Help troubleshooting fluorescent lights

We have a shed that has 8 overhead fluorescent lights. 6 are controlled by one switch and 2 by another.

Everything was working fine earlier today, but now none of them will turn on. Each has a faint orange glow at the ends but won't light even after 10 minutes. I didn't notice any flickering.

There is another room that also has fluorescent lights and everything is working fine, the outlets in the main room also appear to be fine. The shed has a single connection to the main panel, so it seems that it has to be something in the shed.

I don't yet know if all the problem lights are connected to a single breaker, but my guess would be yes.

Any thoughts for troubleshooting tomorrow? What woudl cause all of them to act exactly the same way?

The only thing I can think is a ballast or starter is going out and effecting the rest which doesn't make sense. I would let them warm up and see if you can find a bad ballast if they are older ballast pull the covers and see if any are leaking black goo.

Thanks, I'll try that, now I just need a 30' ladder. :)

Would a ballast on one switch affect the other lights, even if the switch with the bad ballast was off?

These are probably 10+ years old.

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

Thanks, I'll try that, now I just need a 30' ladder. :)

Would a ballast on one switch affect the other lights, even if the switch with the bad ballast was off?

These are probably 10+ years old.

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I would think not but who knows. The only other thing I can think is for some reason you have lost some power to them. I would start at the breaker and work your way to the lights. Maybe for some reason you have lost voltage or amps. From what you describe it's a very a strange problem.

I just did some additional testing, and after 10 min with each switch on by itself, nothing would light. All 8 are on the same breaker.

Tomorrow I'll test from the breaker out, but I'm sure it will all work fine in the morning. :) Or probably the day I hire an electrician, and he turns the switch on.

Here's what they all look like.

Attachment 71618

I've had multiple ballasts/starters go out in multiple flourescent fixtures at the same time. Neither should have had any effect on the other, but there it was. You should consider at least replacing all of the starters.

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Originally Posted by theGinsue

I've had multiple ballasts/starters go out in multiple flourescent fixtures at the same time. Neither should have had any effect on the other, but there it was. You should consider at least replacing all of the starters.

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For the money spent, he should upgrade to LED's and call it good.

If you had any part of that intense rain storm we had up here, moisture might be the culprit.

Maybe you had a power spike that damaged them.


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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

For the money spent, he should upgrade to LED's and call it good.

If you had any part of that intense rain storm we had up here, moisture might be the culprit.

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This.
/thread

It's due to power fluctuations. It trashes ballasts. Unless it's extremely cold

Leds are a the way to go

+1 on LED fixtures. No more slow starts or burnt out bulbs. The costco fixtures have been solid for me.

I have put nine chainable Costco LEDs in my basement. You can chain four together at a time.They were $30 each at the local store.
My basement is unheated, but isn't cold enough to freeze.

In July, I put seven Costco LED fixtures in my Dad's two-car garage. The garage is also unheated.
By then, Costco stopped carrying the chainable LEDs at the local store.
They only sold the more expensive fixture in the stores: water-resistant, motion detector, standalone.
I special-ordered some two-packs from Costco.com. They were the same as the singles I bought at the local store.
At the time, the two-packs were on sale/special $50. Each two-pack had about another $5 sales tax and $5 shipping.
The two-pack comes in a box that is about 40% bigger than it needs to be.

Due to a distinct lack of electrical outlets in my Dad's mid-50s garage, I used this remote-control outlet set from Amazon to run some of the LED fixtures:
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Wire...tekcity+outlet

Thanks for the advice.

OK, here's a new wrinkle. Everything is working fine now, temp outside is almost identical to last night, and we had no storms between them working yesterday afternoon and not working last night.

Does that point to anything specific? There are 16 fixtures in the shed, 8 in one room and 8 in another on separate breakers. One group wasn't affected last night.

I like the idea of moving to LED, any electricians here willing to do a job just outside of Castle Rock? I'd like to swap all of them over to LED.

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

Thanks for the advice.

OK, here's a new wrinkle. Everything is working fine now, temp outside is almost identical to last night, and we had no storms between them working yesterday afternoon and not working last night.

Does that point to anything specific?


I like the idea of moving to LED, any electricians here willing to do a job just outside of Castle Rock? I'd like to swap all of them over to LED.

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Ballast or starters, based on the age,by looking at hard wired in. Contact Sparky or look here
https://www.ar-15.co/forums/149-COAR...owned-business

I suspect the switch.

^This is where I'd start. Next time it acts up, by-pass the switch to eliminate it.

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Originally Posted by jslo

^This is where I'd start. Next time it acts up, by-pass the switch to eliminate it.

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The group of 2 lights is on a 3 way and the 6 is on a single pole. Is there any way that a single switch could be impacting all of them?

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

The group of 2 lights is on a 3 way and the 6 is on a single pole. Is there any way that a single switch could be impacting all of them?

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What was the voltage input to the fixtures when they won't light?

I have a light fixture here in Texas that wouldn't light when it was very humid... it worked when it was drier, and as long as we leave it on, it works fine.

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Originally Posted by th3w01f

The group of 2 lights is on a 3 way and the 6 is on a single pole. Is there any way that a single switch could be impacting all of them?

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Start by looking for loose/bad connections common to both the single pole & 3 way circuits.

Esspecially if things were wired using the stab in quick wire method instead of using the side wire screws. (See attached picture).

I can't count the number of intermittent wiring problems I have found due to electricians (?) using the quick wire method....

Attachment 71644