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Fixing a miswired fixture!
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So, last week I found this unworking fluorescent fixture. Since I didn't have the time to fix the defect last week I did it today. On the pic I was removing the old ballast. I THOUGHT it was the ballast, but actually the ballast has been miswired from day one! On the lampholders at left, one wire of each was crossed from each other. It took 15 minutes and 2 of my teachers just to find the problem! XD
Problem solved, and more experience in electronic ballast troubleshooting! ^__^
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The other lights in the room with the T12 are all six lamp T8 highbays, which likely replaced MH lowbays, which more than likely replaced mercs at one time or another. There are quite a few rooms that appear to have been originally HID in the Votech building. They all have six lamp T8 highbays with motion sensors now though.
I'm thinking of offering to relamp the T12 fixture but I'm wondering how the hell I'd bring a pair of four foot lamps to school without either breaking them or people seeing them and wondering what the hell I'm doing with a pair of "light sabers" lol. I suppose i could offer to retrofit it to T8 for extra-credit or soemthing during the electrical course lol. That'd give me a nice RS ballast, given it hasn't leaked from having EOL lamps (can that happen?) IIRC, onc lamp is totally out with heavy blackening on either end and the other lamp is orange at one electrode and dark the rest of the lamp.
The fixture itself seems totally useless, as the six lamp T8 fixtures would drown out any light it'd give off even if it had good lamps. i think i like my retrofit idea best. Heck, I wouldn't mind taking the whole thing home lol but the feed for the T8 highbays passes though that fixture (conduit on the top and bottom of the fixture going from the wall switch to the ceiling). I'd more than likely have to ask the custodian foreman if i want to retrofit it though and stay after school since technically the school owns the fixtures, not the teacher. I get OSHA Certified in 11th grade by taking the course too!
RS ballasts with an EOL lamp actually run cooler, and will work after decades of sitting with dead lamps, 34W lamps are the biggest killer to RS ballasts it seems
BTW the ballast was fine