Fluorescent light ballast help

[Harry Bloomfield]

Did you ever come across the type with a fitted diffuser, ring (for want of a better description) at each end to support the tube and a fixed BC holder at one end? The idea was to slide the tube the whole length, locate in the ring then locate in the BC and turn to the slots then push and turn, all supposedly done from the free end then add the loose BC and then slide the cover on without cutting the cable?

A very long time ago, but I half remember something similar..

 

[morqthana]

Fair enough. Thanks. As I said, it will have been late 70s, maybe even early 80s since I had much, if any, experience of fluorescent tubes - and even from then on, really only in domestic situations. Were these BC-ended ones used significantly in a domestic context?

My memory (above) relates to fittings which would have been 50's/60's vintage. T12 tubes.

 

[SUNRAY]

My memory (above) relates to fittings which would have been 50's/60's vintage. T12 tubes.

Still available well into 70's, they are all I used for homemade mobile disco strobes

 

[SUNRAY]

Originally all fluo tubes were BC.
We moved house in '61 and very quickly dad added an additional light above the kitchen sink, that was the arrangement for a few years. They were replaced with a 5ft flou which was BC ends, and that would have been while I was laid up with a broken leg when I was 9 so 1964. Twas a big ugly thing compared to later units
View attachment 393088New and old maybe not to scale
I recall having to replace the starter frequently and in mid 70's replaced it with a more modern Quickstart version (2 wound devices) and repurposing the old fitting by punching holes to take 12 BC holders for bulbs or PARs for mobile disco use View attachment 393089 I expect it still exists in amongst my junk but certainly not used in the last 30 years.

So sorting some crap earlier I took this pic

That is 9" wide by 7 inches high (or as appears in the pic HxW) with 12 cordgrip bulbholders, where the tube would have been, as one of my mobile disco fittings. This was originally the 5ft fluo fitting installed in our kitchen in 1964. Also I used to borrow a similar unit fitted with a UV tube and ballast inside the triangle to form a reflector.