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The ballast in my 4 lamp fluorescent fixture has gone kaput. I flipped
on the light switch - pop, and then none of the lights worked. I tried
the bulbs in another fixture. They worked fine. I removed the ballast.
It is a Keystone ballast (www.keystoneballast.com) Catalog Number -
KTEB-432RIS-1-TP,
Product Class - Electronic Fluorescent, Lamp Type - F32t8,
Lamps - 4, Volts - 120, Hz - 60, Line Current - 1.50amps. I found a GE
ballast that is Product Class - Electronic Fluorescent, Lamp Type -
F32t8, Lamps - 4, Volts - 120 - 277, Hz - 60, Line Current - .43 amps.
I wired it up connecting the 2 red wires on the ballast to the 2 red
wired on the fixture, the 2 blue wires on the ballast to the 2 blue
wires on the fixture, the 2 yellow wires on the ballast to the 2 yellow
wires on the fixture, the white and black wire on the ballast to the
white and black wires on the fixture. I turned the breaker back on and
flipped the switch on. Two of the 4 lamps will light up brightly. One
has a dim glow. The 4th has no light at all. The GE ballast was the
only 4 lamp ballast I could find that came close to matching the specs
of the keystone ballast with 2 differences. The voltage on the keystone
was 120v - the voltage on the GE is 120 - 277 v. The amps on the
keystone was 1.50, the amps on the GE is .43. I'm wondering if either
of these 2 differences would cause all lamps to not light up. Does
anyone have any ideas? I certainly would appreciate any advice.

Both ballasts appear to be designed for four F32T8 lamps and so the new
ballast should be able operate the four lamps correctly. The GE ballast
automatically sets itself to operate properly for input voltages between 120
and 277 volts, so that's O.K. too. The reason for the different current
ratings is probably because your old ballast is an electromagnetic type
while the new GE ballast is electronic. That seems O.K. as well.

What could be the problem is the ballast-to-lamp wiring. Wiring color codes
are not always consistent among ballast manufacturers and I'm guessing that
you have miswired the new ballast. There should be a wiring diagram on the
ballast label. Follow that instead of the wire color codes from the old
ballast. If there isn't a wiring diagram on the label, go to the GE
Lighting web site with the ballast model number to find it.

The black and white wires on the ballast go to the power supply lines and
those should be matched white/white and black/black. I assume the ballast
is mounted with metal bolts or screws and so it should be automatically
grounded to the lighting fixture which should be grounded to the bare wire
in the power supply line. It wouldn't hurt to run a bare copper wire to one
of the ballast mounting bolts and connect that to the bare ground wire in
the supply lead. Sometimes there is a bit of bare wire fastened to the
ballast case that is designed for that purpose.

TKM