Thank you for the time & effort, and the tech discussion was interesting. However, a verbal explanation of the actual wiring at the end would be appreciated.
Thank you for providing theory of operation as well as noting the different ballast types. I especially enjoyed the musical replacement montage; I will play that for encouragement when I do the job. All kidding aside, nice video. I had a hard time finding a replacement ballast for my 1978 fixture (would have had to upgrade inaccessible wiring to 90C compliant if using a newer T8 slim kitchen fixture) but I found a direct replacement magnetic ballast on amazon. Thanks!
You're welcome. I have an older fixture (I'm guessing 50's vintage) that I replaced the ballast in with a modern version. But I didn't have any inaccessible wiring; that might make it more of a challenge. Glad you found something that worked for you. It's amazing what one can find on-line sometimes. Cheers.
A good, informative video, and nicely presented (though the music volume versus your voice, is too high really). I like your clear explanation of the make-up/design of how it all works etc. I also totally agree that anyone can do it. There's nothing to be afraid of if you're an adult and take sensible precautions as you'd adequately explained. I've given you the thumbs up too :)
Most likely why it was buzzing is because that ballast sound rating is different then a sound rating of A the one i have is the same magnetic ballast but it sound rating is C that is why there loud but if the ballast is older then the 90's then the ballast maybe dying and you'll notice that the ballast will spray or leak tar
Question for you. I have three florescent fixtures connected to one switch in my garage. I replaced the ballast in one of these today. I used the push in wire connectors for my connections and simply matched colored wires. There were two red and two red wires coming out of new ballast and the same coming out of the fixture. I used 4 connectors for these wires ... connecting blue to blue twice and red to red twice. I wire the hot wire (black) to the black wire from the ballast. The same for the neutral. I heard some buzzing when I turned the power on but the light seems to be working fine. But I'm still a little nervous because of my past "epic fails" with wiring. Does it sound like I wired it correctly?
Have 3 _ dual tube florescent fixtures in my shop. One has lights that are flickering. I changed the bulbs..no change. I changed them again thinking that I might have bad tubes. No Change. How do I know if the fixture is whooped or I have another problem? Also, the box full of tubes I have as replacements are from many years ago. Do tubes have a "best before date" that may be why these tubes don't fix my problem? Is there such a thing as a LED replacement for florescent tubes in the same fixture? Thank You
+Terry J Barber With fluorescent lights, there are really only two or three things that it can be, depending on the design of the lights. 1: the lights, which you've already changed twice, pretty much ruling those out. 2: the ballast, which I describe how to change in this video. 3: older fixtures may also have an independent starter that may go out and need to be replaced. These look are generally cylindrical metal canisters, typically between the size of a nickle and quarter around and about an inch long. They are generally at one of the ends of the fixture and twist/snap into place. I've not heard of tubes having a "best before date" but I suppose if it's been decades, they may slowly go bad. Yes, there are LED replacement "tubes." Some require removal of the ballast and some are designed to work with the ballast in place. I've not gone down this road yet so don't have any specific recommendations. Looking at the suggested videos related to this video, I see other people have done videos here on RU-vid covering both the starter replacement and LED conversion topics. You may find more details in one of those. Cheers.
Interesting, if you say the buzzing fixture tended to go thru lamps quicker, sounds like a shorted coil or cap. That could happen to magnetic ballasts when people use energy saving tubes instead of the standard high power lamps they were designed for. Simple way to extend the life of your light, don't use the energy savers! They draw higher voltage and lower current out of the ballast, which adds stress and heat on the ballast. This often gets magnetic ballasts a bad rep, yet they do have a potential to last around 80 years or more. Can confirm, have a four foot fixture from 1939 and it still works, slight noticeable hum, and it's manageable! Good video btw, well presented!
Thanks. I've had these lights since they were new and know they've not had energy saver tubes in them. I think they were just cheap ballasts. In any case, I think fluorescent lights are on the way out for me. I've put some LED "tubes" in another room and really, really like the light quality. They're expensive, but if they last, I'll probably be changing out all of them in the future. And hopefully the prices will drop in the mean time. Cheers.
Thanks. There are a couple different configurations for wiring these so I didn't call it out specifically which wire goes where. Just follow the diagram on the new ballast. Cheers.
I've got four fixtures in line running from the breaker box to the the last fixture. The third fixture wasn't working, so I replaced the ballast, and it fixed the problem. Everything was great. Almost a week went by and no problems. I go into the shop this evening. When I turn on the light switch, every other fixture is out except the one I changed the ballast on. How can all three fixtures fail simultaneously, and yet the one I fixed, the third fixture, still continue to work just fine? In other words; OOXO. Now it's XXOX. How is this possible? Did all three ballasts on the other three fixtures fail at precisely the same time? Help please... Thank you sir.
Hmm, that is strange. The odds of three ballasts failing at exactly the same time, while technically possible, seems pretty unlikely. More likely they have a common connection somewhere that has failed. That's just a guess but the first thing I'd look at. Use a volt meter to see if all the ballasts have power going to them; I'm thinking they probably don't. Assuming that's the case, then trace the wiring back to find a common point where there's power going in but not coming out. Good luck. I'd be interested in knowing what you find. Cheers.
I have 2 fluorescent light fixtures (each with 2 bulbs) running serially. The first light fixture bulbs were dimmer than the second light fixture so I replaced the bulbs but it remains dimmer than the other fixture. I tried switching the bulbs, but it did not make a difference. Is the issue the ballast? Thank you
I'd say it sounds to most likely be the ballast. You might want to check for bad connections before spending money on it though, although I'd be kind of surprised if it were this. Peace.
I was hoping you would cover how to determine (without throwing parts at the problem) which component is bad. Yes I can start by replacing bulbs, but if it's, say, a specialty tube (black light or UV or such) I don't want to spend $$ if that's not the problem.
In newer fixtures, there are only two parts: the tube and the ballast. You can put the tube in another fixture to see if the problem moves with the tube. If it does, the tube's the problem. If it doesn't, it's the ballast. Older fixtures may also have a starter. Again, you can move the starter between fixtures to see if the problem moves. If it does, what moved is the problem. If you don't have another good working fixture to test against, I'm not sure how to test for failures with tools most people would have. Hope that helps and thanks for watching.
Man I am perplexed , my wife's 2 bulb fluorescent light in her closet went out , usually it was 1 light every 6 mo to a yr. this time it was both at the same time which gave the impression that the ballast was bad , however its getting 120v to both sockets , the ballast supports F15T8's to F20T12s which the F20's were installed from the start ..I replaced both bulbs with two new ones ,,verified again I had juice going to sockets ..nothing ..if the bulbs are good , and the ballast is getting power to the sockets then whats the deal ?
Since both bulbs failed at the same time, it definitely sounds like a problem with the ballast. Fluorescent lights are a bit complex electrically. I don't think you can determine the state of the ballast just by measuring the voltage at the socket. This is for a couple reasons: 1) the voltage should change dramatically depending on the stage of the light turning on and 2) fluorescent lights are primarily current devices, not voltage devices, so even if you have the right voltage, if you don't have the right current they won't work properly. Hope that helps.
If it were me, I'd get a ballast that still supports both, just to give yourself flexibility in the future. But when replacing the bulbs I'd use T8s. They have more lumens for fewer watts. Cheers.
Nice info on the mechanics of the system, but no explanation of what you're doing when you were actually performing the work? WHY? That's the most important part.
Sorry you didn't get what you were looking for. Ballasts have the connection diagram printed on them. Replacing them is a matter of cutting out the old and wiring in the new according to the picture. I didn't get more specific because there are slight differences between ballasts. Hope that helps. Peace.
+Wendy Slater First thing to change is the tube. It's easy and relatively inexpensive. If that doesn't fix it, then it's the ballast. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
I'm sorry, but I remain confused. My old ballast had the black and white hot and neutral wires as well as a single red, and a single blue. My new ballast has TWO blue wires. I was told to replace the tombstones at that end, and that each gets a blue and one gets a red and I 'jump' the red to the other one. This did not work. In your video I see you putting a blue on each tombstone and then splicing the red with the white and black? Sorry… I learned a lot, but remain confused.
It might help if you ignore the colors. Look at how the wire connects to the bulb connectors and compare that to the wiring diagram on the ballast. You want the wires to be physically connected to the ballast the way the ballast shows, regardless of color. Hope that helps.
House of Hacks well because sometimes when the tube is out and the ends of the tube arne black and you change the tube and it still isn't working, that is a good sign that the electronic ballest has failed, and some electronic ballests are 50/50.
MAngus Maclean Thanks for sharing your experiences. If I understand correctly, you're saying you have a 50/50 failure rate with electronic ballasts? You find magnetic ballasts more reliable? Interesting. My experience is just the opposite. I have a much higher failure rate with magnetic ballasts than electronic ones. Thanks again.
Sorry, I disagree. If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, then definitely don't do it! I'm not advocating jumping in and blindly messing around with line (or higher) voltages. But that doesn't mean only electricians should do it. With very basic education about home electrical systems, this type of repair can be easily and safely done by a do-it-yourselfer.
+steveyboy6 h Thanks for commenting. Yeah, it can be intimidating if you've never tackled it before, but a little education and it's pretty straight-forward.
@@HouseOfHacks True bro. You've got that pure nordic aryan look. Bet your ancestors were swedish bro. Bro, look up the 1970's swedish group "abba". You deffo look like you could be the blonde lead singers brother. I cant remember her name bro - but it was something like agnetha. Anyway peace and always remember - Chinese Lives Matter!
