I have lost 3 ballasts (at least) in the last few months in older flouer. fixtures. The prices at the BORGS are appalling in that I can buy a new light, new bulbs and install the thing vs. repairing mine for less money.
Are there good sources for ballasts on the web? Those buggers are heavy so maybe shipping eats me up.
One kitchen light with type P
and two in 8' fixtures, haven't pulled em apart maybe it is 2 each.
Thanks Alan
I don't think you'll find new fixtures w/ballasts anywhere near the price of a ballast alone at the BORGS. I'll bet you're comparing new fixtures w/solid state starters and not ballasts. The cheapest ballasts I've seen are at the BORGS, and yes, I believe shipping would make mail order unfeasible even IF there were a place that sold them cheaper.
Welcome to the world of reality.
There was a time in my life when I sold a lot of ballasts to both OEM fixture manufacturers and distributors for the replacement market.
The distributor paid at least 7-10 times what the OEM paid for the same ballast.
If you are willing to do it, replace the whole fixture.
HTH
Home Depot and Lowes should have them. A good electrical supply house, too. Try a store that caters to the agricultural set.
Try any commercial/industrial lighting supply house. It's a yellow pages expedition. Things you'll need to know: 1) How many of what wattage( and type) of tube in the fixture. 2) The _sound_ rating. Ballasts *are* graded by how noisy they are. quieter _does_ cost more.
A quality ballast _can_ easily approach (if not exceed) the cost of a cheap fixture (including ballast). You get what you pay for _does_ apply.
Try eBay I bought 15 electronic ballasts from there for $65 US shipped, to Canada. They were all used, all worked (and still are). The joy is they use much less power, burn brighter, come on instantly and there isn't the slightest hint of hum from any of them. Don't show up all the time, and read the sale carefully when you do find them, most are odd voltages..
Greg Moore
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