T8 Ballast Wiring - Help Needed
Hello folks, My fixture has 2 T8 lamps. The fixture and the existing 2-lamp ballast has 4 ports: one pair of blue wires, one pair of red wires, a port with a white wire and a black wire, and a port with blue, red, and yellow wires. The replacement 2-lamp T8 ballast I bought from Home Depot only has 2 ports: one with a white wire and a black wire, and the other port with two blue wires and one red wire. I am very confused on how this is supposed to work. My fixture has more wires than my new ballast (and even an extra color). Your help will be greatly appreciated! These are 4ft two pin tubes, correct? Basically, at one end both pins of both tubes get tied together and connected to the red wire (4 pins on one wire). At the other end, you connect both pins of each tube to one of the blue wires (each blue wire feeds both pins of one tube). Black and white are power in. Simple enough? Originally Posted by JerseyMatt These are 4ft two pin tubes, correct? Basically, at one end both pins of both tubes get tied together and connected to the red wire (4 pins on one wire). At the other end, you connect both pins of each tube to one of the blue wires (each blue wire feeds both pins of one tube). Black and white are power in. Simple enough? Hi Matt, Thank you for your reply. The fixture will be left over with one extra blue wire, two extra red wires, and one extra yellow wire (remember, there's a red-blue-yellow bundle). Is this right??? Do I just cap off the other wires? And will it matter which red and blue wires I decide to use? 9 times out of ten there will be a great diagram printed right on the ballest Originally Posted by MachK Hi Matt, Thank you for your reply. The fixture will be left over with one extra blue wire, two extra red wires, and one extra yellow wire (remember, there's a red-blue-yellow bundle). Is this right??? Do I just cap off the other wires? And will it matter which red and blue wires I decide to use? your suppose to cut all the wires off when you remove the old ballast except it you have compression terminals you will want to leave a little wire on each one so you can wirenut the new ballast to the old sockets Originally Posted by braether3 9 times out of ten there will be a great diagram printed right on the ballest Yes, there is. Here's the catch: Which two blue wires from the fixture do I use and which one blue wire do I not use? Which one red wire from the fixture do I use and which two red wires do I not use? What do I do with the yellow wire? For reference, the new ballast is a GE Proline T8. Model number is GE232-120RES-DIY. If you scroll to the middle of the page you'll see the schematic which you can enlarge: 71037 - Specifications - GE Commercial Lighting Products And here is my original ballast (note there are more wires, including a yellow wire): Sunpark Electronics: sunparkelectronics.com : SL15T [Mid Power Factor] - $0.00 Perhaps now you can understand my confusion. The existing wiring is different from the new ballast. what your calling fixture wires are not fixture wires they are the old ballast wires.. allll the sockets on the far end get jumperd and connected the to red and then new blue connects to 2 sockets per the diagram extra wires from OLD ballest get CUT OFF should be no extras from new ballast Originally Posted by MachK Hi Matt, Thank you for your reply. The fixture will be left over with one extra blue wire, two extra red wires, and one extra yellow wire (remember, there's a red-blue-yellow bundle). Is this right??? Do I just cap off the other wires? And will it matter which red and blue wires I decide to use? Ok.. On the fixture.. The one yellow wire from the old ballast connects to all 4 pins (both tubes) at one end of the fixture, right? Connect the red wire from the new ballast to that wire. At the other end, it should be both red wires from the old ballast go to one tube, and both blue wires go to the other, right? You would twist both reds together, and connect them to ONE of the blue wires from the new ballast. Then twist both the blue wires from the other tube together and connect that to the OTHER blue wire on the new ballast. Does that clear it up for you? Oh ok. Now I see. It's a 7 wire ballast. I thought it was a 5 wire. Not much different, except at the one end with the yellow, you're going to twist the yellow, red, and blue together an connect that to the red wire from the new ballast. The other end still gets hooked up the way I said before. Originally Posted by JerseyMatt Ok.. On the fixture.. The one yellow wire from the old ballast connects to all 4 pins (both tubes) at one end of the fixture, right? Connect the red wire from the new ballast to that wire. At the other end, it should be both red wires from the old ballast go to one tube, and both blue wires go to the other, right? You would twist both reds together, and connect them to ONE of the blue wires from the new ballast. Then twist both the blue wires from the other tube together and connect that to the OTHER blue wire on the new ballast. Does that clear it up for you? Looking at the yellow wire, I think it only connects to one pin of one lamp at one end... but looking at the schematic of the old ballast, it shows a line for yellow going to a dot, branching into two lines, and one line goes to each lamp (so if I'm reading the schematic correctly, I want to say that the yellow line goes to one pin of each lamp at one end?) You are correct about the blue wires and the red wires. At one end, the reds go to both pins of one lamp and the blues go to both pins of the other lamp. As for the other end, visually, it appears that a red and a yellow go to one lamp and a black and a blue go to the other lamp. Do you follow? Please let me know if you need more info. With all that said, do your wiring instructions still stand? Or is the yellow wrong? Originally Posted by JerseyMatt Oh ok. Now I see. It's a 7 wire ballast. I thought it was a 5 wire. Not much different, except at the one end with the yellow, you're going to twist the yellow, red, and blue together an connect that to the red wire from the new ballast. The other end still gets hooked up the way I said before. Matt, I think you cleared it up with this post but just read my latest post and confirm these instructions before I start cutting and wiring. Originally Posted by MachK Looking at the yellow wire, I think it only connects to one pin of one lamp at one end... but looking at the schematic of the old ballast, it shows a line for yellow going to a dot, branching into two lines, and one line goes to each lamp (so if I'm reading the schematic correctly, I want to say that the yellow line goes to one pin of each lamp at one end?) You are correct about the blue wires and the red wires. At one end, the reds go to both pins of one lamp and the blues go to both pins of the other lamp. As for the other end, visually, it appears that a red and a yellow go to one lamp and a black and a blue go to the other lamp. Do you follow? Please let me know if you need more info. With all that said, do your wiring instructions still stand? Or is the yellow wrong? There shouldn't be a black going to a tube pin, unless it's a jumper from one socket to the other to bridge the yellow. Here, maybe this will help: Originally Posted by JerseyMatt There shouldn't be a black going to a tube pin. It should be blue. Here, maybe this will help: Peering inside the fixture with a lamp, there is definitely a small black wire that runs between the two lamps at one end. I'm guessing it connects the yellow so that it touches one pin at each lamp? I don't think it is THE black wire coming out of the ceiling. I think it's a different black wire that is a part of the fixture itself. Otherwise, everything you describe is accurate and your diagram is accurate (and very handy!), I would just change the yellow part to show a little black wire connecting the yellow wire to the two yellow pins. Does this make sense? Or any causes for alarm? EDIT: I just read that you think the black wire might be a jumper between the two yellow pins which I think is exactly the case. Yep looks like you're good to go. That diagram holds true for ANY two lamp/three wire replacement ballast. It doesn't matter what color the original wires are, you just have to tie all the pins on one side together (whether it's one pin or two pins per tube) for the red wire, and connect one blue wire to each tube at the other end.. Originally Posted by JerseyMatt Yep looks like you're good to go. That diagram holds true for ANY two lamp/three wire replacement ballast. It doesn't matter what color the original wires are, you just have to tie all the pins on one side together (whether it's one pin or two pins per tube) for the red wire, and connect one blue wire to each tube at the other end.. Matt, thank you so much for your help. I will proceed now and will report back. It works! Thanks Matt! This was my first-ever electrical project of any kind and you helped tremendously. I greatly appreciate it! And now I can finally see again in my kitchen. Word. Beer 4U2 Electrical isn't rocket science. Once you start to understand the basics, the rest follows. Just remember though, as soon as you don't respect it, it kills you. Originally Posted by JerseyMatt Word. Beer 4U2 Electrical isn't rocket science. Once you start to understand the basics, the rest follows. Just remember though, as soon as you don't respect it, it kills you. Thanks for the advice! It is something I'm interested in learning more about and I'll do my best to be careful.
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