Light Ballast Question...

[BrianE]

I have several light fixtures hanging in my basement and today I turned on the lights and one of them started to sizzle and smoke poured out of the light. I immediately shut the lights off and unplugged it and assured there was no fire.

My question is... Can ballasts start fires? It bothers me, because if no one was home and the lights were left on and one of these ballasts were to go I dont want an electrical fire starting in the house. Any information would be greatly appreciated....

Thanks

 

[sar4937]

Yes they can, but they work the hardest when starting up.

 

[BrianE]

I hate these style lights for the finished basement (well no drop ceiling) is there any kind of lighting thats recommended?

 

[Karnivore]

When the ballast shorts, ideally the breaker should trip. Even if it does not, the ballast is encased in the metal housing of the fixture.

If it is an old T-12 it is tar filled as an insulator and can catch fire much easier than the newer electronic T-8 series.

Either way if they are omitting a burning smell they should be replaced.

My two cents.
Gary

 

[Beemerguy53]

Oh boy...did I respond to my share of light ballast calls during my career! The smell is very distinctive...ugh!

Karnivore is right...the ballast is shot and needs to be replaced. However, looking at a prominent big box hardware store site (HD), it looks like a new light fixture would probably be cheaper. You mentioned that your fixure hangs...if it is a two-tube model, a replacement is very cheap, depending upon which type of bulb you want.

Hope this helps...good luck!

 

[BrianE]

Beemerguy53, it is a 2 tube fixture and new ones at HD are 25 dollars, but what I really want is to rid my finished side of the basement of these beasts and get something different. The finished side is 32' x 14', so I would need something to brighten up the room. I was looking at track lighting, but have no experiences with that.

Any suggestions?

 

[anoblefox]

the T12 (fat tube 4' flourescent) FIXTURE can be retrfitted with a new energy saving electronic ballast and T-8 lamps with roughly 175% more light and less than half of the electricity costs. However, it is likely cheaper to change the old fixtures to the newer ones with the T-8 ballast already installed. It really depends on how much labor is required to change them, keep in mind some of the old fixtures have thicker metal construction and more durable sockets, just something to consider.

 

[m1gunner]

Can lights go in easily. I used eyeball type covers and made wall wash lights in a large room I have. Great indirect lighting, and no glare.

 

[hsguy]

Oh boy...did I respond to my share of light ballast calls during my career! The smell is very distinctive...ugh!

Karnivore is right...the ballast is shot and needs to be replaced. However, looking at a prominent big box hardware store site (HD), it looks like a new light fixture would probably be cheaper. You mentioned that your fixure hangs...if it is a two-tube model, a replacement is very cheap, depending upon which type of bulb you want.

Hope this helps...good luck!

Beemerguy, your post brought back some memories, you are right, a burned ballast could be smelled the minute you walked in the door. We had many large buildings in our district and a thermal imaging camera made our job much easier when dealing with hundreds of fixtures and finding the hot one.

 

[jkc]

I'm calling foul on the thread title, which could easily have been mistakenly supposed to have been a query about Plimsoll lines, and etc. ...

 

[hsguy]

Naw, you are thinking about the Navy thread.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Beemerguy53, it is a 2 tube fixture and new ones at HD are 25 dollars, but what I really want is to rid my finished side of the basement of these beasts and get something different. The finished side is 32' x 14', so I would need something to brighten up the room. I was looking at track lighting, but have no experiences with that.

Any suggestions?

I know what you mean about the way those hanging fluorescent fixtures look; I have them in my garage, but I wouldn't want them in a finished area.

I would suggest talking with somebody at the store to see what they say. What kind of ceiling do you have? If it's acoustic tile, say 2x2 or 2x4, you can install recessed fixtures pretty easily. If it's a solid ceiling, or not one that lends itself to recessed fixtures, there are surface-mount fixtures available.

You can also find a wealth of information, and some very good prices, online.

Good luck to you!

 

[Beemerguy53]

Beemerguy, your post brought back some memories, you are right, a burned ballast could be smelled the minute you walked in the door. We had many large buildings in our district and a thermal imaging camera made our job much easier when dealing with hundreds of fixtures and finding the hot one.

I was in the Baltimore City FD from '74 to '04, and in the old days when ladders were wooden and men were iron (LOL!), we didn't have anything but our bare hands and our sense of smell to help us single out a bad ballast. Man, I used to hate those calls!

They were even worse than trying to find which apartment had a burning mattress or pot of food in a high-rise housing project...but that's another story!

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I'm calling foul on the thread title, which could easily have been mistakenly supposed to have been a query about Plimsoll lines, and etc. ...

Show off-you just want people to know that you know what plimsoll lines are!

 

[ladder13]

Oh boy...did I respond to my share of light ballast calls during my career! The smell is very distinctive...ugh!

+1 that, you know the smell as soon as you walk in. "Pot on the stove" is another distinctive odor, we probably had one of those per shift. You wouldn't believe how many people start cooking something and either leave the house or fall asleep