Testing T8 ballast

[Rte66Charlie]

I've got two four ft single bulb T8 lights under my cabinets for a short work bench and over the toolbox. They worked great for a couple years, now one is working and the other quit. Changed the bulb, no go.

Any way to test these? Just toss it and get a new one?

Thanks in advance.




Charlie

 

[tfi racing]

You just did.Install a known good lamp,if it doesn't light,and all the connections are sound,you have a bad ballast.

 

[Rich1028]

I have what sounds to be the same thing,but of my two that are questionable,one sometimes works,and the other one does not.
I have changed the bulbs in both and nothing,then some days they will both work,then other only one,and some neither work.

 

[Rte66Charlie]

Quick update - went back to the big box store to see if I could get a ballast........suuuuuure - $26. Hmmmm, I can buy the WHOLE FIXTURE for $19.95, so I did.

Just pulled the old ballast out, swapped the new one in, viola!! LIGHT!

I hooked the old one up in the new fixture, checking and rechecking all the connections - nothing.

Checked the fine print on the junk ballast........."Made in China"


Ah, note to China, you're going to have to start doing a better job with all our money and building better ****!

 

[Norcal]

Quick update - went back to the big box store to see if I could get a ballast........suuuuuure - $26. Hmmmm, I can buy the WHOLE FIXTURE for $19.95, so I did.

Just pulled the old ballast out, swapped the new one in, viola!! LIGHT!

I hooked the old one up in the new fixture, checking and rechecking all the connections - nothing.

Checked the fine print on the junk ballast........."Made in China"


hit!

Ah, note to China, you're going to have to start doing a better job with all our money and building better ****!

People are going to have to be smarter and avoid ChiCom ****. READ THE FRICKEN LABEL for COO!!! (Country Of Origin).

 

[Falcon67]

FWIW - Even though the replacements are about $6~10 more than the whole fixture, I have found that when I get a bad fixture (like the 4 bulb 8' T8 I had) the replacement ballasts usually fix the problem for good. Buying another fixture gets you...another cheap azz ballast. So it's a **** shoot. If you lose that one in a year, that $26 might have been cheaper. In the 8' I had, the included ballast started buzzing about a week after install. Fixture was $38, replacement ballast was about $22. 12 years later still good to go. The good thing is that I have had decent luck with the cheap fixtures and shop lights from Lowes (Utilitec) and more than 98% of them work out of the box and keep working.