Discuss Excessive??? Compact fluorescents failing. in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

GBDamo

-
Esteemed
Arms
Reaction score
3,010
Would like to tap into the hive mind a bit.

A customer has approximately seventy suspended ceiling modular lights with TL5C circular fluorescents in and is calling us out roughly every six weeks to change lamps, five or six at a time.

Averaging out gives a lamp life of about 18 months which I don’t think is too bad. No one fitting is constantly blowing lamps.

The fittings are five years old and already a few ballasts have failed.

They have asked me to “test” them to see why the lamps are blowing so frequently.

I have noticed singe marks around the lamp holder and some of the internals are showing signs of heat damage.

Other than ballast output/input and general tightness of connections and lampholder what else would you be looking for?

Or are they just reaching their age and are due replacement?
 
Check for a mismatch in lamp/fitting type? As I understand it, some of the newer tubes are not suitable for use with older control gear (they prefer high frequency electronic ballasts) and vice versa.
 
All are high frequency ballasts already. But good shout.
Check for a mismatch in lamp/fitting type? As I understand it, some of the newer tubes are not suitable for use with older control gear (they prefer high frequency electronic ballasts) and vice versa.
llll
 
How are they switched on and off and at what frequency are they switched on/off?
They’re all PIR with fish key override to the on position.

To be honest it was my first look at these this morning and immediately thought LED the lot. Don’t know too much about the failure rate or if there has been a significant change.

Think the manageress just likes looking at my --- when up the steps.
 
No to both but will check and give the manufacturer a bell.

Number one on the list of things to check tomorrow.

Cheers
This may be a power quality issue. That is far too many breakdowns. Have you ascertained the supply voltage or spoken to the manufacturers?
to
 
How does that compare with a HF ballast though.

The panels I use at the moment are NVC which come with a five year guarantee but to be honest I fit what the wholesalers have. Can’t believe there’s that much difference.


Just make sure they understand the the drivers will only have a design life of five years.
 
A hefty amount of posts removed, the OP is asking a question and some member are not interesting in helping out and posting to satisfy there boredom I suspect, let's try keep the thread on track as I suspect the OP is looking for help not a barrage of pointless responses, videos or pics that only drag the thread of course.
If you want to respond further then stay on topic please.
 
How does that compare with a HF ballast though.

The panels I use at the moment are NVC which come with a five year guarantee but to be honest I fit what the wholesalers have. Can’t believe there’s that much difference.

There is not to be far but your client may be expecting no maintenence for the next 20 years.

They just need a bit of educating sometimes. LEDs are sold as good for 20 years but most people outside of the trade don’t factor in driver replacement.
 
cfl and other ballasts produce a lot of heat and often people insulate around them and they cannot cool of sufficiently! this can lead to early failure of both the lamps and ballasts (Ive seen this often with the inset can type fixtures) the spiral cfl's would get so hot you would burn your fingers trying to change one.
while led's do produce some heat their lifespan can be prolonged by keeping the insulation away from them as well.
 
Here we go.
More of the same pointless video's.
A hefty amount of posts removed, the OP is asking a question and some member are not interesting in helping out and posting to satisfy there boredom I suspect, let's try keep the thread on track as I suspect the OP is looking for help not a barrage of pointless responses, videos or pics that only drag the thread of course.
If you want to respond further then stay on topic please.
Well put fed up of the pointless videos.
 

Reply to Excessive??? Compact fluorescents failing. in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock