Eight Foot Long Fluorescent Fitting. Calling All Old Sparks.

Kelly Marie Angel:

I have an 8 foot flu in my kitchen have noticed it does occasionally struggle to strike especially if its chilly in warmer conditions it starts with little effort. I think very old 8 foot fittings had a series condenser between choke and mains if this loses its value it will effect starting. Thankfully my kitchen one is a bit more modern  so just has a choke  and starter of course. One interesting odd thing I've noticed is that the twin 4 foot 36 watt tubes in my workshop are dim and flickery when cold but the high frequency tube on the other side of the shop don't flicker with the cold just an observation

I have just found my old pocket book entitled "3rd Year Electrical Installation Practice" by H.A. Miller. It has a wonderful detailed section on lighting and shows many different fluorescent circuits for single tubes and twin short tubes. One circuit does indeed show a single 8 foot tube with a choke and capacitor in series along with a starter. I suspect that in old fittings the capacitor will be the weak link in the chain. I do carry the 125 W fluorescent starter units as well as the 4 to 65 Watt type. I rarely use the former these days. I suspect that replacement capacitors are expensive.


Z.

Kelly Marie Angel:

I have an 8 foot flu in my kitchen have noticed it does occasionally struggle to strike especially if its chilly in warmer conditions it starts with little effort. I think very old 8 foot fittings had a series condenser between choke and mains if this loses its value it will effect starting. Thankfully my kitchen one is a bit more modern  so just has a choke  and starter of course. One interesting odd thing I've noticed is that the twin 4 foot 36 watt tubes in my workshop are dim and flickery when cold but the high frequency tube on the other side of the shop don't flicker with the cold just an observation

I have just found my old pocket book entitled "3rd Year Electrical Installation Practice" by H.A. Miller. It has a wonderful detailed section on lighting and shows many different fluorescent circuits for single tubes and twin short tubes. One circuit does indeed show a single 8 foot tube with a choke and capacitor in series along with a starter. I suspect that in old fittings the capacitor will be the weak link in the chain. I do carry the 125 W fluorescent starter units as well as the 4 to 65 Watt type. I rarely use the former these days. I suspect that replacement capacitors are expensive.


Z.