Task Light just Flickers

I have a Luxo asymmetrical task light which takes an 18 watt bulb, which is starting to give me trouble. Most of the time it will just flicker as if it is trying to come on, but sometimes it will flicker once or twice and then come right on. When it does come on it shines bright. Luxo will not support this task light anymore because they say it is too old??? even though it was supposedly guaranteed for life. What is causing this intermittant problem and how could I fix it? I hate to throw the light out because it was around $200 when I bought it and it does work fine after it lights up.

Reply to
don
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Uh, did you replace the bulb?

Reply to
PeterD

Indeed. This sounds like an intermittent filament. Assuming it's an incandescent lamp.

Is this a fluorescent lamp? It could be the bulb, or the "ballast".

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Or the starter? I've had several bug zappers with replaceable bulbs, that did not get fixed by replacing them. Then I decided to ignore the "no user servicable parts inside" stickers, and opened them up. Inside was a regular floursecent starter in a socket for each bulb.

I've replaced them each time I've replaced the bulbs, which makes a makes it a $7 repair instead of a $40 replacement.

Yes, these are big bug zappers.

Geoff.

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Reply to
Geoffrey S. Mendelson

I haven't seen too many 18w incandescent lights ...

Reply to
Smitty Two

No, but there are low-wattage tungsten-halogen lamps used in such products.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Smitty Two wrote in news:prestwhich- snipped-for-privacy@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com:

you've never seen any Xmas lights? they're less than 18W per bulb. and any TEK scope with front panel lights;less than 18W incandescents. same for any flashlight... then there's my TENSOR lamp,with a 12v 12W bulb.

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Reply to
Jim Yanik

is

I'm guessing this is a halogen light. Probably there's oxidation in the socket contacts to the lamp. You can pull out the bulb, clean (scrape) the pins, and use a welding tip cleaner wire (kinda like low-bite circular file wires, used for acetylene torch maintenance) to clean the socket.

Don't get fingerprints on the bulb, or use any cleaners that might leave a residue.

Reply to
whit3rd

That's what everyone seems to be doing -- guessing.

Ask open ended questions -- get open ended answers.

Reply to
Allodoxaphobia

Arghh. It's a LUXO Task Lamp. 18 watt fluorescent, virtually by definition.

Reply to
Smitty Two

The OP should have said so.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

And what model of LUXO Task Lamp. They made a lot of models they called a 'Task Lamp'.

There is a good chance that it has an electronic ballast.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Ok I opened up the light..... the bulb is a Syvania Dulux D 18w compact flourecent 20677 835 avg life 10,000 hrs But I can not log into

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which is on the box to check the specs????? The ballast is made by B and L Tech.
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mine is an INstant Start class P Type 1 NU6-1128-NT-1 It has a slight brown spot on it and so does the bulb. Interesting that the manufact. recommends buying bulbs with EOL protection built in them (end of life) to protect the ballast. Maybe this is why my balast died because of the bulb going bad? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Reply to
don

I can't find the model number on the light - all it has on it is LUXO on the arm

Reply to
don

Take a look at "LUXO Task Lamp" on Google 'Images' to see if you can find yours.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Its a Luxo Vision Task Light I found a pic on google

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Reply to
don

t
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Sylvania was absorbed by Osram several years ago, and now Dulux is a trademark of Osram. That=B4s why you found nothing searching under Sylvania. Having said that, what you have is just a PL fluorescent bulb. These bulbs have the starter inside their base, and they work with an electromagnetic ballast. If the bulb flickers, and takes a long time to stay on (if it ever stays on) the culprit is the bulb itself because it is burnt. Indeed, Sylvania as a brand of fluorescent lamps disappeared more thant ten years ago, so your bulb is pretty old and probably at the end of its useful lifetime.

Regarding the ballast, if it were burnt, the bulb wouldn=B4t even flicker. The brown spot you saw outside of the ballast is probably some enamel leftover from when it was manufactured and nothing to worry about. Just replace the bulb and be happy.

Reply to
lsmartino

Mr. ! Thanks SO MUCH........ you just saved me some money........... I was about to buy another ballast, cause of the brown spot.............. I'll try replacing the $5 bulb first...... I don't know if I"ll ever buy another Luxo again because they just told me my Task Light was too old and they didn't support the product anymore..... I'm not an electrician so taking apart this light was no fun.... I had to find all this out myself with your help...................... Thanks AGAIN

Reply to
don

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