Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: 2 Frazzled on September 10, 2016, 06:22:37 am
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Our fluorescent bulbs have been burning out gradually over the years and we have reached the point I have to actually replace them or live in the dark (I told you in previous posts we aren't fix it people, besides, all the fixtures have two bulbs plus the soft light so it wasn't critical). I measured the fixture and ordered these bulbs https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8BWXZU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and they don't fit. They seem to be a hair longer than the fixture has space to slide them into. You can't flex a thin glass rod so we're stumped. Do we have to buy special bulbs to fit the fixtures?
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We replaced a few of ours and bought them at camping world. We paid $9.96 and that included tax for a 2-pack. We have seen them at many of the local RV stores since we purchased ours but we were on the road and camping world was all there was. Ours are F8T5CW. The brand name is CEC. We did notice that different brands on line are slightly longer and would not fit. Ours from camping world fit perfectly.
Sue
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Bummer on the bulbs not fitting.
You mentioned not being handy, but if you are open to the idea, simply change your florescent fixtures to LED ones.
I decided to go a different route and converted all our florescent fixtures to LEDs HERE (http://forum.phoenixusarv.com/index.php/topic,2186.0.html). I cut power consumption nearly in half. Just as important to us was the quality of light. We did not like the cold blue florescent look. Then there was the ever common light resonating issue when conditions (whether bulbs or power) were less than perfect. I could have reduced usage further by disabling even more LEDs, but we like a little more light with our dark cherry cabinetry interior. The night lights I added within each are a great addition.
I enjoy doing these kinds of projects but realize they are not for everyone.
If you change your fixtures with new ones, please contact me before throwing away your old florescent ones. I would like to experiment with different LED configurations, but don't want to disturb the work I already did.
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John and Holly
If you are close to the Cherry Hill Campground in College Park Maryland, they have a great RV supply store. You could take a bulb/tube in there and see if one measures just like it.
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Ditto on what Barry-Sue said regarding the RV supply near Cherry Hill. We were there for (um, something or other) and they were friendly, knowledgable and had some good stock.
Strange that all F8T5's are not created equal, especially a name brand like a GE. Probably more of a non-compliance issue with the fixture (we have the same one) as its a very Tawaiinese brand. On one of ours, the 'soft light' as you described it burnt out and created a very burnt area on the fixture, bubbling the plastic as well. We are looking at replacing all with some of the newer LED's which have two switch settings (cool white and warm white)
- Mike
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We are sitting here at Cherry Hill waiting for the rally to wake up. Are you referring to the store in the campground or a different one nearby?
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Holly, if the campground store does not have your bulb, try here: http://www.queenstownrv.com/Location.html
They are just down the road on rt 1 not far from you. Take one of your old bulbs with you.
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One of the guys at the rally gave me a couple of the bulbs out of his rig as he had converted his fixture to LED. IT didn't fit. I had to unscrew the fixture from the ceiling to get it in. Once the fixture was partially free and no longer flexed to the curve of the ceiling, the bulb went in. The GE bulbs still would not. They are visibly longer than the ones Phoenix used even though they are all clearly labeled as the same size. I will go through the box and see if it is a quality control problem and maybe I got some normal size ones I can use.
On a second note, the light still didn't work. It's possible the gifted bulbs are burned out but they don't "rattle" like my burned out ones. Next move is to test the gifted bulb with a bulb that is currently lighting. If the bulb is good, I'll have to trouble shoot the fixture. OY - all I want is a little light.
We were at the rally so I was lazy and packed all the bulbs away and went out to play. There's always another day for this stuff. We aren't totally in the dark yet.