As to how long a fixture will last, that probably depends
on how well made it is...I have some lights (not from
HomeDepot) that are 20+ years old & still work fine (i've
ofcourse replaced plenty of bulbs in that time).

---
But anyway back to your lights... (i'm no expert here but
maybe can give some ideas).
With the ones that are malfunctioning, do they still go
out if left laying on the floor (or work bench) for a few
hours?

Could be the ballast is over-heating (tho I doubt it since
you have it hung on chains - as opposed to mounted directly
to the ceiling or a shelf)

Ro could be it truly is just wearing out...in which case
electronic items can be flaky when they get old...they
don't always 'just die'

But my most likely guess is that there is a loose wire(s)
somewhere. Take the light down & open it up (unplugged
ofcourse). Where the wires connect to the sockets, take
each one & gently pull on it and twist side to side
alittle. It should be snugly in the socket-connector &
shouldn't just pull out...if any wires come out easily,
they were loose, just push back into the hole they came
from and they should be properly re-seated (i've had this
happen before where a wire can work loose over time)

Also look in the part of the sockets there the bulbs go.
The metal tabs inside should be gold...make sure there's
no blackened/burnt spots (which would be a sign of poor
contact between socket/bulb-pins. If one is bad, Home Depot
sells new sockets & they're fairly easy to replace in most
lights)

i asked a friend last night and he said the ballast is bad. for a shop light that costs about $8 i doubt this is worth fixing as a ballast probably costs as much. no idea what a ballast is.

tom

ok i opened the fixture. all the connections where the tubes plug in are gold no black, very clean and shiny gold. i looked before i opened and again when i could remove from fixture. the wires inside that connect to the sockets, ballast (i now see what a ballast is) and the ground are all very snug, not the least bit loose.

so does this point to the ballast?

with 2 of my original fixtures that are 6 years old going bad within a month this makes me think the fixtures are going bad. before i opened this fixture i plugged it in hanging on the stand from chains. in 5 minutes the tubes were not lighted tho it may have happened in 1 minute as i went upstairs to do something. the ballast is not warm to the touch when i opened it, not sure that means anything.

as i stated i don't want to toss out a good fixture but for $8 i can get another and if it lasts 6 years then that's $1.33 per year. pretty cheap considering the food i get for the cost of seeds, electricity, fixture and fertilizer.

tom

Sounds like all your connections are good then.

Some ballasts have a 'end of lamp life' detection circuit
if it 'thinks' the bulb is bad it will turn off...but since
you've tried new bulbs that shouldn't be a problem (but if
detection circuit or something else in the ballast is
failing, it may have the same result of making the lights
turn off)
Do you by chance remember if the ballast said 'Sunpark' on
it? The 'Sunpark SL-15' one was fairly common for a number
of years in Home Depot shoplights...(and is well liked
by people who overdrive bulbs - see the post on this forum )
I haven't tried overdriving with one, but i also know for a
fact that Sunpark's can be alittle flaky even when wired
normally.

One other thing i thought of is you mentioned that these
are T8 fixtures, are the bulbs you're using also T8's or
are they T12's (i just remembered this: i have a couple Home
Depot T8 shoplights which while they're designed to also
light T12's, the T12's are just alittle too wide to fit
properly, so they wouldn't always light (wiggling the
bulbs would make them go on or off, T8's dont have that
issue.

Hope that helps

these things are fairly simple items. if u swapped tubes, and you know for sure the tube is good, then the ballast is probably no good. It is worth buying a new ballast, because the new one will be reliable quality, and will last forever.
make sure it has normal or high ballast factor, and is NOT an energy savings one. the problem with buying a new fixture, is that it may come with an energy saving ballast that will not light the lamps up as brightly. also, the design of the reflector varies, some have better reflectors than others, so there are lots of things to consider.
Another possibility is the actual lamp socket may be cracked and not making proper contact. I normally get many years of use out of my fixtures, but I usually pay good money to start with, so I don't have to keep rebuying after a few years. But if you don't mind throwing stuff away, then just buy another cheap fixture from Wally World and you'll be all set. Keep the box, and if it stops working bring the whole thing back in its original box, claim that you just bought it, you lost ur receipt and that you want it replaced. Wally World will do this for you. If the Chinese are going to sell us junk, then you might as well get them to replace it for free when it breaks. Remember, there is no Chinese equivalent for the word "honesty" - it translates into Chinese as something like "fool" "dupe" or something like that, so that is what I would suggest - keep the box, and keep bringing it back and having them exchange you a new one whenever it fails. Tell them you bought it 2 weeks ago, even if it was 6 years. Eventually they will get the message - build quality, or go home.

yes the ballast is sunpark sl-15. the fixtures are for t8 tubes and i use t8 tubes. i just tried it again with 2 of my friend's t8 tubes that have just 2 seasons use. it went out in about 2 minutes. i tossed it and replaced it with one of my friends fixtures.

no way am i going to try to find and buy the correct ballast. i do not understand anything about electrical stuff and i probably would burn the house down.

if i went to a local hardware store assuming thay sell "good quality" t8 shop light fixtures what should i pay? if i pay $8 and they last 5 or 6 seasons vs $20 and the fixture will last for 20 years maybe i'd be better off getting a good fixture. but then i'm almost 60 and i have no idea if i'll garden 5 or 10 more years. i think i'll be too old to put up with the physical work by the time i am 10 years older (this is a lot of work and while i'm strong today another 10 years and i'll be kissing 70!) so perhaps the cheapo fixtures are the way to go. but what would a life time fixture cost?

tom

Almost 60 is nothing. My boss is 72 and still comes in to work daily and works a full 8 hour shift, then goes home, does his own gardening, volunteers for the symphony, etc.
If U don't know what to buy, just bring the fixture back to the store that U got it from and ask them. If U are clever enough to know how to grow things, swapping a ballast is a piece of cake. U cannot burn ur house down, because u have a fuse panel that protects the wiring.
You first said that u got ur stuff from home depot. Home depot has plenty of people that are very happy to help u out, and if you bought the fixture there, they have a little workshop area where if u are nice to them, they will probably even watch u replace it, to make sure u did it properly. Just ask someone helpful if it is o.k. if you use their workshop area to open up your fixture, and make sure you understand exactly how it is to be done. Home depot people pride themselves on being helpful, and just explain that you wish to be safe so you do not create a safety hazard. Mentioning the word safety should encourage them to help you out. Normally the staff are polite and helpful, especially to senior citizens.

klinko16 is correct in that it is changing out a ballast is
very easy,

but just dumping the bad one was probably the best move -
if you went to Home Depot & bought a just new ballast it
alone would be more than the $10 for a whole new shop
light...the only way to get a deal on ballasts is to go
on eBay (but thats only good if you need multiple)

(since you had an 'extra' light might as well make use of
it anyway)

As far as 'cheap' verses 'expensive' lights, I personally
say go for the 'cheap' ones.

One thing to think about is: say you spend $10 and get 6
years out of 'cheap' a light, by that time T5's (for
example) may have come down enough that its time for an
upgrade anyway.

Personally for my house plants i'm still using some old
non-elecrtonic-ballast T12 lights that i picked up used
for cheap probably 20 years ago and they run every day
...those things will probably last forever (and i could
never replace a working item just because something better
comes on the market, but if it died i'd upgrade)

I also have some regular T12's running that have been going practically continuously for the past 10 years, with not a single failure. T8's are for energy saving, and the electronic ballast is for energy saving, to present a lesser load to the grid. Unfortunately the electronic ballast tends to be failure prone. I got a whole bunch of t8 ballasts from ebay for about 5$ each, but it is unusual to be able to get a deal like that. shoplights happen to be something that some stores will sell at a discount, because they sell lots and can get a good deal with a volume purchase.

here's the deal, personally, I don't touch wiring, I will run into a fire, but will not touch a wire to save my life.

I have see cheap lights last for ever, and I have seen expensive ballasts die quickly.

I think as long as aesthetics don't matter to you, and they have a good safety rating and get the job done efficiently, why spend more?

dude!

because replacing a ballast is normal maintenance and everyone should know how to do it. you have a throw away mentality, which is contrary to the way a gardener should think. a gardener should be self sufficient and always be thinking of ways to reduce reuse and recycle. Go ahead, throw everything away that can be easily fixed. The same way the last tree was cut on Easter Island, and after that there were no more trees and they could no longer make any more boats. Mentality is the same, the choice is yours, but I'm not that kind of a person. You come onto this forum to find out how to fix things and to get them to work. If you want to find out how to throw something out, then you don't need to waste our time here, you've already made up your mind, so go ahead, and throw it out. Just don't come crying to us later complaining how you never learned anything from your hobby.

Tom,

Ballasts go bad in light fixtures on a regular basis. A good electronic ballast should last between 5 and 15 years. With a cheapo shoplight, the best bet is to toss it and buy another.

One thing you MUST watch out for. Most of the shoplights sold today have cheapo magnetic ballasts. They are very prone to failure, often not lasting even a single season. So be sure when you look at shoplights to see if it says there is an electronic ballast. Don't bother buying if you don't see the words 'electronic ballast' somewhere on the package. Wally World is notorious for selling lots of cheapo magnetic ballast lights.

One problem some of the electronic ballasts have is that they generate electronic noise that can interfere with phone lines and DSL service. I make a point to hook up a new fixture and wrap a phone cord around it, then listen to see how much noise it makes. If it is too much, I take it right back to the store because I can find good fixtures that are not noisy. The Sunpark SL15 was notorious for being noisy.

Your question re cost has a simple answer. A shoplight should cost between $7 and $12 depending on whether it has an on/off switch and what kind of ballast is installed.

My lightstand is 6 tiers high and has 18 shoplights mounted so that 3 fixtures with 6 bulbs are on each tier. That is just right to cover 4 celltrays of plants where the celltrays are standard 11" X 22". When it is on, the room gets too bright for my eyes. I just sit a few more trays of plants around the stand where they can benefit from the otherwise wasted light.

DarJones