Do unused floricient bulbs go bad?

Peter Reilley · 2004-01-20T20:40:53+00:00

About 5 years ago I installed a bunch of fluorescent lightfixtures in my shop. They all used the 4 foot bulbs thatare rated for 34 watts. At the same time I bought a boxof 10 bulbs for spares. Now some of the original bulbs arestarting to go so I replaced them with my spares. More thanhalf of my spare bulbs are bad. They start OK but flickeron and off continuously. When I hit a good bulb, they workOK so the fixture is good.Do fluorescent bulbs die with age even when not used?I stored them next to a heating duct. In the winter theyare warmed to perhaps 130 degrees F. Would this havean effect?They are Philips Con-O-Watt Cool White bulbs.Pete.

Jan 20, 2004 25 Replies

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Bruce L. Bergman 22 years ago

Home Depot has good prices on the real Lithonia shop light fixtures with real ballasts and real lampholders (that can really be repaired instead of just tossed and replaced). Their $15 one isn't bad and the $25 one is nice, with an oversized reflector. If you don't have a HD, check with Lowes or one of the other biggies.

And look at the Special Order book for lots of other ideas.

Oh, and to get back to the original subject: Yes, lamps can go bad just sitting around, but after maybe 10 or 20 years. They can lose their vacuum through flaws in the glass, the seals around the wire leads at the ends, and other odd stuff.

So if you find some oldies in the rafters try them, worst case you toss a few bad ones. You can check the filament resistance with an ohmmeter to toss the no-good used ones.

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Martin H. Eastburn 22 years ago

No ballast - that means an electronic / electrical control. Likely a high frequency variable type ? or just a constant lamp.

Mart> Peter Reilley wrote:

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ATP 22 years ago

Responding to Bruce- LOA sucks big time, that's for sure. As far as the cold temperatures, I have a bunch of salvaged T8 fixtures in my garage and they will start at 10 degrees- light output is reduced, but they always come on.

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JM 22 years ago

quoting:

Fluorescent bulbs do not normally go bad by sitting in storage. However, tiny defects in the seals can slowly let air into the bulbs. It is very possible that air has made its way into the bulbs in the ceiling also, thus making them go out. Another known defect, the bulbs could have not been givin enough mercury, and making their light output drop suddenly.

On the general side of things, 34w bulbs are more prone to non-starting when something's acting up. If it doesn't work, try it with 40w bulbs. Also, stay away from 34w bulbs if you're using very inexpensive "shoplite" type fixtures, or Lights of America brand. The ballasts in these cheap fixtures often can't handle 34w bulbs. 34w bulbs do work in the cheap fixtures when they're new, but problems always crop up years later. All in all, 40w bulbs are always brighter than 34w ones, and are compatible with the majority of ballasts. It's a good idea to stick with 40w bulbs.

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Gerald Miller 22 years ago

YEAH-BUTT they're not politically correctly energy efficient! Just like the new PC toilets that you need to flush twice after every beer. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

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