HELP ON PREHEAT FLUORESCENT!!!

[Mike]

Hello,
how do you wire a F15T12 preheat ballast assembly? The GE ballast instuructions said to refer to the wire diagram on the ballast, but there isn't one. The ballast is brand new, just bought it at HD for 7 bucks. I have a lamp and starter as well as sockets for it. How do I wire it? All fluorescents i have delt with has a nuetral line going into the ballast. This one only has two black wires.

[Jace the Gull]

It doesn't matter which way it goes....both ends are the same....one black wire goes to hot, the other black wire goes to one of the fluorescent pins.

This is a 1 lamp ballast right? The wire diagram should be ON the ballast....

Let me draw one for you

[Mike]

Yep one lamp ballast. One lead is shorter than the other. Both are black lines. No diagram at all. Just says what kind of lamps it can run. How do i wire in the starter? Where does the nuetral go?

[Jace the Gull]

Here you go. This simple ;-)

Yep I made this pic....you can see the pathway...of how wire goes...from ballast, to one cathode, to starter to 2nd cathode then back to neutral! The starter only is used during startup...but after start up the tube is only connected to the ballast and neutral while the starter is shut off.

[Mike]

Thanks Jace. I was wiring it wrong. I put the starter between the lamp and ballast. Ok. I know how to do it now. Thanks again.

[Jace the Gull]

What the starter does....

Before I say it, note one cathode is connected to the converted hot (from the ballast) and the other cathode is connected to the neutral...

Well see, when you flip the switch on...the starter CLOSES the circuit...making the electricity from ballast go through BOTH cathodes (filaments of the fluorescent lamp) from line, to one cathode, through starter then through 2nd cathode and out to neutral making the cathodes glow at start up...When it detects the gas ignited, then the starter disconnects. So when starter is disconnected during power on...the current goes through the tube instead of through the 2 cathodes and the starter. It only ignites when the gas is not carrying current. 

At end of life, the cathodes (or one of them) loses emitter and somehow prevents the gas from glowing, so it kinda depletes the gas and it would attempt to turn on..but as soon as gas loses the current it turns off...making starter try to turn it back on...causing the strobing effect!

Makes sense eh?

[Mike]

I know the sockets i'm using have 4 teminals. The two right ones have bits of wire stuck in them and I can't get them out. Could I use the two left ones?

[joe_347V]

In most cases no since the hole on the right are for the right contact and vice versa for the left, so you have to have one wire in the right and one in the left or else you will bypass one of the cathodes from the preheat circuit.

If you have wires stuck inside the holder, some of them can be carefully opened up with a screwdriver so you can take the wires out.
Some others like Levitons are pretty hard to open up.

[Mike]

In most cases no since the hole on the right are for the right contact and vice versa for the left, so you have to have one wire in the right and one in the left or else you will bypass one of the cathodes from the preheat circuit.

If you have wires stuck inside the holder, some of them can be carefully opened up with a screwdriver so you can take the wires out.
Some others like Levitons are pretty hard to open up.

Well, I brought the GE sockets back to HD and got an exchange. Also, Does anyone have a starter socket they don't need and/or a 15" metal housing that could be used for a fluorescent fixture? I said before that I was going to make a preheat fluorescent fixture. The only parts I need are the starter socket and a housing. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Michael.

[joe_347V]

You might find the starter sockets at some smaller hardware places, for the housing I would just grab a used one from Restore or similar and just gut it. You could also buy a new striplight and gut it too.

Around a year or so ago you could still get new preheat strips at Lowe's so you could also look around too see if there's any left too.

[Mike]

You might find the starter sockets at some smaller hardware places, for the housing I would just grab a used one from Restore or similar and just gut it. You could also buy a new striplight and gut it too.

Around a year or so ago you could still get new preheat strips at Lowe's so you could also look around too see if there's any left too.

No everything is electronic at Lowe's. HD sells preheat undercabnit lights, but they're junky china ballasts. I've never heard of a restore. If i get a light, I don't want to gut it though I'd wan't to keep it origional. That's why I need a spare housing. Maybe I should go get some sheet metal......

[joe_347V]

The local Lowe's still has magnetic F20 and F96HO strips.  A Restore is a store that sell used building materials, and I often see old fluorescent strips there.

Usually if I gut a fluorescent fixture I'll still keep the original ballasts/holders unless if the ballast is dead then I might disassemble the ballast.

Making one out of sheet metal is a bit hard if you don't have a bending brake but I got a decent bend once using a couple of blocks of wood. You'll also need a 7/8" bi-metal holesaw to make the hole for the wires and starter socket too. Might be worth a try if you can't one or you want to make a custom fixture.

[Mike]

I don't think there are any restores around here. Maybe there is something similar to a restore in Rhode Island. I'll have to see......

[Nevada Willis]

Do you still need a starter socket?  Let me know.  I have a box full of this old stuff.  We used to make illuminated street signs with 14, 15 and 20 watt preheats so I should have starter and tube sockets plus a bunch of ballasts.  Before you waste gas making the rounds of the hardware stores I'd be happy to give the small parts away.  I'd need a couple of bucks for the ballasts, however.  If there is interest I'll post a list of what I have.  It's really cool to build your own lamps with this old preheat stuff.  The ballasts will fit inside a regular handy box.  We built a lot of low intensity security lighting around the fire stations with this stuff back in the 70s.  The ballasts will also light 15 watt 4 pin CFLs.

[joe_347V]

I don't think there are any restores around here. Maybe there is something similar to a restore in Rhode Island. I'll have to see......

Try searching online for Habitat Restore Rhode Island, I would assume there is at least a couple based on a quick search I did.