(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Fluorescent light problem.

T

TimWafer

Member
I have F96T12HO lights in a couple of my unheated buildings. They are a few years old now but ever since they were installed I have had trouble getting them to come on in high humidity periods.
You have to flip the switch on and off rapidly till you can get them to light.
Cold does not seem to be any problem. In fact they are much more reliable in the cold, just takes a couple minutes to warm up to full brightness. High humidity guarantees they will be troublesome. Ive tried new bulbs and a couple of new ballast with no improvement.
Dry weather and they work fine. High humidity and they are troublesome to say the least.
Once lit and on for a while on a humid day seems to dry them out somehow, and they will work fine if turned off and back on during the same night.
Makes no sense to me. Any thoughts?
 
(quoted from post at 17:54:58 12/04/18)
Incandescent bulbs don't care about temperature or humidity.
Click to expand...
ell, Tim, I guess those have explained the behavior clearly enough for you, now. :roll:
 
Pull the fuses or circuit breaker and make sure there is no current going to the light circuit. You need to remove the tubes and clean the pin bases with a damp cloth (use distilled water). Wipe all of the surfaces around the bulb pin sockets. Check to see where the tubes were made. It may be necessary to coat the bases with a dielectric spray and sealant.

The high humidity may result in surfaces becoming damp because of residual salts from some source or the bakelite or embedding surfaces are porous and need to be sealed. Other surfaces that need to be checked or wiped are the wires from the ballast and the starter base and starter if it has one.

If the damp cloth does not work try some 91 percent isopropyl alcohol.
 
I forgot to ask this. Check the ballast transformer and make sure it is an instant start unit and that the tubes are instant start. I don't think these types use a starter. If the ballast and tube don't match it can reduce performance and longevity of the tube.

If it has a starter the starter could be bad.
 
Do you have them properly grounded? Do you have two conductors and a bare ground with the bare wire grounded to the fixture and the other end grounded at the panel? I had a
similar problem.
 
I've had the same problem with these lights in the unheated half of my barn. Freezing cold they light fine. When its humid, not so much. I actually posted on here about it a couple years ago. The consensus was that the condensation on the bulbs conducts some electricity that would otherwise help light the bulb. The effect seems to be worse on older bulbs.

I tried drying the bulbs with the power on and got a nice little tingle from touching one. So, I'd say that's what happens. I replaced bulbs in one fixture and it lit every time, even when the other five wouldn't.

Later on, I replaced all the rest of the tubes and everything was great. We've had some cool humid weather again here lately. All my lights work fine except for the first one I changed the bulbs in. It would seem that the older the bulb, the more prone it is.

I'm surprised that new bulbs didn't work for you. Were they brand new or just different bulbs? Maybe your building gets a lot wetter than mine.
 
We had similar performance from HO tubes in the shop where I used to work. Winter was our slow period and we could clean/replace the bulbs and fixtures. A build-up of carbon and dirt combined with the humidity in the summer made the bulbs harder to light. Made a huge difference in output! The cold probably makes the moisture less conductive- water does but ice does not. Perhaps some WD-40 or denatured alcohol to dry the moisture?
 
I just bought a box of LED bulbs that use the T12 fixture but need no ballast. Cheaper than T8 and new ballasts and use less power and they are bright and not effected by cold. We have most lights switched to LED. They are getting very cheap/
Dave
 
The fixtures that are giving me problems are all 8' High Output two bulb fixtures. Between the two barns there are a total of 14 HO fixtures. There are also 5 four foot shop lights with the 2 pin bulbs. Humidity doesnt seem to bother the four foot fixtures, just the 8' HO fixtures. Cold bothers the 4' but I can live with that.

The HO fixtures are all well grounded and there is no starters in them. I know the two fixtures I replaced the ballast in now have electronic ballast. I dont think the old ones were. The new ones dont seem to be any better however.

The ones I replaced the bulbs in, the bulbs came from a new box but it was purchased in a bulk purchase several years ago. So the bulbs are NOS I guess you could say.

The HO type end is not going to be easy to wipe down since the contacts are somewhat recessed. If I use contact cleaner and compressed air , do you think that would help?
 
I am considering switching them over to LED but so far all the 8' LED bulbs I find are only 4400 Lumens.
The 8' HO fluorescents claim to have 8900 Lumens. Over twice the amount.
We switched the 4' fixtures in our store over to LED and liked it but the difference in Lumens was much smaller. Im worried I wont have adequate light with the 8' LED bulbs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Light Fixture question
Replies
12
Views
896
ss55
S
J
Tractors got the sweats
Replies
7
Views
463
wascator
W
M
Fluorescent to LED.
Replies
10
Views
411
Texasmark
T
R
Truck clearance light
Replies
17
Views
471
Rich'sToys
R
M
Tef20 wont select fwd gears
2
Replies
20
Views
502
Mark stevens
M
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