Brand new CLF and it flickers... why?

[space-time]

got one of those under the cabinet fixtures that takes 2 CFL tubes, 8W about 12" long. I replaced BOTH of them last week (one was burned out, and was was old and probably about to burn out). I also tried to replace the starters to see if new ones would make the CFL come on faster (now it takes about 10 sec, drives me nuts). I was not able to remove old starters, I think they're stuck in there for good.

So now one of the new tubes flickers. the other one is steady.

I am about to rip the whole thing apart and buy something with LEDs, but I don't have time right now, maybe in a week or two. how do I get the damn thing to stop flickering? it's a Phillips bulb. I didn't throw out the old one yet, I want to recycle it. Maybe I put that back in. It's a GE IIRC. I don't think that was flickered.

[Lew Zealand]

New ballast thingy. That cylindrical thing with the 2 terminals coming out of one end. Tubes might still be OK.

[Winston]

We've got lights like that in our kitchen. Seems to me I have to replace the starters about every other bulb change. Might solve the flickering problem. I use slip-jaw pliers when the starters are stuck. Just make sure to turn in the correct direction.

I'm not bothered much by flicker, but I hate the hum they make. May look into LED replacement for that reason. (My parents have halogen undercounter lights - boy are they hot!).


Good luck.

- Winston

[OWC Jamie]

In the office before they replaced all the fixtures, if a tube turned black on the end when it was spent it had to be replaced immediately or the ballast went too.

[davester]

First of all, those are not CFLs, they are fluorescent tubes. Second of all, if they have starters they are old-style fluorescent tubes with magnetic ballasts (the kind that flicker at 60 hz 100% of the time). I would dump them if I were you. As to the excessive flickering you're talking about, it's probably due to a bad ballast, which may have caused the old tube to fail. It'll probably be cheaper and easier to replace the lamp than to fix it.

LEDs are a good idea, but be aware that many cheap LEDs have awful color. I've heard that these are good ones: http://www.polar-ray.com/LED-Under-Cabin..._c_55.html

[cbelt3]

Lew Zealand wrote:
New ballast thingy. That cylindrical thing with the 2 terminals coming out of one end. Tubes might still be OK.

Lew, that's a starter. It's essentially a capacitor. The "Ballast" is the high voltage transformer, usually a rectangular metallic box, typically painted black and installed in the fixture someplace.

Space, if your starters were removable and are not, then the whole fixture is ready for the recycling bin. Return the bulbs, you can get a functioning LED fixture for about two to three times the cost of the bulbs.

Alternatively just tack a bunch of LED Christmas lights up there, they're going cheap ! :biggrin:

[space-time]

"First of all, those are not CFLs, they are fluorescent tubes."

correct, my bad

[OWC Jamie]

orange you glad we were all so terribly confused by the mis-use of an acronym ?

[Winston]

davester wrote:
LEDs are a good idea, but be aware that many cheap LEDs have awful color. I've heard that these are good ones: http://www.polar-ray.com/LED-Under-Cabin..._c_55.html

Those look nice, but they are expensive. Given that the 12" fluorescent tubes are what, 8 watts? I doubt that there would ever be a payoff from installing those. But it would be nice to lose the hum.

Color rendition from the 12" fluorescents isn't great either. We compensate by using a mix of cool and warm white, with main lights being either incandescent or halogen floods.


- W

[Lew Zealand]

cbelt3 wrote:
[quote=Lew Zealand]
New ballast thingy. That cylindrical thing with the 2 terminals coming out of one end. Tubes might still be OK.

Lew, that's a starter. It's essentially a capacitor. The "Ballast" is the high voltage transformer, usually a rectangular metallic box, typically painted black and installed in the fixture someplace.

Space, if your starters were removable and are not, then the whole fixture is ready for the recycling bin. Return the bulbs, you can get a functioning LED fixture for about two to three times the cost of the bulbs.

Alternatively just tack a bunch of LED Christmas lights up there, they're going cheap ! :biggrin:
Thanks for the info, I don't like getting details like that wrong. We have only one of the old school fluorescent lights left (in the garage) and it's worked for so long that I can't remember the last time I went to the hardware store to buy a new starter.