All,
I have two ceiling 12v fluorescent light fixtures that are acting badly. The one in the kitchen might start and light up after two hours of the switch being on, might never turn on, or might turn right on. When the switch is turned on but the light not on I can remove the cover to the fixture, roll the fluorescent bulb in its holder and sometimes get it to fire over and stay lighted.
12V is always above 12.5V when I am troubleshooting and the exact same type fluorescent lights in my rear bedroom work fine when the others don't (on the same voltage).
I have another ceiling fluorescent light doing the same thing.
Is this a bulb issue, ballast issue or what?
Halp!

Could be either, but more than likely just bulbs. Take a good bulb out of one of the lights that work and try it in the light that doesn't work. If the light has 2 bulbs change both. One bad bulb will keep the other one from coming on.

Nick

quote:

Take a good bulb out of one of the lights that work and try it in the light that doesn't work.

Thanks and will do. I suppose if the bulbs from the working light don't light up the issue is the ballast?

I rarely use my fluorescent fixtures, as I am not a real fan of that type of lighting. However, when I first got the coach 4 years ago, I went on a lighting rampage to ensure that every bulb on the vehicle was in working condition.

Replaced everything that was not working and typically replace anything in *pairs* whether working or not.

Seems-like those smaller fluorescent Thin Lite Bulbs have a limited life, even when not in use ...I always keep spares on-hand and the cost is about the same no matter where you purchase them [around 5-7 bucks a-pop]. Wal*Mart - HD - Lowes - etc...

Even the outdoor Thin Lite Bulbs seem to burn-out quickly and I really don't use them all that often and they typically get darker in color on the ends when getting bad or aged.

I'm curious if vibration has anything to do with their life span(???) Typically, if you put-in 2 new bulbs, they fire-up and work great for an indefinite period of time, then one typically begins to fail or both.

The fixtures with the larger fluorescent bulbs don't seem to fail as quickly.

Try NEW bulbs!

Just did a quick information search and it seems the general consensus is that conventional fluorescent light tubes and thier ballasts have a short life expectancy and are prone to failure when subjected to excessive vibration.

Not certain if that means road vibration, but those things just do not last long, even when not in use. Do you think the size has anything to do with it???

Would love to switch-over to strip lights of interior LEDs, but there are plenty of other things on a very long list.

I use my fluorescent overhead lights all the time and to my knowledge they are all original, I just turned 120,000 miles and all are still good.

As soon as they develop a warm LED strip light that will be as bright and filling as the fluorescent, I will replace them, more for power saving then anything else.

The ballast went bad on the hallway light in the bath area on Barth. Just received a new new one from Northern Arizona Wind & Sun, Inc. today. Haven't installed it yet...Wind & Sun has the best selection of TL fixtures and parts I could find. About $30 for ballast and shipping.

did you notice that the bulb has loose ends on it . Most of mine must be pretty old' most ends were loose and did flicker I just replaced them',now I have to replace one ballast.then I will go to the Aisle lights .SO MUCH TO WORK ON
lenny

I switched out known good bulbs into known bad unit and it works great. Thanks all, I'm off to Home Depot next time I return to civilization to p/u some bulbs.

Hmmm. Same problem here. We use the florescents all the time, which means they sit a lot and then get put to use when we are on the road. We just got back from an enjoyable 700 mi. jaunt up into the "northwoods" and danged if the bedroom forescent didn't die on us. Never had a problem with any them before. We like 'em.
One more small item to add to the list of fixits before the exodus to Texas and Arizona in the fall.
As usual, Barthmobile.com comes to the rescue.
Thanks, and safe journeys.
Don

As I had stated earlier, I always keep a few of each kind of bulb on-hand ...there are a vast number of light bulbs on these vehicles when you count them all up, so keeping a few spares seems a prudent practice.

The smaller/thinner Thin Lite bulbs [don't have any numbers with me at this time] are the only size that fit in the smaller fixtures.

I also have 4 fixtures that take the medium girth style of tube -and- just found-out by accident [as I bought the wrong bulbs], that the "fatter", normal girth of fluorescent bulbs also fit in the larger fixtures, so you have 2 different options for the larger fixtures. In all, I need 22 fluorescent tubes thru-out the coach.

Home Depot and Lowes carries ALL thes types of bulbs in the lengths and girths that you need. Just bring one with to be certain you get the right thing. You can also experiment with the different color temperatures for the mood you are looking-for or amount of ligth you need in task spaces ...I typically just stick-with the Cool Whites.

I will post some numbers for future reference.

This information will not be accurate to ALL coaches, but might be helpful to some. You can also consult-with the Thin Lite web site.

Thin Lite Fixture Model 732
16 Watts - 800 Lumens
Draws 1.4 amps
Uses 2 - F8T5 bulbs
Bulbs are 8 watts each
11 1/4 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter

Thin Lite Fixture Model 716XL
30 Watts - 1650 Lumens
Draws 2.2 amps
Uses 2 - F15T8 bulbs
Bulbs are 15 watts each
17 1/8 inches long and 7/8 inch in diameter

...the 716XL Fixture will also accept:
2 - F15T12 bulbs - 15 Watts each
17 1/8 inches long and 1 3/8 inches in diameter
[these are the diameter of a "normal" fluorescent bulb]

Thin Lite Fixture Model 162 [outdoor]
16 Watts - 800 Lumens
Draws 1.4 amps
Uses 2 - F8T5 bulbs
Bulbs are 8 Watts each

Maybe this will help some of you with Regencies or other models built around the same time.

Thin Lite fixtures and parts are sold by a variety of distributers so use the Thin Lite Site for reference and shop-around for the best price ...bulbs are available locally.

...also interesting to see how much amperage each fixture is drawing. I draw 18.6 amps in fluorescent lamps alone if they are all ON at the same time ...but, probably not!