Illuminated light switch damages ballast - Electrician Talk - Professional Electrical Contractors Forum

Unclkracker · 11-18-2009, 06:05 AM

Something to watch out for concerning fluorescent lighting.

I've had to replace a ballast twice in a customers ceiling fixture. The first one lasted less than 2 years and the second one failed in less than a month.
The ballast is special order so until the replacement arrives I installed a lamp holder in it's place.
I put a CFL in the lamp holder and noticed it began flashing intermittently.
I learned the customer had illuminated light switches installed a few months prior to the first ballast failure.
I've read about the stray voltage issue before with these type of switches but never heard of them causing damage.

Has anyone had similar problems?

BuzzKill · 11-18-2009, 08:14 PM

electronic ballasts I assume? Sounds odd.

Unclkracker · 11-19-2009, 06:37 AM

Yes, it's a Lithonia fixture with electronic ballast and 2 circline bulbs.

It's the most likely cause I can come up with since the first ballast open circuited soon after the illuminated light switch was installed and the replacement failed in less than a month.
Although, the customer did say she never noticed the fixture flickering when off. But seeing the CFL firing like a camera flash every few seconds convinced me that was the cause
BTW. I tested the switch with a new one and both have a value of 0.2 ohms.

Dennis Alwon · 11-19-2009, 07:54 AM

You do realize that CFL's with the regular screw shell cannot be dimmed effectively. Many of them say that they can be dimmed but as far as I know Lutron is the only company that makes a dimmer that is suitable for a cfl but it must be a specific philips dimmable CFL.

Electronic ballast are not what they claim to be. Is it a dimmable ballast? Are all electronic ballasts dimmable? I am not sure. I do know that electronic dimmers do not last anywhere as long as the old ballast. Not surprised to see one go after a few months.

Unclkracker · 11-20-2009, 09:57 AM

I am aware of the dimmer situation with CFL's. The switch I was referring to is illuminated only, not a dimmer. My guess is the minute amount of current passing through the LED must have been charging/discharging a capacitor leading to the failure of the ballast. Hopefully the next one will last her years.