Fluorescent Lights Blinking and Going Off

[soil]

i hate to say it reb but them lights are just junk. i am pretty sure its the ballast or starter, but i use the same ones and i got about 9 of them runnin an only a couple fire up proper everytime. i just touch the bulbs on um until they fire up an stop flickerin then they are fine till i shut them off again.



soil :rant:

 

[Growdude]

i hate to say it reb but them lights are just junk. i am pretty sure its the ballast or starter, but i use the same ones and i got about 9 of them runnin an only a couple fire up proper everytime. i just touch the bulbs on um until they fire up an stop flickerin then they are fine till i shut them off again.

soil :rant:

Touching the bulb would have no effect on the ballast or starter. Do they even have starters anymore? I believe thats all part of the ballast.

Im sure the sockets are the trouble or where the wire attaches to the socket.

a very simple test if its making contact is to mesure the ohms between the 2 pins of the bulb then put the bulb back into the unplugged fixture and mesure the ohms on the wires coming out of the socket, it should be the same and not open or bouncing all over from making and breaking the contact.

 

[soil]

Touching the bulb would have no effect on the ballast or starter. Do they even have starters anymore? I believe thats all part of the ballast.

Im sure the sockets are the trouble or where the wire attaches to the socket.

a very simple test if its making contact is to mesure the ohms between the 2 pins of the bulb then put the bulb back into the unplugged fixture and mesure the ohms on the wires coming out of the socket, it should be the same and not open or bouncing all over from making and breaking the contact.

Your right touching the bulb should have no affect whatsoever , but it seems to work ? there are no loose connections but something is going on with the contacts, the contacts are nice an tight with the bulbs so it would seem that the contacts are junk and just not contacting good enough with the bulbs , only because when i move the bulbs it affects it , i know it makes no sense but i still believe the ballast are just junk.

i have only tested voltage and all the connections, i have not tested the ohms , so i will give that a try , thanks for the advice gdude!




soil :smoke1:

 

[GrowRebel]

:ciao:hey soil and GrowDude ... I will check that out and let you know how it came out. I agree soil ... these lights are junk, but it's all I could and can afford right now:cry: ... hopefully I can get them working long enough to where I can get something better ... what kind of shop lights would you recommend and are they available at the brick and molter store?

How are your worms doing soil? Are you getting castings from them?

 

[GrowRebel]

:ciao: Well the fixture that was working ... just died completely ... no hum no nothing ... it was plugged in but the fixture was close ... I going to take both of them back to lowes ... I had a major brain fart and lost the receipt:doh: :hairpull: :confused2: but I still have the boxes and will argue the point if I have to. So since I don't have the receipt I'm stuck with this junk.

 

[GrowRebel]

:ciao: Got some more fixtures ... seem utilitech is the only shop light lowes carries, so I'm stuck.:doh:

At first when I plugged them in I got nothing :rant: ... I play around putting different bulbs in until they started to blink ... now they are blinking off and on so I'm going to leave them on for 24 hours to "season" them. Hopefully they will function long enough until I can find better ones .... any recommendations of shop lights let me know.

If any one has any ideas on how to make these crappy lights work better please post.

 

[Growdude]

Why get more "shop lights" ?

Did you try the new lamp holders?

 

[Old_SSSC_Guy]

try two more things:

1. Put the fixture on a flat surface with the bulbs facing upwards. If it starts fine that way but not hanging, its the contacts.

2. Hang the fixture and turn it on, then reach out fo both ends and squeeze them together as if you were trying to hold the bulbs over your head. If that has any impact, its the contacts.

Like I said many times before - Utilitech is complete and total crap. Go to Sears and get real fixtures.

 

[GrowRebel]

Why get more "shop lights" ?

Did you try the new lamp holders?

:ciao:I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that ... what are they? Are they reasonably priced? Are they in the stores?

try two more things:

1. Put the fixture on a flat surface with the bulbs facing upwards. If it starts fine that way but not hanging, its the contacts.

2. Hang the fixture and turn it on, then reach out fo both ends and squeeze them together as if you were trying to hold the bulbs over your head. If that has any impact, its the contacts.

Like I said many times before - Utilitech is complete and total crap. Go to Sears and get real fixtures.

After putting in different bulbs one fixture is staying on, but the other one just one bulb is on ... at one time both bulb were blinking ... now just the one is on, and I can't get anything from the other bulb ... I have them both lying on a flat surface for now.

I ain't gonna argue about utilitech being total crap, but is there anyway I can get better contact? :confused2:


I didn't know sears carries these fixtures ... I've never seen any at our local Sears. I will have to check that out, when I can, but for now ... I'm stuck with the crappy utilitech.:rant:

 

[GrowRebel]

Well the local manager at lowes was gracious enough to not only give me a cash refund ... even though I didn't have my original receipt ... he gave me two more of the piece of crap lights at no charge ... what I'm going to do with them I don't know.

Anyway I went to Home Depot and bought two of their Lithonia lights at the same price as the utilitech... same dang thing! Flickering or no light at all ... I just can't win!

I've tried all the spare T 12 bulbs I have and only one bulb works and that's just the flickering ... I know 4 of the bulbs are brand new ... or hardly used.

What shop light is recommended? Our local sears doesn't carry shop lights.

 

[dman1234]

I've had the Lithonia 2 bulb 4 ft T8 for 3 yrs never a problem, but there only good for clonning and maybe 10 days of veg.

 

[ston-loc]

Ok, it can be numerous things, but I have a few questions for you. You probably said it already, but honestly I kind of skimmed. These are 2 lamp fixtures? When you pulled them out of the box, did you have to put them together? Im meaning insert the sockets where they go, install end caps, etc? The 'symptoms' you are saying, aside from the obvious possible bad connections, is that you are crossing sockets. Usually the lights have some form of diagram on the ballast. Red, blue, brown, and yellow wires are most common. If just one side from the 2 lamps are crossed it will function much like what you have described.
If thats not the issue, I've seen MANY ballasts work/not work. How many fixtures you have gone through, I suspect an install error honestly.

 

[ozzydiodude]

If you bought different lights by a different maker and are still having problems I would almost garentee the problem is in your electrical wiring. A faulty plug in or the wiring from the breaker box

 

[GrowRebel]

I've had the Lithonia 2 bulb 4 ft T8 for 3 yrs never a problem, but there only good for clonning and maybe 10 days of veg.

:ciao:I have the Lithonia lights that take the
T 12 bulbs ... and it is for cloning and veg.

Ok, it can be numerous things, but I have a few questions for you. You probably said it already, but honestly I kind of skimmed. These are 2 lamp fixtures? When you pulled them out of the box, did you have to put them together? Im meaning insert the sockets where they go, install end caps, etc? The 'symptoms' you are saying, aside from the obvious possible bad connections, is that you are crossing sockets. Usually the lights have some form of diagram on the ballast. Red, blue, brown, and yellow wires are most common. If just one side from the 2 lamps are crossed it will function much like what you have described.
If thats not the issue, I've seen MANY ballasts work/not work. How many fixtures you have gone through, I suspect an install error honestly.

I don't have to put anything together ... it's suppose to be plug and go ... no install other than putting in the bulbs then hanging them up. And yes ... these are two of the same fixtures ... I also have two more of the utilitech, that the manager gave me free of charge ...

If you bought different lights by a different maker and are still having problems I would almost garentee the problem is in your electrical wiring. A faulty plug in or the wiring from the breaker box

I don't have trouble with the rest of my fluorescent lights. How could it be a faulty plug?

 

[ston-loc]

I'm not trying to sound like a know it all, its just what I do for a living. I'm an electrician.
So out of the box, you just need to install lamps and it has a cord on it to plug into a receptacle?
Othere that the advise others and myself have already said, if none of that has fixed the issue, I'd suggest getting a digital mulimeter. If you want any help feel free to reply or pm.

 

[ston-loc]

Sorry for the spelling, haha. On my cel, not as easy to see the mistakes, haha

 

[ozzydiodude]

Your older light maybe be more Volt forgiving that the new one. The older light might work fine on 95/105 ACTUAL VOLTS but the new light have to Have 119/120 ACTUAL VOLTS. The older types of ballist were more forgiving of low voltage than the newer ballist. A coroded plug in or wire connection could cut the voltage down just enough for the new lights to not work right.

Reading back in the thread really leds me to believe you are not getting the right voltage.

 

[ston-loc]

Agreed, mostly. Either way, a multi-meter would answer that really quick.

 

[GrowRebel]

I'm not trying to sound like a know it all, its just what I do for a living. I'm an electrician.
So out of the box, you just need to install lamps and it has a cord on it to plug into a receptacle?
Othere that the advise others and myself have already said, if none of that has fixed the issue, I'd suggest getting a digital mulimeter. If you want any help feel free to reply or pm.

:ciao:Oh good ... an electrician ... I could definitely use the help:clap:
Yes sir/mam ... it is out of the box ... put in the bulbs and hang up ... I got them from home depot. I don't have a digital multimeter ... just an analog one ... I have no budget to speak of so that's pretty much all I have ... what kind of reading do I need to take?

 

[ston-loc]

All you need to test is what kind of voltage you are actually getting at that receptacle. Hot to neutral, and hot to ground if your house is new enough to have it. If you are over 110v, moreso usually between 119-124, your good, and it is the fixture. If not, time to delve deeper