dual balasts

[clutch93]

sorry everyone, total electrical tard. I just got some 8 ft 4 bulb flourecent fixtures used. Installed one about 2 months ago. been working fine, walk into the garage a couple days ago and i smell ozone and hear a buzzing. only one side of the fixture is lit. I turned it off and disconnected the white and black wires from the power and turned it back on. no more buzzing and the one side still works.

to me this means one of the balasts went out, however, can i just replace one of them, since they are wired together. do i just cut the wires and splice in the new balast or do i have to buy something like a twin balast set up? thanks for the help, btw, i did try a search, but couldn't find what i needed.

 

[nehog]

I'm not 100% clear on your post, but if I read it correctly, yes you can get two 2-bulb ballasts. I'd bet that is what is in there now, not may 4-bulb 8 ft ballasts that exist.

But I'd recommend checking the sockets, connections and bulbs prior to getting new ballasts.

 

[Aceman]

I'm not 100% clear on your post, but if I read it correctly, yes you can get two 2-bulb ballasts. I'd bet that is what is in there now, not may 4-bulb 8 ft ballasts that exist.

But I'd recommend checking the sockets, connections and bulbs prior to getting new ballasts.

Huh?

4 lamp 4' T8 ballasts are everywhere. I don't know why a 4 lamp 8' T8 strip would even come with 2 ballasts unless you wanted dual switching, which most ballasts nowadays do the same thing with one ballast.

 

[nehog]

Huh?

4 lamp 4' T8 ballasts are everywhere... .

Aceman, that was why I said what I did--it wasn't clear whether he had four 4-ft tubes, or four 8-ft ones. I went with the latter. If the former, I'd guess you assessment is correct.

 

[clutch93]

my bad, didn't mean to be confusing, hopefully the attached pictures will help. it's 4 bulbs, two per side. one side stopped working and the black box, i think it's the balast was hot and buzzing.

 

[nehog]

Basically you have a pair of 2-bulb 4ft fixtures that are physically connected together. Replacing one ballast won't impact the other side. Just pretend you have two fixtures and you'll do OK...

 

[clutch93]

ok, cool thanks, i was hoping i could just install a new balast and reconnect as it was before. thanks everyone

 

[Falcon67]

And you can replace the one ballast with a T8 four bulb unit - you just have to sort out the wires.

 

[nehog]

And you can replace the one ballast with a T8 four bulb unit - you just have to sort out the wires.

Certainly an option, but will probably be more expensive for the OP. The ballasts he has are electronic, so the existing one that works is probably worth keeping.

He can get a ballast at HD, or any hardware store (my local store the list price is less than HD, and then I get a 10% discount there too!)