Hi... I realize this is an old post, but just in case you are still looking,
take a look at this.
quoting:
I've been having horrible luck with electronic ballasts on 9"
circline fluorescent bulb fixtures.
I used to have two Lights Of America ceiling fixtures in my kitchen,
with the 9" bulbs. Their electronic ballasts never lasted more than
a year, so I would bring them back, one after another, to Home Depot
and turn them in under warranty.
[...]
I'm not relating this story merely to vent my frustration. I'm
wondering about two things:
1. Why don't 9" fluorescent electronic ballast fixtures seem to
last very long? I've had fixtures of this type in my kitchen for 3
or 4 years now, and I've never had to replace a single bulb because
the ballasts keep blowing. Other types of electronic lights in my
house don't have this problem, and I don't seem to have life
expectancy problems with any other electronic gear in the house.
Lights of America's ballasts use a pretty crude circuitry, which hammers the
lamp pretty badly and burns out easily.
2. Where can I get an electronic ballast to replace the one that
comes with the GEL fixtures? GEL does not have a website, and
searching on the ballast part number turns up nothing. I've been to
some ballast manufacturer sites, but I either can't find or don't
know what I'm looking for.
take a look at this.
http://energyconservinglights.com/bi...30SMCW&search=
This is a Maxlite product. Maxlite uses good quality ballasts in their
fixtures. They are HPF (.95) and starting is a true programmed rapid start.
Maxlite now makes a few more larger wattages of these fixtures. There are
very few problems with Maxlite's ballasts.
The fluorescent tube itself is imported from Asia, by the code of FCL30EX-L.
The good thing is now guite a few companies import them now, so finding them
is not a problem now.
There is short-life problem with the fluorescent tubes themselves. The asian
tubes are very inconsistent in quality. Many times you will not get more
then two years out of them even on a proper ballast. The good thing is
Maxlite will keep replaceing them. So any way you slice it, a Maxlite
fixture won't give you ballast problems, but the tubes will probably burn out
early.