<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm not an expert, but my general = knowledge about those florescent light is that the tube is filled with a gas of some = sort that requires an arc to ignite.  A ballast is an inductive winding that = on turn on produces a high voltage that ignites the tube and when current starts = to flow it reduces the voltage to the proper amount to sustain the = glow.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I suspect the hot ballast has some = shorted windings that doesn't produce the arc and generates heat in the short circuit.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Confirm this by following the wires = from the 2 lamps that don't work to the ballast that is hot?  Bingo! two witnesses.  Guilty as charged.  Arrange for firing = squad.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Carl Meyer  Assoc. PTG<BR>Santa = Clara, California<BR><A href="mailto:cmpiano@attbi.com">cmpiano@attbi.com</A> = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=Wimblees@AOL.COM = href="mailto:Wimblees@AOL.COM">Wimblees@AOL.COM</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=Pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:Pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, March 24, 2002 = 3:02 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> electrical question = (OT)</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>Besides = being piano tuners, I know many of you have knowledge and abilities beyond that = scope. So I am hoping some of you have a little knowledge about electrical = components in florescent lights. <BR><BR>In my kitchen is a four tube florescent = fixture. Two of them went out, so I bought 4 new ones. The same two are still = out. So I suspect one of the two the ballasts are blown. I shut off the = electricity, and removed the panels, and touched both of them. One is very hot, the = other just warm. Now the question. If a ballast is bad, would it just be warm, or = be very hot to the touch? <BR><BR>Thanks for the advice. <BR><BR>Wim</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>