[Shop-talk] Shop light problems - update

[Randall]

> If you turn them on
> and off a dozen times a day, you'll kill tubes pretty quickly,

I guess "pretty quickly" is a relative term ... I've got instant start T12
bulbs & (mostly) mag ballasts in my garage, and probably half the bulbs have
never been changed since we moved in some 20 years ago.  

One of the kitchen lights is as Darrell described : electronic "instant
start" ballasts driving T8 bulbs.  It gets turned on & off many times per
day, but was only installed about 4 years ago, so no idea how long the bulbs
will last.

I agree that doing "instant start" on a bulb not designed for it will
quickly kill the bulb (I once built a fluorescent strobe light that would
kill bulbs in a few days); but the garage T12 bulbs are designed for it
(only one pin per end), and it's my understanding that the T8 bulbs are as
well (even though they have two pins per end).

-- Randall