madoc1
Well-known member
will this work?
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t8 lamps in a t12 fixture
- Thread starter madoc1
- Start date
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Some ballasts have markings that indicate they will drive either T12 or T8. Older magnetic ballast, not so, but new electronic ones, possibly. The bulb will fit fine (assuming a regular 4 ft bi-pin.... 40 watt T12 to a 32 watt T8. You might need to change the ballast to a new electronic one, easy swap.
Charles
Charles
will this work?
Yes it will "work" but short lamp and/or ballast life will result, use the proper lamp and ballast combo,so use T12 lamps or upgrade to a T8 ballast.
Andybull
Well-known member
I am changing (re lamping) over 360, 2'x4', 4 bulb, T12 lamps, to T8. New ballasts, tombstones, and of course bulbs.
I'm doing these in an average of 28 minutes per fixture.
I'm doing these in an average of 28 minutes per fixture.
Hop2it
Well-known member
I just changed the ballast not the tombstones,the t8 bulbs worked fine with the existing tombstones for over a year now.
Doug
Doug
The answers given to your question are correct. Ballasts are transformers and if the voltage change is close, or exact, they will work. My question is WHY BOTHER? I just switched over a bunch of my 4' tubes to LED tubes and threw away the ballasts which fail sooner or later. Price from ebay was great. They are VERY bright and use half the current and supposedly will outlast me. Fluorescent are on the way out and the instant on feature in my cold wyoming garage is a big plus.will this work?
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
I am changing (re lamping) over 360, 2'x4', 4 bulb, T12 lamps, to T8. New ballasts, tombstones, and of course bulbs.
I'm doing these in an average of 28 minutes per fixture.
I just changed the ballast not the tombstones,the t8 bulbs worked fine with the existing tombstones for over a year now.
Doug
They do, but many times are burned up and getting the wires out of the push in contacts and still having a contact that accepts new wire properly is problematic. My guess is Andy decided to take the high road and buy the tombstones in bulk and just change them out, rather than fight with some good, some marginal, some bad tombstones.
Charles
The answers given to your question are correct. Ballasts are transformers and if the voltage change is close, or exact, they will work. My question is WHY BOTHER? I just switched over a bunch of my 4' tubes to LED tubes and threw away the ballasts which fail sooner or later. Price from ebay was great. They are VERY bright and use half the current and supposedly will outlast me. Fluorescent are on the way out and the instant on feature in my cold wyoming garage is a big plus.
I would not hold my breath on that one just yet.