Home Improvements

[Dave in the PacNW]

One day our 4' dual bulb fixture (has an electronic ballast) all of a sudden quit working.  Worked fine one night and the next morning it didn't come on.  The circuit the light is on is fine...other lights in our kitchen on the same switch work normally.  Did the ballast go bad?  The light is 5 years old.  Thanks for any insight you can provide.  I replaced the bulbs with no luck.

Dave

[monfre · Accepted solution]

I don't think there's any way to check a electronic ballast other than to find out if it's the ballast or the tube is to buy another tub and put it in, if the tube works your good, and since you know the circuit is good it would then have to be the ballast if the new tube didn't work. There easily replaced, no different than replacing a light fixture, just a couple of wires and your ready to go again. But I will say from past experience I have found that in most cases the ballast will cost you nearly as much or sometimes more than what a new fixture will cost but this will be dependant on what type of fixture your replacing. 

[dad4taylor]

I would manipulate the bulbs to make sure there is a good connection.  From there I would replace the bulbs (from another fixture) stopping long enough to pull the ballast cover and check for a disconnected wire.  If it still doesn't work then it's probably the ballast.  As already stated a new ballast will cost about as much as a new fixture.  One more thing; you kinda get what you pay for in flourescent fixtures.  Cheap ones tend to lose ballasts pretty quickly.

[71166]

 In addition to the other checks mentioned, check for power to the fixture it self, it could be the switch or other wiring problems.  The prices vary for the ballasts quite a bit depending on sound rating and quality.    Roly

[wiigelec]

It has been my experience that when a light all of a sudden quits working and new lamps don't do the trick the next step is to replace the ballast.

T8 lamps, correct?

If not, get a T8 ballast and some T8 lamps, much better that the T12's ...

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/PROD/T8+BA/B232I120RH-A

[Kevin McC1]

The other thought I had is to make sure you haven't lost a ground wire connection somewhere in the fixture. 

Kevin

[ynoT]

Most likely the balast is out or on its way there.

I've bought cheep ones for $10 years ago and they are still working. I see that HD has them from $10 and up.

If you have spare tube try it. The result will tell you where the problem is.

Tony

[firejohn]

I've had two of them quit in the house.  Same diagnostic, try working bulbs.  Then replace the ballasts.  It's not hard and not all that expensive, either, especially if the fixture is more than just a simple bulb holder.  In my garage, I've been using the cheap HD fixtures and they last about two years.  I recently replaced the ballast in one that went bad just to see how long it might last for comparison. 

[Dave in the PacNW]

Thanks for your help guys.  The ballast was bad.

Dave