the death of a fluorescent lamp vol. II (it gets scary)

Take a look with me at the way a fluorescent tube reaches end of life running on an electronic ballast.
Presumably this show is created by the high voltage supplied by the ballast when it detects the electrode is broken and starts to run the lamp as it was a Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL), which ironically gets really hot and melts the bases.
This time it was taken to the extreme, to the point the lamp fell off on my hands!

[@THEBULBHOME]

For people wondering, fluorescent tubes indeed are in a vacuum. They are, in other words, a *low-pressure mercury lamp* , like those germicidal ones they sell to disinfect water but with a phosphor coating to make visible and unharmful light. You can find more info here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3a2kGNqltqIeLc

[@soundspark]

Germicidal bulbs are made of a special fuzed quartz glass to allow the killer rays through.

[@samsimington5563]

I don't know either but it's a cool effect. Just recently I've witnessed a fluorescent light have a break down at school. First few days it was the swirling next few days after one was dimly swirling and the rest of it was inactive, the rest of the time it was dead

[@TheRealDorran]

In my school, the fluorescent lamp near my table on the ceiling went bad last Wednesday. There was a purple glow at the right end [the ballast was in cold cathode mode I think], and you could barely see a filament arc. Every now and then the bulb would start flashing crazy and turn off for about 4-5 seconds, when I came back from playtime/recess the bulb was dead. Well at least I witnessed the last moments of it's life. When you turn the lights on it flickers a bit but it is a dim flicker. The ballast then goes into failure mode.

[@danielramotowski5187]

Back in 2010, I had an FC9T9 burn out in a similar fashion. End was purple then reddish and it did the swirly thing too. This is why I love fluorescent bulbs. They’re so cool that way.

[@Sparky-ww5re]

I have seen this sort of failure before, and it's common for the instant start 8 footers, aka F96T12, operating off the old school magnetic ballast. The lamp begins to spiral and flicker wildly, one end gets very black with a red- orange glow. This occurs when the emission coating on one cathode is completely exhausted and can no longer emit electrons at the designated tube operating voltage, however the ballast open circuit voltage is so high that it will strike the tube anyway, and will continue until the lead wires inside the tube are completely burned away, the glass melts or cracks at the end wrecking the discharge, or the socket melts and the tube falls out. This can be especially serious for the newer T8 tubes, although these tend to be operating off electronic ballasts, which almost always has an EOL lamp detection system, which will shut the ballast down when it senses this happening. A magnetic ballast doesn't have this feature, but sometimes causes the ballast to burn out, although the old magnetic types tend to be very rugged and can take more abuse than the newer electronic versions. A rapid start lamp EOL depends on whether its a magnetic or electronic ballast, but tends to flicker for a while until it can no longer light. A preheat lamp EOL flashes on and off, as the starter will endlessly restrike, until the starter fails or the ballasts fails.

[@THEBULBHOME]

Hmm that's interesting. Here in Mexico we have some different types of ballasts apparently. Here, at least on my experience, when the emission mix is gone and the tube is running on magnetic, they tended to just flicker until they when completely out, and the show we see on video is almost exclusive to electronic, which in Mexico they don't have any sort of EOL detection, at least the older ones, that's why I bought a new one...

[@LymezoidMusic]

God, what you described is on point. I have F96T12 Slimline fixtures running off of magnetic ballasts down in my basement. I had one lamp EOL so hard; it turned purple (with a blackened end) and you could see flame inside of the lamp. Melted the socket right off and feel out of the fixture. Scary stuff!!!

[@Sparky-ww5re]

@@LymezoidMusicthat's a wild one. I never personally witnessed an EOL slimline melt out of the socket, but I was in the men's room at the K-Mart near Waterford Michigan like 8 years years ago and there was a 6 foot fluorescent lamp shattered on the floor over one of the stalls, not sure if it was vandalism or EOL. But I guess if you were constipated and straining to go, having an EOL lamp fall and break on your head is one way to make you let loose if exlax wasn't working just yet 😂🙂

[@750kv8]

This happens when the thermionic coating on the filament in the bad end is fully depleted, resulting in the filament glowing bright orange, but at the same time unable to emit electrons efficiently, becoming the point of highest resistance inside the tube, with the increased voltage drop accross it inducing a harder ion bombardment onto the filament.

[@davida.p.9911]

They certainly put on a show when they go out. I've seen some go black, blue, even red sometimes. And the "waves" running through the tube and the strobe effect although that isn't very good for the eyes. Very good job getting it fixed👍

[@THEBULBHOME]

Thank you! It's now running like new!

[@williamhenry4380]

While on my side, I saw it turned off first then flickering insanely

[@TheRealDorran]

The swirling is the starting arc in the cold cathode mode jumping to different places, like corona discharge goes to different places. [And HV X-rays.]

[@wardogies]

Can those a bulbs in a dying state emit x-rays

[@TheSoxmania]

@@wardogies not really, as X-rays need near-perfect vacuum to form as well as high voltage. Once a fluorescent lamp strikes a discharge, the breakdown voltage drops from ~2,000-4,000v immediately down to around 80v or so depending on the length and wattage. for example, the arc voltage of a 58W T8 is 86.5v at ~670mA

[@kernel_data_inpage_error]

I forced such situation on a T9 once, it started cycling and I removed the starter, forcing it to remain on, the flicker was HORRIBLE, but it went out with a burnout leaving a black mark on the fixture, I guess I damaged the ballast somehow, it hasn't even been a week since I replaced the lamp and it is starting to develop a grey ring, I ordered an electronic one to get rid of that puny horrible flickering caveman one (I was told to replace the entire thing with an LED one but meh, is not my house so I dont invest too much)

[@shithead3546]

Wow. It should have a porcelain base, imagine if the tube falls due to melting plastic base

[@THEBULBHOME]

Yup, a porcelain base sounds safer, although I've never seen one for a SlimLine fixture. At least not in my country...

[@sounakdas9565]

We are missing those flourocent tubes and CFLs is led era.

[@THEBULBHOME]

Yup, that's why I spent so much money on importing these haha!

[@DarkGhost9595]

Pretty good job to capture it on Camera while the tube lamp is reaching its Eol, I still have my two of my 2ft T8 magnetic ballast fixture still working good, they last way super longer than leds in my opinion or a fact lol, I love Fluorescent lamps because they fail in many different ways :)

[@THEBULBHOME]

I love fluorescents for all the reasons you do as well, that's why I keep them around in the plain LED era we live in!

[@DarkGhost9595]

@@THEBULBHOME True, I also love the buzzing or humming sound they create, it's Relaxing and chilling

[@rustymotor]

Very lucky to film the tube at end of life, interesting to see how it failed, the cathode was in distress at the end. Cool video!

[@THEBULBHOME]

So glad you enjoyed it! It really was in distress, poor old lamp!

[@coalthedergsune]

this is why I prefer magnetic ballasts

[@20ontrending66]

What fluorescent fixture is that?

[@SB223_06]

Glad your back!

[@ReinaShorts]

Did you check the watt first?

[@helenharp6758]

It is very cool to see that and I been fascinated with it and I know I saw it in Kmart one evening and it was very cool to see it burning out!!!!

[@Imakeelectronicchaos]

Look mate, I’m not trying to be mean but it’s partly your fault that the bulb connector/base thing melted as you should have replaced the tube when that orange/purple glow started, so next time when it begins to overheat and fail don’t let it, just take the tube out and replace it

[@user-qz6uc1vt4z]

It can get up to 500° so yeah it melts the socket

[@Sparky-ww5re]

Very interesting lamp. F48T12 slimline lamps I've heard of them but never seen one. They are very rare at least in the USA anyway but not as rare as the F24T12, F36T12, F60T12 and F84T12 slimline lamps which are listed in my GE lamp & ballast catalog 2016 but I have yet to see these in person. F96T12 is probably the most common, followed by the F72T12. All the lamps 4 foot and smaller that I've seen are bi-pin rapid start or preheat except for HO and VHO lamps.

[@stuffnstuff6594]

The fluorescent looks sooo good

[@Anthony_The_Chicken_Licker]

that was awesome 😁 please upload more videos like this😁

[@queenbrina5243]

Honestly I would just bypass the ballast and install led bulbs at this point. It saves energy, lowers bill, no mercury, higher quality light, and eliminates ballast problems. If the fixture was inside the home, I would put a more homey-feeling fixture up, and move the fluorescent fixture to the garage or shop.

[@THEBULBHOME]

LED is the best option option? Well I don't know... I have installed that lamp as an old lighting equipment enthusiast BECAUSE is an old technology (if you look closely, I have more fixtures for the "homey" feeling there, and like I also have streetlamps in my room, the point here is the fixture, not efficiency xd)... And although I admit fluorescent technology has plenty of drawbacks, I think LED is overrated: In general, LED lighting fixtures don't normally last as long as they are rated for... It takes a very good quality brand (like Philips or LEDvance), but people normally just buy the cheapest option, which translates into constant failures... The lamp in the video dates back to 2003, almost 20 years in service and at least 70,000 hrs of operation... Also, it seems to be a trend nowadays in making LED fixtures more complex and, more importantly, without the ability to replace the main LED drive, (translating into more garbage, since almost every LED fixture has tons of plastic components, and we have to remember that only 9% of plastics are recycled) just watch Technology connection's video on the regard ... And although the mercury issue is very real, the amount is incredibly tiny: 4 mg.... a typical household thermometer has 100 times more. So I don't know... You could be right but also there's more stuff to consider...

[@eduardoveytia244]

Los LED son las que más daño hacen Y contienen arsénico y plomo

[@robertm.6285]

Is that a high output rapid start or is that the single pin slimline fixture?

[@robertm.6285]

By the way, the old school made General Electric tubes should outlive the modern reduced mercury content Philips alto lamp being that the GE bulb has full mercury content and is made a lot better.

[@THEBULBHOME]

It is a single pin Slimline fixture. You can tell a few times when I'm changing the tubes and when I show the bases, they are not a HO base.

[@THEBULBHOME]

@@robertm.6285 Yup, I believe so as well, although I'm impressed by the lifetime of the old Philips ones, as they lasted for almos 17 years! (they were out of service from 2013 to 2016 but the rest of the time were up there on fixtures that were used a few hours per day!)

[@FSHerrante]

This is the first time that y see a fluorescent tube gets hot and literally melt the holder. Normally i saw how these gone black in one side gradually (during days) and finally start flickering

[@THEBULBHOME]

Yup, that happens with these early electronic slimline ballasts apparently...

[@Satyaprakash81102]

For the first time I am seeing a single pin Tube light, all I have used are bi pin at both ends in my country. Can any body explain that how a single pin Tube light can have heater (filament electrodes)? Or they don't have any and are only suitable for cold cathode type electronic ballasts? Or is it possible that the light base is one leg and pin is another leg of electrode?

[@Sparky-ww5re]

Single pin fluorescent tubes have filaments, but they are connected to the same pin on each end of the lamp and therefore cannot be preheated. Many years ago bi pin instant start lamps were also available and such lamps were identified by "IS" in the lamp designation, F40T17/CW/IS & F40T12/CW/IS are the only bi pin instant start lamps I've heard of never seen in person, they were in my 1993 GE lamp and ballast catalog. Bi pin instant start lamps have the filaments internally short circuited so they cannot be preheated and therefore will not operate if mistakenly used with a rapid start ballast. Instant start lamps use a high enough voltage to start the lamp without heating the cathodes. They have a shorter life for the same number of starts vs rapid start but have slightly better energy efficiency and are good choices for areas where the lamps stay on for several hours at a time and starts are kept ro a minimum.

[@george911751]

this i'm not using Electronic Ballast, and i'm using Standard Magnetic Ballast with Glowbottle starter. (standard Preheat Fixtures). when my tubes go wrong, never Melts down so horribly.(probability is simply really low, always when Ballast starts to burn). my tubes always blinks in EOL. only one exeption is 18W T8 fixture, but tubes never burn through

[@THEBULBHOME]

I had a magnetic ballast when this fixture was new, but it was a refurbished one and I had to replace it and at the time they were no longer selling magnetic, so I had to get an electronic. That was exactly 10 years ago, so this ballast had served me well, the only issue is when tubes goes bad!

[@DieselDucy]

scary how hot that can get!

[@FLCollection620]

Yeah!

[@THEBULBHOME]

Scary indeed! It would have interesting to film how the tube fell off when it melted the base, but I had to catch it or it would have broke!

[@MrLumination]

Wow really good eol video. I’m very shocked that it melted the end sockets that’s really dangerous

[@THEBULBHOME]

Dangerous indeed! I was really worried! I hope with the refurbishment and the new bases it never happens again!

[@robertoruiz4484]

eres de México?

[@mikigry9838]

No. This orange hot spot movement is not exclusive to electronic ballast. You can experience exactly the same thing on lead (capacitive) side of preheat (when you remove the starter) and rapid start ballasts as well

[@THEBULBHOME]

Yup, you're right. I only had slimline in mind when I wrote that...

[@guilhermoferreira7275]

my grandma had two of them in the kitchen and one at the laundry area . they was very long and large but they died alot of times my grandma eventualy had to change the lights to normal led lights.

[@andreroncon3761]

Essas lâmpadas antigamente duravam mais de 10 anos, agora as mais novas duram meses, uma pena, a ganância das empresas fizeram com que as mesmas se tornassem porcarias de baixa durabilidade, infelizmente

[@eduardoveytia244]

Yo por eso las conservo las antiguas

[@lewisdsd]

Pura sabiduría 🎉

[@revdev1032]

You could put in led replacement as long the ballast works with it

[@CRAIG86]

i have a flouresnt light i got from a thrft shop thats expose to be mounted on a wall, when i turn it on it does the ring thing

[@bryjefferson7605]

The Bulb Home I just witnessed a orange ish yellow bulb in the East High School main office last time just slowly flickering and then kinda swirl-flickering but at least they fixed it before it got worse!

[@XmasLightsGuy]

That one gave off a good end of life show. .lol. The F48 slimlines are pretty uncommon to see (atleast where I'm at) I have various sizes/types of nearly dead fluorescent lamps...one of these days I need to start doing 'death of a fluorescent bulb' videos again.

[@THEBULBHOME]

Yes it did! F48T12 were very common all over Mexico, but is good to see my video is being watched in places they were uncommon! Also, doing EOL videos on fluorescent os amazing! Also it is amazing to experience it in person!

[@XmasLightsGuy]

@@THEBULBHOME I'm surprised to hear F48's were that common in Mexico when they were a rare sight here in the US....Yet the F96 version was quite common here (most of those ended up being replaced by F32T8, which a good portion of which have been replaced by LED) I finished off 2 EOL F20T12's & a F18T8 in the past couple days. .lol. Those might become videos.

[@Sparky-ww5re]

​@@XmasLightsGuy The 4 foot slimline lamps are indeed rare in the US. Even more rare were lamps in my 1993 GE catalog, F40T12/CW/IS, and F40T17/CW/IS. These lamps are bi-pin instant start, the filaments are internally shorted and therefore cannot operate on preheat or rapid start ballasts. The F40T12/CW/IS is a 48 inches just like a normal rapid start lamp, while the F40T17/CW/IS is 60 inches and was introduced in the 1950s as a low glare lamp for use in classrooms, libraries, and nurseries for example, where the lamps were exposed and a soft, relaxing atmosphere was desired.

[@XmasLightsGuy]

@@Sparky-ww5re I have a few of the F40T17's. Those are deff cool lamps. I've heard of the F40T12 IS, but never seen one in person.

[@Sparky-ww5re]

@@XmasLightsGuy those T17 lamps are freaking cool. There was a 2 lamp F90T17 fixture in my great grandparents garage still in place as of last year when we were selling the house after great grandma passed away peacefully in her sleep age 95. The fixture would've been installed in 1968 when Grandpa and his older brother built the garage, and stopped working about 12 years ago, the lamps were very black on the ends and grandma apparently was unable to find replacement tubes anywhere in town 😢. I remember when I was maybe a young teenager the garage was my favorite room in the house 🙂 They were the brightest fluorescent I've seen at the time. I never seen a F40T17, or F40T12/IS though. The F40T17 was in my 2016 GE catalog along with the slimline F48T12, but not the F40T12/IS, my 1993 catalog had all three of these. I was wondering if an electronic instant start ballast compatible with F48T12, would also be compatible with F40T17, or F40T12/IS, in the event I hit the jackpot someday and come across one of these rare but awesome lamps. Have you tried that yet?

[@khaid12345]

Youre back!

[@THEBULBHOME]

:)

[@Tokaisho1]

Fit a magnetic ballast with replaceable starter instead for longer tube life

[@Fluffberymoff]

Why is there a filament in that lamp when it only uses one pin on each side

[@THEBULBHOME]

Is not a filament, it's an electrode. Is not intended to glow on it's own like an incandescent bulb, but to emit electrodes trough the gas mixture... so that way, it doesn't matter that it uses one pin...

[@Fluffberymoff]

@@THEBULBHOME ok

[@soundspark]

Looks like the ballast in your fixture only serves the purpose of murdering lamps.

[@lewisdsd]

xd

[@christophergrimes12]

I was on holiday in kenya in Mombasa and at the hotel I went down the stairs and went into the changing rooms and noticed that one of the lights wasn't working and tried to fix it and the tube was flickering really fast and the whole tube went black and really hot

[@sheeesh13]

Hi I am a new subscriber here I am from Russia and I also love h i d lamps I started collecting them when I was 8 so like I am also in the community of lamps and the I found out your channel from parrot 175

[@bryjefferson7605]

🤌 noice.

[@brendajanes4139]

Gosh, I would love to have a fluorescent fixture just like this! I have 18 NOS F48T12 Slimline lamps and don't have the correct fixture to use them in.

[@THEBULBHOME]

try searching online or in restores or thrift shops... I see collectors usually get good deals in those places... In Mexico those kind of stores are rare, but I have some good friends in various lighting markets, so sometimes they help me c:

[@jacobtennyson9213]

The Phillips ALTO low mercury bulbs are not that reliable use of fluorescent lighting. They can dim and burn out faster while it can't balance its wattage.

[@THEBULBHOME]

I see that happening to the ones with more hours on them, although they do last a very long time, at least on my experience. Look at those on the video: 2003 and 2006 respectively.

[@jacobtennyson9213]

@@THEBULBHOME ... Still not a reliable bulb.

[@bulbman2564]

Weird the fixture has an electronic ballast when it flashes like a magnetic one, great video though. F48 Slimlines are awesome but pretty darn rare with how common F40T12 lamps where.

[@THEBULBHOME]

Even though fluorescents running on electronic don't flicker as slow as on magnetic, they still do it. Sometimes camera's shutter simply doesn't sync with the flickering rate. This was recorded on an iPhone 11, so it's not a high-end camera equipment of any kind. Also, for what I've been reading, F48T12 weren't that common on the US, but here in Mexico where the norm, and you could find them anywhere: metro stations, restaurants, libraries, schools, stores, and a long etc.

[@LymezoidMusic]

Pleasure to find you here. Bulbman! 😅

[@bryjefferson7605]

Hey the bulb home can you make videos of fluorescent lights going out because if I see a light flickering it’s either because it’s getting old or it’s just burnt. Also I have witnessed a bulb that has one purple end still at East high school but it’s in the locker room and I just don’t know why bulbs go out st much!

[@urufodjak3092]

US ballast ?

[@THEBULBHOME]

No, it's a mexican, 127V one...

[@ianfife4276]

Its the high voltge making the tube death in bulb

[@eduardoveytia244]

Es la misma lámpara de asé 4 años ?

[@THEBULBHOME]

Sí

[@eduardoveytia244]

Si duran mucho los fluorescentes

[@THEBULBHOME]

Muchísimo, los T12 igual o incluso más que la mayoría de los LED chinos...

[@averageslytherinperson6154]

Put a normal magnetic ballast for each lamp. The starter wont start dead lamps

[@somedandy7694]

So...if my bulb smoked before I turned the light off, does that mean it leaked mercury into my basement?

[@jake-90]

No

[@stevenhoelderich9490]

What, you see is, the filament in the, fluorescent end.

[@preetidrozario9245]

Waov it's so strange tube from Phillips waow iv never seen single leg on one side ?

[@eduardoveytia244]

Aquí en Guadalajara Jalisco México son super comunes

[@homeguestunton]

Fluorescent ballasts can start smoking when they go bad.

[@homeguestunton]

Just like a stick or spiral CFL.

[@THEBULBHOME]

yup, CFL ballasts are just another fluorescent ballast shrunk in size!

[@stuffnstuff6594]

Oof idk why but she fused😭

[@christophergrimes12]

You should of replaced the the fitting with led

[@kimhykimhy]

수명 다된 모습을 잡아내었네요..^^

[@lewisdsd]

🥴

[@davidfalconer8913]

NOW ! is the time to fit an LED replacement ( Ha - Ha ? ) ... VERY efficient , BTW ............ DAVE™🛑

[@eduardoveytia244]

The bulb Home no usa leds

[@THEBULBHOME]

you're missing the point... I use fluorescent because I love them, since I collect *old* lighting equipment...............

[@user-qz6uc1vt4z]

It sometimes blows out like a tire the mercury gas

[@Jona_Villa]

Hello The Bulb Home I am writing to you from Italy. I have a unique neon light bulb of Eastern European origin that is really old. I have no idea what it could do. Do you have an email I can write to to send you photos of the light bulb? It casts an orange light surrounded by a blue halo in a metal elicoidal spiral.

[@CG-1000-T]

Fluorescent light are not a vacuum type light, they use mercury vapor to produce light. You got that fact wrong in the video. When a tube like that breaks all of the mercury vapor get put into the atmosphere and may cause some minor health problems.

[@lewisdsd]

They do are in a vacuum. That doesn’t have anything to do with the mercury vapor.

[@CG-1000-T]

@@lewisdsd then why do they have a contains mercury label on it

[@lewisdsd]

@@CG-1000-T They DO have mercury, but they are also in a vacuum. One thing doesn’t supress the other.

[@CG-1000-T]

@@lewisdsd ok.

[@THEBULBHOME]

Fluorescent lamps are, in a basic sense, a low-pressure mercury lamp with a phosphor to make light. They indeed are in a vacuum, and you can see how much of a vacuum they have in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3a2kGNqltqIeLc

[@berndbastian2802]

Very intresting. I use in my house only T12 lamps or LED lights. My kittchen lamp ist made by Kaiser Idell, Germany in 1955 it has 2 4 feed T12 bulbs from the 1960s.

[@THEBULBHOME]

Cool! I also have some LED on my house, but I prefer having everything fluorescent... That's why I had to import this old bulbs from the USA and was really expensive!

[@berndbastian2802]

@@THEBULBHOME You importing them from the USA? Where die you live? In Germany I find them in a Recycling yard. Lots of people trow them away because the still running. So I found more than 150 T12 tubes in all versiones.

[@cheepi103]

Its older

[@Charlie-B-Barkin]

the bulb looks new at the start of the video

[@THEBULBHOME]

Well, it was made in may 2003 (that's why it has the E3 code at the info etch) so it has around 19 years and with a lot of hours in it. When fluorescents starts to run on CCM, they usually start slow and at intervals and starts to worsen overtime.

[@Charlie-B-Barkin]

@@THEBULBHOME the bulb went bad very quickly

[@THEBULBHOME]

@Stewart Fairclough You see it edited in the video the whole experiencie, but it actually took a few days to burn the base and fell out.

[@Charlie-B-Barkin]

@@THEBULBHOME one of the end of the bulb is not black ant the other end is black weird

[@user-cg2tr7ns4u]

Meet us at 2026 “is” when your tube dies Do not care about the (edit) thingy [i want likes]

[@michaeljeromevaldez1324]

😨

[@michaeljeromevaldez1324]

jajs😢

[@danybedo3847]

Hola, te amo ♥️ you are my treasure 👫🏽

[@THEBULBHOME]

Ay por fin apareció jaja You are MY treasure, and you were the one who helped me fix the lamp, that's why it now works so well 😍

[@weatherwithgary5952]

This happened to me and i burnt my hand on the burnt part of the bulb