DIY Network

Tip of the Day: Replace a Lamp Trigger Switch From "Complete Fix-It" episode CFI-107

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If replacing the bulb doesn't solve your flickering fluorescent light, this may be the culprit: the ballast. Don't use a pocketknife for this job: use wire strippers, which have teeth sized to fit any gauge wire.

Note: Illustration A, Illustration B, Illustration C, available using

Trigger-switch fluorescent lamps (illustration A, click above to view) are similar to starter-type fixtures: Pressing the switch button for several seconds provides the necessary voltage surge to energize the gas in the bulb. If a trigger-switch lamp won't light, first replace the bulb. If that fails, unplug the lamp and perform continuity tests on the plug, cord, socket and switch. Replace components as needed. In the event that all of these components pass the continuity tests, the culprit is probably the ballast, usually located in the lamp base.

Remove the screws from the base plate (illustration B, click above to view), and pull the wires from the base (illustration C, click above to view). Remove the ballast; some lamps have two of them. Detach the two wires from one ballast at a time. If the wires aren't color-coded, twist them together to identify them as a pair. Take the ballasts to a lamp store for a correct match. Reverse this process to reassemble the lamp.

Note: To order the new HGTV's Complete Fix-It book, see Resources, below.

Illustrations (Copyright) Time-Life Books 2000.

RESOURCES :

HGTV's Complete Fix-It
Author: HGTV