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chevynut
07-02-2013, 04:39 PM
Some time ago I decided to replace all of the T12 "Cool White" fluorescent bulbs in my shop with "Daylight Deluxe" bulbs. The Daylight Deluxe bulbs are a lot "whiter" and I think they give better light. I have 8 fixtures that hold 4 four foot bulbs each.

I bought a box of 10 bulbs, and replaced the 8 bulbs in two of my fixtures with no problems. A couple weeks ago I bought another box, and I couldn't get 4 of the bulbs to work in any of the remaining fixtures I tried them in. Today I bought yet another box, and I've swapped the lights into all of the fixtures and now I have 6 bulbs that don't work in any fixture. They are dim and they flicker. I thought maybe it was a ballast issue, but the "cool White" bulbs still work fine in the same positions. All bulbs are 40 Watt.

Any idea what the problem might be? This is really frustrating. I can see what looks like "filaments" in 2 of the bulbs....coils of wire. Could the bulbs have been mis-handled causing something to break iside? I didn't think fluorescent bulbs had and filaments in them, but there sure is something in there.

56-210Sedan
07-02-2013, 05:51 PM
sounds like a bad bundle of bulbs to me.

JT56
07-02-2013, 08:55 PM
sounds like a bad bundle of bulbs to me.

I agree bad batch of bulbs

chevynut
07-02-2013, 09:04 PM
But TWO boxes of them?

carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
07-03-2013, 05:47 AM
new means, never ever worked. maybe a bunch of boxes were all made by the same defective machine. :confused:

chevynut
07-03-2013, 08:58 AM
Carl, my suspicion is that these were handled rough, perhaps dropped, and the filaments got broken. I can see broken filaments through the glass. Maybe they weren't assembled correctly in the first place as you said.

destroyertta
07-04-2013, 01:04 PM
i buy cases of t8 bulbs all the time like 50pcs in a box for work and some times you may get a bulb or two that just dont work or light up a little or with some pink in it but if every bulb does it in that one fixture and not in others then it might be the ballest but if they do it in every fixture then it the bulbs but your situation sounds like its the bulbs good luck and nice shop

c57heaven
07-06-2013, 05:12 PM
Bought a box of Philips F40 Homelight cool alto and never went through so many bulbs so fast.
Same thing...see little pieces of filament on the bottom after awhile.

chevynut
07-06-2013, 05:52 PM
Yep these are Philips bulbs....but they're brand new and they don't work. I sure like the ones that work, but it won't be long and we won't even be able to buy them because of the goddam government. Then what? I have 8 T21 4-bulb fixtures BUILT IN to my ceiling.

JT56
07-07-2013, 04:27 AM
Yep these are Philips bulbs....but they're brand new and they don't work. I sure like the ones that work, but it won't be long and we won't even be able to buy them because of the goddam government. Then what? I have 8 T21 4-bulb fixtures BUILT IN to my ceiling.

You can convert them to T-8. But you will need to change the ballast too.

chevynut
07-07-2013, 08:30 AM
JT, it's my understanding that T8s are being phased out too. What's left? :mad:

Do you know what's involved in the T8 conversions? I assume you have to change connectors too? Or are they the same? Changing the ballast isn't that big of a deal, but probably not cheap. I bought 11 four-bulb T8 fixtures for my new shop.

JT56
07-07-2013, 04:16 PM
JT, it's my understanding that T8s are being phased out too. What's left? :mad:

Do you know what's involved in the T8 conversions? I assume you have to change connectors too? Or are they the same? Changing the ballast isn't that big of a deal, but probably not cheap. I bought 11 four-bulb T8 fixtures for my new shop.

You dont have to change the end connections. There called tombstones. You have 4 lamp fixtures? Can you take a pic of the ballast you have and the current number of wires on it. Really on interested in the yellows, blues and reds.

chevynut
07-07-2013, 08:50 PM
JT, yes I have 4-bulb recessed troffers. Bulbs are 48". I'll try to get some pics of the ballast before too long. If it's just a ballast change, it may not be that big of a deal. Thanks for the info.