Darn it I wish I could crack it open just a tiny bit! I’m not gonna risk it. Maybe next time I go to Lowe’s I’ll get some more t8s and try and do it. Then I could return it and say it was broken lol. I’ll look for a starter too.

And is there a way I could blow air into the tube somehow? Or any other easier way without much equipment.

@LucasColley:
For a starter, I know both Home Depot & Lowes used to sell them (have no idea if they still do as its been a long time since I last looked for any.)
You could also get them off eBay. Just get whatever FS-2 is cheapest, doesn't really matter if its a good brand since you'll likely wear it out anyway .lol.

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And no, you wouldn't want to crack the glass like that! Once the lamp has lost vacuum, it'll never light at all. It will be very very difficult to damage it just ever so slightly as to let in a tiny amount of air, without causing a crack/vacuum loss.

I don’t think so I think that’s the only way

Ok darn. And is it only Phillips alto bulbs that will go pink with the lights and the starter or you are not sure if other bulbs will work.

I don’t think so I think that’s the only way

I think other bulbs will go pink

Ok I’ll try it on my Ge 32W T8 bulb. And one more thing (sorry lol) I don’t know if you have seen this but as tube lights get older when they first turn on after a while, they Startup with a dim grey and circles moving around on the inside then the sides of the bulb get whiter and they meet in the middle then it’s full brightness. I want my bulb to do that, would I have to wait until it naturally dies on its own? Or is there a way to do that. Sorry if I’m not being clear enough, please let me know if you need anything more clear.

I think other bulbs will go pink

Do you mean like little bubbles swirling around in the tube because that’s normal when bulbs warm up

Yes I guess. Usually only happens when the bulb is used after a while

Well for CFLs that normally alway happens

Yea, I wish I had a picture of some of them at my middle school. They had a lot of them. They only replace the bulbs over the summer, so if one goes out on the very first day of school, it will be out until the next year.

Well for CFLs that normally alway happens

Do you need a picture of a CFL warming up? Or a video

@LucasColley:
Most modern F32T8's will start out dim in the center, especially if they haven't been used in awhile.

The striations (lines of light that move along the lamp) are less likely with T8's, but yeah it can happen. Its also dependent on the ballast.
If you want that effect, your best choice is a 34w T12, then just run it in a cool room.

I need some more information on how to wire it up like that. Is there two black wires (one going to the plug and one going to the pin) then I see the white wire which is neutral, i can understand that. But what are the yellow wires?

Yes that will shorten the life, but I don't know by how much.

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 The thing I mentioned earlier where you could do it up sorta like a preheat would look like the pic attached. In this case I used a F20 so I could get a closer photo (the setup you see here if you added a 2nd set of 100 lights would actually work just fine. F20 would light as if the lights were an actual ballast. With a F32 120v is not enough voltage for it to light, so it'll just blink)

@LucasColley:

I made a small update to the pic, changing one black to red.
Description would be like this:

White is neutral, goes to a pin on the fluorescent.
Black is hot, goes to one side of the Christmas lights plug
Red is 'ballasted hot', goes from the other side of the Christmas lights plug to a pin on the fluorescent.
Yellows are starter wires, they go from the 2 remaining pins on the fluorescent to the pegs on the starter.

If you took out the Christmas lights & put a preheat ballast in its place, you would have a standard preheat setup...that's the true beauty (and reliability) of preheat very simple circuit!

Ok thank you so much! Hopefully my bulb will go mercury starved, if not I’ll get some Phillips alto bulbs. And where can you find starter wires? Lowe’s?

@LucasColley:

I made a small update to the pic, changing one black to red.
Description would be like this:

White is neutral, goes to a pin on the fluorescent.
Black is hot, goes to one side of the Christmas lights plug
Red is 'ballasted hot', goes from the other side of the Christmas lights plug to a pin on the fluorescent.
Yellows are starter wires, they go from the 2 remaining pins on the fluorescent to the pegs on the starter.

If you took out the Christmas lights & put a preheat ballast in its place, you would have a standard preheat setup...that's the true beauty (and reliability) of preheat very simple circuit!

@LucasColley:
You can use any wire for the starter (in a real fixture its just the same 18g wire as used for ballast/etc).
You might even be able to find a starter socket at one of the stores (not needed, but is nice to have).