Re: Shop Lighting - Fluorescent bulb with warning sticker won't work

Fluorescent ballasts may use different input voltages but at the
output end, they drive the same bulbs. However, the ballast does need
to be matched to the bulbs. Almost certainly the problem is a
mismatch between the ballast in the shop light and the bulb. I don't
know what could distinguish a "commercial industrial" bulb from any
other type. High output bulbs exist, but do not require different
ballasts. You can look at catalogs from GE lighting or Philips
lighting, for example, and see the range of bulbs in current
production. They differ mainly in features like color rendering,
color temperature, and occasionally light output, but they are all
interchangeable.

What is the diameter of the bulbs? (Are they 1" diameter or 1.5"
diameter or something else?) If they are 1" diameter you have T8
bulbs which require electronic ballasts. If they are 1.5" diameter
they are T12 bulbs which generally work with magnetic ballasts. (You
can read your ballast label: it should indicate the type of bulbs that
it supports.)

The fact that they are F40 would suggest T12 bulbs and if your shop
light is new it should have an electronic ballast which would require
T8 bulbs. (Note that the T8 bulbs running on electronic ballasts are
more efficient, consuming a nominal 32W for the same output as a 40W
T12.)


On Jan 4, 8:31 am, "JACK" <tota...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm wondering if they aren't meant for a 240v ballast or a 480v ballast.
Not all bulbs are as they seem.

<mwbrow...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:ba52e39b-1362-47d1-84b4-25fad135a1d4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I found about 20 48" bulbs in the barn of the property I bought and
was going to use them for shop lighting...

Now that I go to put them in the fixtures I see they have a sticker
that says "For Commercial and Industrial use only. Do not use in
Worklight / Shoplight fixtures." Of course, I tried them (in a new
shoplight fixture) :^) and they glow pink at each end and buzz, never
"starting up" to clean white light.

The code on the other end says F40CW/EE/CC. 40=40 watts, CW=cool
white but I can't find anything that describes the EE or the CC with
several Google searches.

First, does anybody know what EE and CC mean?
Second, why would this bulb *not* work in a shop fixture, but would
work in a commercial fixture? Magnetic vs. electronic ballast?
Higher power? Different startup? Better efficiency? Different light
temperature?

If there's no way to get them to work, then I'll donate them to my
Habitat ReStore (with a big explanation label) and buy some regular
tubes.

Thanks.
Mike Brown

.

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