Flourescent dead - bulb or fixture, anyway to find out?

mademperor

mademperor

Go Go Rock Bass!
Jul 5, 2007
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Buffalo, NY
I have a 20" Flourescent light fixture with a 18" 6500k coralife bulb.

The bulb is new, the fixture about 1yr old. The first day I used the new bulb the unit did seem like it took forever for it to light up and stay on.

The fixture does make the noise like its trying to start up, but it never lights up the bulb.

I don't have any other old bubls to test it on, and would rather not waste money on another bulb.
 
Look for the 'starter'... It's a 'time delay switch' that most smaller fixtures use to start up the glowing process of the fluorescent bulb. Its base is usually visible on one side [close to where the power cord comes in]. Gently twist it out [it looks like a silver battery] and take it to a hardware-store. Get a replacement of the same type. They're about $1. Cheapest next move... If that don't fix it, then probably more complicated and possibly not worth fixing... Just get new fixture...
 
BTW... What's the wattage on the new bulb & the brand of the fixture? My above comment really only applies to 'el cheapo' fixtures... If yours has a ballast, then it may not be sized to your new bulb [i.e. the new bulb may be 'pulling' more current than the ballast can handle] & it's overheating... [p.s. I'm not an electrician... But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...]
 
To determine if its the bulb or not, stick your tongue in the bulb socket and turn your light fixture on. :shocked: No seriously dont do that!

mademperor said:
I don't have any other old bubls to test it on, and would rather not waste money on another bulb.
Click to expand...

How do you figure its wasted? Is your current bulb going to last your lifetime? Youll need the next bulb at some point. Unless it is the fixture and you want to replace it with a different type (meaning your bulbs will no longer fit it). Other than that, just keep the second bulb as a spare for when it burns out.
 
When that happened to one of my tanks I just took the fixture into my LFS and he let me test it out with new bulbs to see if that was the case.. if you have a good LFS around thats not too far you may want to give that a shot, cause then if you need parts there right there too..
Turns out it was the bulb.
 
mademperor said:
I have a 20" Flourescent light fixture with a 18" 6500k coralife bulb.

The bulb is new, the fixture about 1yr old. The first day I used the new bulb the unit did seem like it took forever for it to light up and stay on.

The fixture does make the noise like its trying to start up, but it never lights up the bulb.

I don't have any other old bubls to test it on, and would rather not waste money on another bulb.
Click to expand...

I'd buy a cheap bulb, find out if its just the bulb or not. Take it back, If you dont want it :)
 
mademperor said:
Do they sell 18" 6,500k bulbs though?
Click to expand...

They don't have to. The only thing that matters is the size and wattage. If it lights up, it's the bulb, not the Fixture. Btw Most "Daylight" bulbs are 6500K. The Kelvin Scale numbers are on the side of the box.
 
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