Replace Preheat Ballasts with Rapid or Trigger Start Type?
When a ballast fails in a preheat fixture, should the bad preheat ballast be replaced with a more modern type? Advantages of a rapid or trigger start ballast are that the starter (a high failure part) is eliminated and the fluorescent lamps may last longer as a result of less stress during starting. Disadvantage include cost of the ballast and possibly space limitations inside the fixture. However, since a defective starter may ruin the lamp controlled by it, the potential cost of replacement lamps may offset the additional cost of the ballast. All in all, this is probably not a decision affecting the future of the Universe but in certain cases, changing ballast types may make sense. Newly Installed Fluorescent Lamp Flashes Every Few Seconds When Off Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and many other modern fluorescent lamps use an electronic ballast. (See the sections on ballasts.) In simple terms, this consists of a rectifier and filter capacitor following by a switching circuit. The sw
