Dead ballast?

A florescent fixture has died (someone was working on it before me), I've changed bulbs, I've rewired the balast in several differnt configurations I removed the ceiling board and check the circuit to make sure it was parralled, finally I replaced the whole unit and now it works.



1) the only thing I can think of is the balast %26quot;burning out%26quot;.Can this happen?



2) if so, how can it %26quot;burnout%26quot; if a balast has no moving parts?



3) are balast and transformers the same thing?but on a different scale?Dead ballast?
yes they burn outDead ballast?
Yes the ballast can burn out and you can go to a hardware store, LOwes, Home Depot and get another one. Make sure you take the information off of the one you haveDead ballast?
Yes a ballast can and does burn out. The fact that it has no moving parts has nothing to do with it. Heat does. A ballast is little moe than a transforner inside a heat sheild ( all the black tar looking stuff ). The ballast can be replaced but usually it is about as cheap to do what you did, replace it.Dead ballast?
It can burn out, the winding wires that make up the transformer are coated with shellac as an insulator which deteriorates over time. The humming sound is caused by vibration (eddy currents) of the wires in the air spaces caused by the deterioration of the insulating shellac.Dead ballast?
1. yes

2. break down of the insulation between the windings.

3. see link for long explanation.Dead ballast?
1) Ballasts can and do burn out, it's no rarity. I've seen a two lamp fixture wherein only one lamp operates because the ballast failed internally for one lamp.



2) It is a transformer that gives the lamp tube the high voltage required to ionize the gas within the tube and cause the gas to flouresce and put out usable light.



3) Refer to number 2.Dead ballast?
1- A ballast is a form of transformer that changes 120 volts AC to

a higher voltage (many different ones work to fire up 1 bulb or 2 bulbs and so on.

2- A fluorescent tube is a gas filled tube of glass with a coating of a powder which aids in the emmission of light when a high voltage is applied to the tube. (Some for example need 440 volts to fire up the tube) It's been a long time since I got into the technical workings.

3- A transformer is made up of 2 sets (or more) of windings that either step up or down an applied voltage.

Such as 120 Volts to 240, 120 to 12 volts (doorbell), some have several different outputs like 6, 12,24 and 48 volts from 1 input voltage. All of these windings are very close together and when operating can get quite warm. After a long time the insulation finally breaks down and short out, get to hot and eventually burn out.

A fluorescent ballast is very much the same and will break down over time.

4- Last but not least, if my memory serves me a simple 1-tube 40 watt ballast has two yellow wires, one black wire and one white wire. (for a two pin twist in bulb) they shouldn't be mixed up.

I used to turn off the power, remove the cover, clip all the wires close to the ballast, remove it, get a replacement and splice the 2 yelows, 1 black and 1 white each back to the same color. They should not be mixed (except for the two yellows).

Hope this helps.Dead ballast?
sometimes new ballasts are faulty