Lamp Project

let's see...i am almost finished with the curtain liners. just have to decide if i want to replace the curtains i warped (melted) with the iron when i tried to fuse the lining around the edges, or ignor...

back to the lamp. last week i bought a lamp so i could have light to sew with. got it from goodwill for $7. it is very pretty, heavy brass swing arm floor lamp. when i brought it home, found it took a special kind of fluorescent bulb with four rod like bulbs and four prongs. okay, i bought the bulb, but the light wouldn't come on. at this point, i could have taken the lamp back and gotten my money refunded, but decided i liked the challenge of getting it to work. how hard could it be? lamps should be pretty simple.

got my hubby to check it out with his voltmeter and we found that the problem was coming from this hidden area where four wires were coming out of. opened it and there was an electric ballast!!! never heard of one of those before. seems they are used with fluorescent bulbs. figured it wasn't working. when i went to replace it, the price for a new one was $40. not going there. so with help from hubby will buy a socket for an electric light and put in where the fluorescent socket was and have an electric brass lamp. the bulb with protrude a bit, but will remind me of my experience with lights. all in all will be a fun project when it is done.

wanted to blip the electronic ballast in case there are others who have never heard of them. normally they are hidden within the lamp parts.

all the best.