

Paul Shuler

Member
When I built my shop 10 years ago I came across a deal on a bunch of old Florissant light fixtures that where in the old Army reserve gym that was being torn down. I got them all for $10. No telling how old they are but for the most part they work great. My question is this. Each fixture has 4 bulbs. When one bulb goes bad either the entire light goes out or they all flicker. I then have to climb up on the ladder and start swapping them around till I find the bad bulb. This is done ?14 above the floor. It never fails that I end up breaking one. Is there a good way of checking the bulbs to find the bad one without all the swapping them around high up on a ladder. These old lights may be 50 years old but have work very good for me so far. I have yet to have to replace a ballist.
 
May not be what you want to hear but you have the fixtures up now it's time to swap to LED tubes and be done with it. I would buy the type that take 120 volts direct and get rid of the old ballasts. You will save on electricity and time changing bulbs.
 
Those need to be replaced periodically anyway; they need to be disposed of at a hazardous waste facility. Might be time to move on up to LED's.
 
I am not against going to the newer bulbs. In fact I would love to do that. My only issue is I have maybe 50 new bulbs of the old style I would like to use up. Just get tired of trying to figure out which of the 4 bulbs in the light is the one giving my problems.
 
Replacing them one at a time is the only way I know. Now that I've answered your question I'll second the suggestions to replace them with LEDs knowing that's not what you want to do.
 
(quoted from post at 14:29:20 05/25/17) I am not against going to the newer bulbs. In fact I would love to do that. My only issue is I have maybe 50 new bulbs of the old style I would like to use up. Just get tired of trying to figure out which of the 4 bulbs in the light is the one giving my problems.
Click to expand...
his works sometimes on bi-pin bulbs, but if trying to light (flicker) it may not be good indicator. On bi-pin type, you have no doubt seen the small filament on both ends. This has low voltage applied during start up & is heated by the plasma arc during operation. Sometimes at start up you can see that dim glow on both ends if all is well. Sometimes you can feel the tube at each end & if one end is cold, that is likely the bad tube.
 
You should go through all your used spare bulbs with an ohm meter. Pin to pin show's continuity on a good tube,no continuity mean's burned out filament. 75% of time burned out filament blacken's glass on end of tube. I take 4 known to be good bulbs up ladder and change all bulbs. When I'm back on floor,tubes with dark black ends are trashed and the rest are tested as above.
 
Marking the installation date on the bulbs with a felt tip marker would be an easy way to determine which bulbs are the oldest.

The cost of LED fixtures will continue to drop. If you already have 50 new florescent bulbs that you need to use up, I totally agree with installing four new bulbs every time you go up the tall ladder to work on a fixture. If you have some lower fixtures you could play around with the old bulbs to get some additional life out of them, but florescent bulbs do seem to get dimmer as they age. If you don't have any lower fixtures, I'd toss the old bulbs, especially any with black rings around the ends.
 
If you would go to LEd you will never want to use fluorescent again. Cheaper to run and a lot more light for less electrical use.
 

The internal resistance of a low hour lamp and a high hour lamp vary. Placing unbalanced lamps in a fixture tends to shorten ballast life.
Checking for resisance across the pins of rapid start lamps will find all the open filaments.
 
I had that problem too but have been very happy with my choice to switch. I was chasing and changing bulbs trying to get the right combination to work, at least it was in my short ceiling parking garage not the shop. It seemed for me if I had a bulb that would work in one it may not work in another. I put up only one LED bulb per fixture and it was plenty of light for a storage space.
 
I would definately go with LED. Being 14 feet above the floor is no place to be testing light bulbs. Falling 6ft can kill a person.
 
Replace all 4 lamps, that would be two trips up and down the ladder. one to remove all lamps and one to replace the lamps. Then if you need to, set up a fixture on a bench test the lamps and mark the bad ones and dispose of them. At that time you could make sure the older lamps were bright enough or just worked. Are these 4 foot or 8 foot lamps?
I am going through the same thing in my shop and am switching to the LEDs. I bought 6 lamps on line just to try out and love them. These use no ballast or can be used with the existing ballast.Ordered through Home Depot " Euri Lighting ET 8-1140H or ET 8-1150H" free shipping with a like $50. order. The great thing about these is it does not take 2 or more lamps to work. In some of my fixtures I only used one lamp instead of 2, still enough light. hope this helps joe retired sparkey
 
Go LED! I replaced all my old eight foot tube fixtures with LED fixtures, no retrofits. No hummmmm. The shop is totally silent unless the dog barks.
 

In your situation when the ends get black, take them to the transfer station. Don't try to use them; the life will be short. I was given about fifteen used bulbs for my shop. None were black at the ends. My ceiling is 17 feet, but I have my wife put me up on my forklift. I am custodian of my church, and on the lower floor I have about 160 4 footers. I am changing them out to LED fixtures a few at a time.
 
I hear you, I'm switching to LED too. I tried one 6000K temperature LED light over my work bench and soon added two more over other benches. The lumen spec. for the LED light was about the same as the old florescent lights, but the white LED light is closer to sunlight colors, so I can see much better under the LED lights. The LED color makes the florescent light color seem like yellow bug lights.

The original poster wants to use up his supply of new florescent bulbs and spend less time on the ladder, so I tried to help him do that.
 
How about a test fixture mounted much lower? The new electronic ballasts drive each bulb independently, so that may help with troubleshooting. With 50 bulbs to go, it may make sense to pick up a 2 bulb ballast for bench testing.

Aaron
 
(quoted from post at 11:09:52 05/26/17) How about a test fixture mounted much lower? The new electronic ballasts drive each bulb independently, so that may help with troubleshooting. With 50 bulbs to go, it may make sense to pick up a 2 bulb ballast for bench testing.

Aaron
Click to expand...

PostPosted: Thu May 25, 2017 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: OT.Best way to check flouresant bulbs.
Replace all 4 lamps, that would be two trips up and down the ladder. one to remove all lamps and one to replace the lamps. Then if you need to, set up a fixture on a bench test the lamps and mark the bad ones and dispose of them. At that time you could make sure the older lamps were bright enough or just worked. Are these 4 foot or 8 foot lamps?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Light Fixture question
Replies
12
Views
946
ss55
S
M
Fluorescent to LED.
Replies
10
Views
419
Texasmark
T
D
6V LED headlights in old buckets
Replies
5
Views
618
Dave G9N
D
bmaverick
Headlamps flickering then quit working, finally solved.
Replies
0
Views
198
bmaverick
bmaverick
A
Pan cake head light cans
Replies
6
Views
841
randy hall
R
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top