Wired a fluorescent.. wont work !

[Dave9]

hi, i've wired up a fluorescent just to see if it works.
When i switched it on, my house cutout, and i had to flip the switch on the main box to get the electricity working upstairs...

Does this diagtram look right to you? ... what have i done wrong?

appreciated any advice

 

[breezer]

dont give up your day job. sorry that is a total mess and a lack of understanding of basic electricity principals

 

[Steve]

dave, mate, listen, you no doubt have a B&Q in your town. Go there, buy a ready made fluorescent fitting, and use that. That rig you have made there is good for nothing. This bit particularly worried me:

When i switched it on, my house cutout, and i had to flip the switch on the main box to get the electricity working upstairs...

What the hell have you wired this to that required you to pull the DNO fuse and switch off power to the entire house???

 

[andy]

i think he ment the MCB tripped....

 

[Dave9]

i think he ment the MCB tripped....

yep happens all the time when i try my electric experiments

its just a safety box or so im told/

Anyways as much as i really would like to buy the whole kit, i need a cheap way of doing this, i know it can be done, i just need to know how:

My ballast has 4 hole's
my lamp holder has 2 hole's
the capacitor has 2 notch things.

Question is, can someone please draw me a simple diagram of where to put the live and neutral wires, thanks to anyone who helps, appreciated.

PS: there's no symols on any of the parts, only the ballast.




here a pic of it... it looks like theres only 2 holes, BUT there is "4 holes"

please someone help, i have wired stuff like this before, but it wasnt so complicated... last week i wired a thermostat to a heater and a couple of mh lights.

 

[Dave9]

dont give up your day job. sorry that is a total mess and a lack of understanding of basic electricity principals

Fair enough, so how can i understand how to wire these up?
I have a basic idea of electric's, that rig was just a tester.

 

[JohnD]

without wishing to be rude, Dave, I think people may be so alarmed by your previous build, that they're afraid that if they give any advice on a home-made light, your widow will be after them for encouraging you

 

[Lectrician]

Only thing that is electrically incorrect is the lack of a flourescent starter.

This needs to be put in place of the terminal blocks.







Your circuit doesn't look very safe at all. The capacitor (which is not needed as part of the circuit to cause the tube to strike, just to correct the power factor) is not earthed, neither is the choke. There are also poorly insulated joints, and no parts of the circuit are double insulated.

 

[JohnD]

Here's one

£14.49 inc VAT.

Cheaper than a headstone.

 

[Dave9]

I have a few of these bulbs, i just need a good diagram illustrating exactly where the wires goes, hell il even pay someone to draw me one.

i didnt think a starter was compulsory, i thought it only stops the flicker?

I understand people when they give advice, they dont want the blame for anything, but put it this way... i dont care if it blows up, at least i tried, as for me dieing, i cant see happening with a fluro tube.

Help Help Help !!!!!!!!

 

[JohnD]

just to check (no offence) have you come by some of these parts, for example, lying around at work? Normally, you see, buying the parts works out dearer than buying the complete unit.

I think I remember that fluorescent tubes wont run properly unless they've got a metal surround, can't remember why.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Help Help Help !!!!!!!!

Go and buy some lights that just need connecting to the supply - with any luck you'll be OK with that.

 

[Lectrician]

YOU NEED A STARTER, AS I SAID.

You used to get soft start flourescents which required an earthed cable or casing adjacent. They used to 'buzz' into action.

You also get high frequency types which simply 'ping' on.

The bog standard type, which use chokes, require a starter to open circuit the choke, to produce a large enough PD across the tube to cause it to strike.

A starter is commonly a bi-metal strip, which heats up and opens. This causes the choke to be open circuited. A starter may open circuit many times before the tube fires. This can be overcome with the use of an electronic starter.

 

[plugwash]

understanding even a simple florescent driver cuircuit requires some moderately advanced electrical knowlage.

having said that i'd have thought he'd have known from experiance that they wouldn't start if you didn't have a starter in (the lamp will function without the starter once running though).

 

[pdcelec]

This must be a wind up.