Re: [Cal_Boats] Fluorescent bulb

I don't know it is the same fitting but I had a guest florecent over my galley that sounds similar. The bulb was available at Lows. - David From: Harleigh Ewell <he… [at] comcast.net> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 5:09:48 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Fluorescent bulb Last weekend, the fluorescent bulb in the head of my ’80 Cal 31 gave out. (I know it’s the bulb because at first it would go on if you wiggled the bulb in its connections. Then, in an attempt to get the bulb to stay on, I wiggled it hard enough to loosen the bulb’s end cap.) The bulb has two small prongs on each end and is 12” long from prong-end to prong-end. It is ½” in diameter, which I think from some internet research is a T4 shape. The bulb is labeled FL-8WW, which I interpret as “fluorescent 8 watt white.” I cannot find a source for a 12” 8W T4 12-Volt bulb. I can find a 12” 8W T5 12-W bulb, which is 5/8” in diameter. Does anyone know of a source for a suitable T4, or would the T5 be an adequate substitute? I am assuming, without knowing, that the extra 1/8” diameter will not cause a clearance issue. Also, I didn’t have a good enough light to see exactly how the bulb snaps in. One end apparently is inserted into its socket, but does the other end just snap up or is there enough play to insert it too? Any other comments? Harleigh Ewell