I don't understand why you made the comment "seems to be for different bulbs". Did you have a question about that or does it somehow affect your situation? Are you using bulbs not intended for your ballast?
Yes, you can cut and splice the wiring when installing a new ballast.
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Instead of replacing the ballast I HIGHLY recommend converting to LED. You disconnect or remove the old ballast and install LED bulbs. It's a very simple conversion and usually cheaper than the cost of a replacement ballast. When I converted the fixtures like yours in my office the LED bulbs were brighter so I got about the same illumination using only two bulbs instead of four.
Your old ballast is for T-12 tubes. T-12 stands for 12/8ths of an inch or 1.5" diameter.
T-12's are just about extinct.
The bulk of tubes used now are T-8's. 8/8ths on an inch or 1" diameter.
So if you are using T-8 tubes.... don't use a T-12 ballast.... if you can find one.
As mentioned.... more cost effective to spend the $20 for the ballast on two F-32 LED tubes.
You can use your existing sockets for T-8 bulbs.
What I meant was most of the ballasts I saw weren't for T12s but I see from your replies why. We still have many fixtures that use T12 and some that use T8 so I have both bulbs in stock. I'll swap these over to T8 ballasts.
Get rid of the T-12's.
Most of those old ballasts preheated the filament to start the mercury ionizing.
By law the amount of mercury was reduced in all tubes so that the preheat method just barely was able to make the tubes start up. That's why the big tubes start intermittently now.
Today's T-8 ballasts send a high voltage pulse across the ends of the tube. The filament is not heated. That pulse starts the arc. That system works well with the thinner tubes. It doesn't work at all with T-12's
would also suggest switching to led where you just bypass or remove the ballast all together if your set on sticking with a ballast would just follow the manufacturers diagram often it is on the ballast or can be looked up if you go the manufacturers website.
So to clarify, if converting to LED T8 tubes, no ballast is needed, the ballast just needs to be bypassed. Wiring for this is the Hot connects to only one of the pins on one end and Neutral to the other end. One pin on each side is not connected, correct?
Hello! My recessed cans in the attic ceiling have little insulation over them, so they're forming condensation. I'm in Chicago area so we have cold weather. I understand why it's happening, looking for confirmation on best way to fix.
I have a couple ideas. (1) Take out the cans and use canless LEDs, the idea being there will be less metal to form condensation and room for more insulation to cover it. (2) Get can light covers, to hopefully provide an air gap from the cold air.
I'm thinking #1 canless LEDs is the way to go, but please, I'm interested in thoughts/ideas. Many thanks.
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[i]Condensation/ice forming[/i]
[img]https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/22_12_23_11_57_39_3388_8b177da353222f1f3f8b0ef4033ac383d8493bcf.jpg[/img]
I have a 3 way switch in my home and garage to turn on and off the garage lights, I think I may have a wire on a wrong switch screw. When I come in the garage I can turn the lights on and when I come into the house I can turn them off, only problem is if I'm outside and try coming back in the garage the lights won't turn back on, I have to go back into the house and turn them on from there. Inside the house and garage I have my black hot wire on the black screw of the switch where it should be, could I be having this problem because I have the red and other black wire on the wrong screws, if I swap the red and black wire (blk going to my lights) around will this correct my problem?
12-21-22, 09:30 AM
