Living room lights turn off after some time

DruidZ

Active Member
So I have two lights in the LR on one switch. When I turn on the switch cold the lights come on full strength. After a few minutes one of the fixtures will turn off and a little later the other one will turn off.

If I close the light and wait a bit then they will turn on again but turn off shortly, sooner than when they are cold.

I tried swapping out the lights for new ones but the behaviour is the same. Has anyone seen this?
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If they're fluorescent fixtures, the ballast is overheating, shutting the circuit down. Unfortunately, the ballast is not replaceable. You may need to replace the fixtures.
 

DruidZ

Active Member
If they're fluorescent fixtures, the ballast is overheating, shutting the circuit down. Unfortunately, the ballast is not replaceable. You may need to replace the fixtures.

That wouldn't be the worst thing I suppose. How hard are they to replace? I might switch with a working fixture to confirm that that is the problem.

It does seem a little coincidental that both the lights on that one circuit and only those are having the problem.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
That wouldn't be the worst thing I suppose. How hard are they to replace? I might switch with a working fixture to confirm that that is the problem.

It does seem a little coincidental that both the lights on that one circuit and only those are having the problem.
Pretty easy to change out. They're held in by a couple of screws. 2 wires - I recall the polarity being important.

On ours, the 2 over the kitchen were the worst, but the bathroom and one in the bedroom would also act up after a longer time ON. The living room, kitchen, closet and entry lights didn't display the problem.
 

DruidZ

Active Member

danemayer

Well-known member
Can I pick up fixtures in the local hardware or do I need Landmark ones specifically? I saw this one in Camping World -
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/30w-fluorescent-light/6917 - but it doesn't look exactly like mine. Not sure if a mismatch with the rest of the unit matters.

Or, should I be thinking about LED lights?

I'd guess most lights in the local hardware store would be 120V AC, whereas the ones you have run on 12V DC.



You might check out getting LED tubes that fit the fluorescent fixtures. Some require that you bypass the ballast in the fixture and probably include some instructions. See if you can match the LED color temperature to that of common replacement fluorescent tubes. Prices have come down recently. Maybe something like this.
 
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