It is possible to have a defective ballast burn a starter. The new
generation of ballasts should be fully electronic, and not require the old
fashioned ballast. Check the wiring diagram and instructions that goes with
your ballast.

If you change the ballast and the lamp, they are properly wired, and they
are properly matched, there should not be any problem.

Check to see that all the wiring was done correctly. Check to make sure that
the ballast is for the AC mains voltage in in your area.

--

JANA
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wrote in message
...
Can an old (30 yrs) ballast end up by quickly burning out new
starters? (This is in a 12" 32W circline bathroom fixture.)

Would an old ballast have any telltale signs if it is malfunctioning?
Would it have that burnt smell itself? Thanks.

The light stopped working, so I replaced the ballast. No difference.
So I opened the old and new starter cans (both are FS12) and both
looked and smelled burnt. I don't know if the new starter was
defective when I bought it, but it did provide a really slow start.