Boler flourescent light

[Kurt in BC]

I got the 120 volt running today for the first time since I bought it. I installed a new 15 amp breaker and a new power cable and plugged it in. Happy to see the outlet works and the flourescent light (20 watts) has power.


My Q though....The flouresecnt light only will light when I move it around a bit in the light fixture. When I first turn it on I can see the ends illuminate but it never fully comes on till I move it a little. I am new to flourescent lights all together so what is going, do I need a new bulb, ballast or is it the fixture itself ??

Thanks!!

[Kurt in BC]

no one experience this "phenomenon"

[Penny Taylor]

Have you tried cleaning the contacts, with some Deoxit, or contact cleaner ? Have you made sure that the bulb is making good contact where the bulb seats ? (With 110v. disconnected) Sometimes they do act like that, when the bulb is getting old. I have one florescent in my kitchen that can be tempermental, too. The others work fine.

[Des Nolan]

Hi,

The original instruction papers with our '77 Boler say "Be sure that the extension cord is plugged into a grounded circuit, otherwise the fluorescent light will not come on. If a grounded circuit is not available, simply rub the bottom of the fluorescent bulb with your finger and it will light up."

Please let us know if it's true.

D & D

[Byron Kinnaman]

Hi,

The original instruction papers with our '77 Boler say "Be sure that the extension cord is plugged into a grounded circuit, otherwise the fluorescent light will not come on. If a grounded circuit is not available, simply rub the bottom of the fluorescent bulb with your finger and it will light up."

Please let us know if it's true.

D & D

If true how do you get a battery operated fluorescent light to work?

[Gina D.]

take away it's unemployments bennies?

off to my room....

[Byron Kinnaman]

take away it's unemployments bennies?

off to my room....

Good one, Gina.

[Brian B-P]

If true how do you get a battery operated fluorescent light to work?

Battery-operated fluorescents certainly work (I have two), as does the 12V-powered ThinLite fluorescent which I mounted in my Boler, which has no separate "ground" connection. The compact fluorescents (CFLs) that are screwed into lamps in place of regular bulbs also have no ground connection.

There are a few different starting methods for fluorescent lights, and one of them requires a ground plane near the tube (a function which apparently can be performed by a human body); if that's the one which Des's fixture uses, the instruction makes sense, but it doesn't apply to all designs. I would be surprised if a modern fixture requires the grounding, but a 30-year-old fixture is a different matter.