flourescent buzz

[prkaye]

I have these cheap hanging flourescent shop lights, but hte buzz like crazy. Are there flourescents that don't buzz so much? Is it a function of the bulb, or the fixture?

[Mel]

It's the ballast in the fixture. Some cheap fixtures buzz.

[Brantel]

The ballast in there is vibrating at 60hz. I hate this as well but not much you can do. Some are better than others but I think they all do this to some degree.

I have strategically placed wire ties around the box to stop the really annoying buzzing.

[Jamie]

Yep....when testing your radios turn them off. They are very noise in other ways too. :-)

[mdoyle]

I installed high quality, high output fixtures, so they wouldn't buzz, guess what, some of them buzz.

[thallock]

Phil,

Don't worry, when you get past about 10,000 rivets your hearing will be degraded enough that you won't hear the buzz anymore. Also, the florescents are bad for your eyes, but not to worry, as your eyes get worse, you will need to wear reading glasses, which means you will automatically have eye protection while you work. And, let's not forget the fumes from the solvents, which will make your nose go bad, and tend to mask the stench of the rats that are building nests in your wings.

Cheers,
Tracy.

[JonJay]

Even the best new technology electronic ballasts have some electromechanical components that may have a small buzzing, but nothing like the older magnetic ballasts. Cheap flourescents, like from home Depot, use cheap electronic, low power factor ballasts, with high harmonics. Not good. You can buy high power factor, low harmonic (20%), electronic ballasts to retrofit into your old fixtures, or better yet, replace them. They will be brighter, quieter, and better color with new lamps. I am in the lighting business and have retrofited a bunch of neighbors hangars. Technology has changed a lot.

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by Brantel

The ballast in there is vibrating at 60hz. I hate this as well but not much you can do. Some are better than others but I think they all do this to some degree.

I have strategically placed wire ties around the box to stop the really annoying buzzing.

I haven't done it yet (access) but a neighbor had a good idea.

He suggested using RTV between the ballast and the mounting plate. I think the ballast buzzes, but it is amplified by the cheap, thin plate that makes the base of the fixture...

gil in Tucson

[Low & Slow]

When I went to set up the lighting for my shop (a little more than 1/3 of a 28*25 foot garage), I decided to go with 8' strip fluorescents that took four T8 bulbs. I bought 4 of them from HD and installed 2 of them and turned them on. Lot's of light and very quiet! So installed the other 2, noticing they had different ballasts than the first 2. Turned them on and had even more light, but also a hideous buzzing that I knew would drive me crazy. Long story short, I took them back and got some more, but bench checked them before putting them up. They all buzzed (except for the first 2, which I kept). Ended up at the local wholesale electrical distributer, who didn't really want to sell retail, but finally sold me four more fixtures which cost twice as much as the HD fixtures. I put them up and have lots of light with nary a buzz. If you search the forum for "lighting" more than one year ago, you should find a thread where a very knowledgeable individual had lots of good info on light spacing and "lumens per square foot" etc. There were also some good pictures of shop lighting, IIRC.

[cytoxin]

mine only seem to buzz when cold. got em from lowes, 8 foot high out put.
first batch of bulbs lasted 5 years. the secon 1 year and 1 ballast then went back with the expensive bulbs. we'll see.