A fluorescent bulb was improperly removed from its sockets. I am unable to turn the contact rings from the closed to the open position. I would be thankful for any advice.
How to turn the contact rings in an empty fluorescent bulb socket from closed to open
fluorescentsocket
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That component is called the starter. its a really inexpensive component that regulary fails on florescent lights. to remove you turn 1/4 rotations left and pull out. to check that its in turn right until it stops whilst pressing.
Any good lighting store will have replacement starters for your light.
Otherwise the things to check would be.
- check that the florescent is clicked in correctly, you will see that if the pins of the tube arent touching the contacts in the fitting it will not turn on. i.e. you need to rotate the tube so that the gold pins at the end of the tube sit horizontal with the ceiling.
- check if there is corrosion on the pins of the tube
- remove the tube (turn off light switch), then remove the backing plate look inside for wires that have been detached. the chinese lights I know have really weak connectors and the connectors are always failing
There is also a ballast that can go bad. try turning off the power and removing the starter, then clean the contacts for the bulbs. sometimes there is corrosion or oxide buildup stopping the flow of electricity. However most newer lights no longer have starters it's built into the ballast, So I'm guessing this is an older fixture and that makes the probability of a bad ballast much higher. be aware that the starter can contain high voltages like a capacitor. do not attempt cleaning without removing the starter and turning off the power.
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Best Answer
Those black pieces are meant to turn 360 degrees in any direction. You already have a key to turn them, in the form of a fluorescent tube. Keep the tube as close as possible to its proper position (i.e. don't try to do this at much of an angle). Turn off fixture power.
Worse come to worst, if you break the lampholder (aka tombstone) or if that type just annoys you (they annoy me), new lampholders are fairly standard, common and cheap. I typically pay 60 cents each for them and keep a bagful on hand. You can mix and match types though I prefer to keep "circular" types separate from "v" types. Height is also a factor, they come in 3 heights. Yours looks like a medium. You don't want a short but a long will probably suffice.