The other day i took a look at a fixture in my basement stairway ( 2 F20T12's, Advance brand ballast)that you would have to tap on to start up. The problem was that the grounding wire was not touching the metal part of the fixture. After I fixed that the light was still acting the same way it originally was. Turns out, one endcap on a bulb was loose, and it was beginning to lose vacuum. A new bulb fixed that. If you have the time, I would recommend you replacing the entire fixture with Electronic Instant Start T8's. They give off better color and are more energy efficient than T12's. Also the ballast will have a longer lifetime (if it is a good brand)and save you money in the long run.         

I'll agree with you for most part...but the truth is those older maganetic rapid start ballasts lasted longer....and had a lot lower failure rate.....but...for rapid start lamps...a bad lamp can ruin the ballast....so there are some good things about electronic and some good about rapid start.......Here's a better one....preheater...will last forever hehehe

The instant start T8 ballasts have better power factor, are quieter and slightly more efficient, but they're boring! I converted one of my T12 fixtures this way, but don't intend to convert any more. If anything, I'd rather convert to preheat, but those ballasts are much harder to find nowadays!

The annoying problem of slow/no start on F40T12 (or worse yet, the F40T12/U Mod-U-Lines) is one I've experienced many times.One solution I've come up with is to remove and thoroughly wash & dry the tubes. If you dust off part of the tube, it changes the conductivity or something & the lamps won't go on, just the ends glow. The reflector/channel cover needs to be tight to the grounded fixture as well - sometimes this can be improved by scraping paint of the tabs or bending the clamp on the channel cover, depending on the type of fixture, so you get a really solid fit.

You can also get electronic T12 rapid-start ballasts, which have a higher OCV and seem to always fire the lamp right up.

Get a bunch of different brands of programmed start ballasts on a nice row of fluorescent fixtures and you will see not all of them turn on the same time.....

Lowe's sells pre-heat kits. i was there today.  anyways... any body know where i can get a PL-C adapter? i looked at lowes, ace, an electrical supply store and a lighting gallery but i couldn't find one.

lightman64:

I have moved your "wanted PL-C CFL adaptor" to the wanted list.......

Lets stick with the topic shown on the title...Thank you

Ok that's cool. thanks