- Operates 26 watt dual or single and single versions of 32 watt, 42 watt, 57 watt, F16/2D/4P, F10/2D/4P, FC9T5, FC12T5, FT24.
- Very energy efficient.
- Small ballast case.
- Full light output.

General information.
These devices are made for different types of either fluorescent or HID lighting, and they are made especially for each wattage within that type. So this is a particular thing that is designed to operate usually one lamp over another. Now there are fluorescent types that can run many different lamps from the same device. This is not the case with HID lighting; one specific light is paired with a ballast, you can’t use them interchangeably. It’s also true that with HID’s, you can’t exchange these with metal halide or high-pressure sodium, they’re entirely different electrically. So whatever you see on the label, that’s what you need to honor and use in your situation for you to get proper operation of the lamps that you have. There’s nothing mysterious about this device, it’s made to start the light at a momentary high-voltage, and once it starts, then it operates the lamp at a constant wattage. That’s different than a transformer which takes merely one voltage to another. This has the characteristic of starting at a high-voltage for milliseconds to get whatever arc started in the lamp.

LED alternatives to eliminate them.
A lot of people have considered getting rid of these altogether by going to LED lighting. It’s an energy-efficient way to save a lot of money with your lighting. If you’re curious as to how much you can save by going to LED over something like fluorescent lamps or HID lamps, we have a free download spreadsheet on the left-hand column of our website to calculate energy savings. All you need to do is input data on your current lighting system and the proposed lighting system that you would buy from us. It will tell you how much you’ll save in real dollars but also give you a payback time, that period which it takes for energy savings to pay for the investment in new equipment. There’s also a lot of rebates available from electric utilities, and you might be able to get an incentive like that to go to more efficient lighting as well. It will help eliminate one of the consumable devices that any of these types of lamps utilize.

Troubleshooting.
If you have the fluorescent type and you’re noticing that it’s not working correctly, there are several things to look for that will give you clues as to whether you need to replace it or not. If the fluorescent lamps that you have had blackened ends on the tube, it probably needs a replacement. It means that the operation of the lamp isn’t working correctly and it’s supplying too much of voltage which is burning off some of the emitter paste that is on the filament inside the fluorescent. Sorry to get too technical, but it’s something to look out for, and it was more of a problem with the magnetic variety. If you see a lot of flickering, then it probably also needs to be replaced. Flickering also occurs when you have a problem with the voltage being appropriately regulated. Once again this probably happens more with the magnetic version rather than the electronic. Usually when the electronic version fails, nothing lights, none of the lamps that it’s operating. So it’s pretty easy to see exactly what you may have going wrong, but it’s merely a replacement.

Quantity discounts.
If you’re looking to make a more significant quantity purchase for a project where you may have a large group being replaced, you can call us or email for special pricing on that type of project. People typically buy these in 10 packs if it’s a commercial lighting situation. If you have just a few in the home, then buying one or two is typically what most people will do. If you have the magnetic version, you probably have to replace it with electronic only, although we do have a few magnetics left which are available for certain types of smaller fluorescent. The electronic ballast is the way to go because it’s going to be more energy-efficient and it’s going to function much better than the magnetic. The magnetic version had lots of copper windings, and they are very heavy, and that’s how you’ll know if you have a magnetic type. You can also see on the label exactly what kind of lamps it operates and that it’s either one or the other.

PCB's in the old magnetics.
One of the things you want to keep in mind is that some of the older magnetic ballast if they are ancient, may have PCBs in them. The way you’ll know whether they do or not will say it on the label. On this type of device, if it has no PCBs in it, the label will say “NO PCB’s.” It was the only way they could label that when they removed PCBs from magnetics. It’s something to keep in mind because some of these older types of ballasts will leak on occasion and you need to make sure that you properly dispose of them as well. If yours have PCBs, dispose of them in an environmentally responsible manner. Your local town or city can direct you to people that recycle and destroy this kind of carcinogen properly.

How can we help you today?
If you have any questions regarding any fluorescent ballasts or HID, please email or call us and we can help you identify what you have if you’re looking for replacements. We can also help you troubleshoot if you think you’re having problems with any of them that you have. We carry the highest quality ballasts with excellent warranties ensuring that you’re going to have right components that will serve you far into the future.