Compact fluorescent lamp repair

[Sonny Disposition]

I came home tonight and found that the compact fluorescent light fixture atop my 65 gallon high aquarium stopped working. Before I take it apart, I'd thought I'd ask if anyone has experience repairing a compact fluorescent lamp.

Before I take it apart--is it basically the same as a standard fluorescent lamp?

Is it essentially a matter of checking the wiring and replacing a burned out starter and/or ballast?

Thanks.

[DonkeyFish]

If we're talking about the same thing, I had one do that years ago and all it needed was a new starter. Got one at the Home Depot across the street and never had a problem again. Can't speak to ballast issues, but wiring/starter are pretty easy if that's what it is. Good luck!

[krisw]

Bob, I've replaced a couple of bad light strips with AHSupply PC kits. In both cases, I left most of the AGA casing intact, and swapped out the ballast, reflector, and end caps, as they were of higher quality than the original items. In short, yes, if you have a bad ballast, you should just be able to swap a new one in.

[Cristy Keister]

PC fixtures don't have starters, so it's probably the ballast, the bulbs, or corrosion at the contact points.

[Sonny Disposition]

Now that I think it through, it's probably not the starter, as it was working when I left that morning, but out when I came home that night. As a matter of fact, it probably had just gone out, as one of the fluorescent tubes was still warm. So it's probably the ballast, or perhaps a wiring issue. (I think we can rule out bad contacts, since it started with no trouble that morning.)

I take it the local hardware store probably won't carry the ballast, and I'd most likely have to order it on line.

Any recommendations?

[Cristy Keister]

If the ballast you need happens to be for 96w, I have an extra. Otherwise, the cheapest place to get them is ballastwise.com (the PL series is for power compacts).

[halak]

Bob,

I have the following ballast for sale if that's the one you need:

DXE2H5 (still in shrink wrap) $10
http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID ... =1&level=0