[AT] Check the grounds, check the grounds, che...

[Dean Vinson]

> 	This applies to more than old tractors and trucks.   :-)  
> Check the grounds...
> Check the grounds...
> Check the grounds...   ;-)

Fluorescent light fixtures, especially the 2' lengths that I like to use 
for accent lighting above a bathroom cabinet or that sort of thing, 
never seem to work right if I just install them as they come from the 
store.  Won't always come on right away, sometimes don't come on at all, 
sometimes flicker.  Even if I scrape away the paint and make sure the 
ground wire is well connected to the ballast housing.

I got tired of exercising my list of bad words every time that happened 
so I figured I'd give Farmer's rule a try.  I started adding a length of 
bare stranded copper wire right on top of the ballast cover/reflector, 
screwed down at both ends, then tucked inside the cover and connected to 
the ballast frame and the house wire ground.  Takes a few minutes but 
the lamps start right away every time.

Dean Vinson  --  Dayton Ohio
<http://my.voyager.net/~vinsond/>