moto-x-girly

In one of my beds a bulb will go out every now and then. How do I know if its the starter or if its just the bulb that needs to be replaced?

BooBop

does it light up and then go out? The starter is just that. It only starts the lamp. Once the lamp is on, you can even loosen the starter and the lamp will stay lite. You may have a loose connection. Try re-connecting the lamp in the sockets.

ps. I am going to move this to the bed/lamp forum for more expert help.
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Mitzi

Getting Ready to Rock in 2003[ This Message was edited by: Mitzi on 2003-01-29 11:39 ]

bsmart

moto, sounds like a loose connection or a lamp that is about to fail. It's not likely another hardware problem. It may be a connection at the socket or the ballast or any point in between. Do you hear any unusual noises when the lamp is blinking? I'm thinking a poor connection might be found as a spark noise was made. Just a thought.

moto-x-girly

The bulb was completly out. I wiggled the bulb and starter and nothing happened. I just changed the starter and replaced the bulb and everything is working fine.
I was wondering if anyone could give some expert advice on how I would know if I needed to replace a ballast, how long starters last and so on.
Thanks!

bsmart

Standard starters should last about 1-2 years if its a 160W system, longer on 100W systems. Typically they say 2 re-lamp intervals. A good ballast should last forever, well maybe 20 years. Rarely see a ballast fail, but do see connections come loose from time to time.

moto-x-girly

That's good to know, my beds are only a year old so you never know. For some reason I have this awful feeling that it was a ballast...which I have no idea how to replace!!