I have a 1950's era fluorescent desk lamp made by Art Specialty in Chicago.  The tube lasted for decades but finally burned out.  The replacement tube (17") worked OK at first but within weeks, the ends got black and the tube failed.  The lamp has NO BALAST.  There is only a transformer that looks a little worn.  The lamp started by holding down the on button until the lamp lite.  I assume this is "old school".  I can assume the tube was defective and buy a new one but I suspect there is some other problem.  Are newer tubes different that would cause early burnout in this setup?  Is the transformer shot?  Hate to trash the lite...had it for 60 years.  Found the same model (Sightmaster) on ebay but if something has changed I assume the same problem will come up.  Appreciate any help.

Do you have any photos is the insides? It could be that the ballast/transformer has gone bad, or that the replacement lamp wasn't made very well.

download problem..will try again

Think I figured it out.  Attaching two pics.  Let me know if they don't come through or you need different angle, etc.

The ballast seems to be ok judgin from the pic. It's just a simple pre heat choke ballast. Probably just poor quality lamp. If the problem continues with the next lamp the ballast may have partial shortcircuit. I live on the other side of the world but I think 15w choke ballast are still available in USA so finding replacement should not be hard.

The ballast seems to be ok judgin from the pic. It's just a simple pre heat choke ballast. Probably just poor quality lamp. If the problem continues with the next lamp the ballast may have partial shortcircuit. I live on the other side of the world but I think 15w choke ballast are still available in USA so finding replacement should not be hard.

They are pretty common and if you go to the Re-Store they can often be found for any where between $0.10 to $2 each but they normally don't fail that often in smaller setups because they do run pretty cool, and this one looks like it's been run cool, so I would be going with defective lamp, it happens, so like ROI_hartman said grab a new lamp and see what life you get out of it, the lamps are common and cheap at the Re-store as well typically $1 to $0.50 each.. 

I'd try another tube (preferably a different brand) and see what happens. If that one also fails early, replacement ballasts are still readily available online, and I've seen them at Ace Hardware within the last year for $6-7.

Thanks for the input!  The bad bulb is a GE F15T8-D.  In that size, it was the only brand I could find but I'll look around some more.  Nicksfans says replace the ballast.  What is the ballast?  All I see is the transformer and the on/off button.  What is a pre heat choke ballast?  Sorry, I'm a novice at this stuff.  Also, when I bought the bulb, there were different "colors" available.  I bought "daylight".  I forget what the others were.  Does that have any impact on power consumption or anything else that might impact this old system?

The "transformer" is in fact a choke-type preheat ballast. Was the GE tube made in Indonesia? Those are known for being poor quality. If you have a Home Depot in your area, they carry Philips tubes which should be better (at least in the F15T8 format). The color has no impact on electrical characteristics.

The ballast is the transformer looking thing, and the color of the lamp won't affect the power consumption, they all pretty much use the same wattage just some colors are brighter then others so you get a few more lumens / watt ( more efficient ) but daylight is a good color choice if your using it for reading or looking at color pictures, and with it only being a single light and not a building full of them efficiency is not a huge issue, they are as good or better then any of the modern LED fixtures...  

Yep, the tube was made in Indonesia.  I think I got it at Home Depot but I'll shop around for Philips.  Good lesson for future.  If I do end up getting a new ballast, I ask for a 15W choke-type preheat ballast and that will get me what I need?  If I can find them locally, I'll bring in the old one but if I go online, I need to be specific.

You might have better luck using the actual part number of the new ballast. Off the top of my head, I think the Advance version is something like LC-14-20 and the Robertson equivalent is CC1320 or CC1420. Home Depot used to sell  a GE version but I think they've discontinued them. They'll be easy to spot...they look like little transformers with two wires instead of black boxes with lots of wires. They are all typically rated for 14-20 watts.

Edit: see here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H9HKNRM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ZNdTzb3MPT1R8

OK, I think I'm good to go.  Thanks to everyone for your help.  I thought I was going to have to part with an old friend.