[Shop-talk] florescent lighting question

[John Niolon]

ok... I've about forgotten all my florescent light stuff...  kitchen fixture 4
- 4' t-12 bulbs in a wood frame (circa 1990)...two ballast ... been working
fine till lately... first only two bulbs would come on... tried changing
bulbs... same problem... now when you flip the switch it does one of four
things

1.  nothing (no lights)
2.  two bulbs come on very dimly
3.  all bulbs come on dimly
4.  All bulbs come on at normal brightness

when I get #1 I can keep trying and finally it will give me #4...

so...  bad ballast ???   ballast are getting expensive, it might be cheaper to
buy new fixture !

any way to test a ballast ???  I've tried switching bulbs around with no
success...  wifey getting annoyed...

tia
John




I'm sarcastic... what's your superpower ?