This is a commercial 4' T12 fixture. One bulb lights fully, the other not
at all, even with new bulb. The fully lighting bulb has me puzzled. With
one bulb it usually lights partially, not fully. Obvious is the ballast,
but could the wiring be off with the mounts? I'd rather disassemble once
only. Thanks.

"Michael Dobony" wrote in message
...
This is a commercial 4' T12 fixture. One bulb lights fully, the other not
at all, even with new bulb. The fully lighting bulb has me puzzled. With
one bulb it usually lights partially, not fully. Obvious is the ballast,
but could the wiring be off with the mounts? I'd rather disassemble once
only. Thanks.

Failed capacitor inside the ballast is likely.

Both the T12 ballasts and lamps are now gone or being phased out. It's a
good time to convert to a T8 system. You get about the same light output.
Use T8 lamps and an electronic instant-start ballast. They'll fit into the
same fixture. The same lamp sockets will work, but replace them anyway to
avoid future problems. Some ballasts come with the wires cut to length and
the sockets already attached - makes wiring and installation simple.

Tomsic

On Nov 6, 10:07*am, Michael Dobony wrote:
This is a commercial 4' T12 fixture. One bulb lights fully, the other not
at all, even with new bulb. The fully lighting bulb has me puzzled. With
one bulb it usually lights partially, not fully. Obvious is the ballast,
but could the wiring be off with the mounts? I'd rather disassemble once
only. Thanks.

It could be a problem within a single combined ballast, or the thing
could have two separate individual ballasts, one per lamp. You have
to take it apart to at least find out what is going on. If you need
light in the meantime, hook up a trouble light while you get parts. I
agree the new electronic ballasts are readily available, and do not
hum like the old transformer-based one are prone to do.

"Michael Dobony" wrote in message
...
This is a commercial 4' T12 fixture. One bulb lights fully, the other not
at all, even with new bulb. The fully lighting bulb has me puzzled. With
one bulb it usually lights partially, not fully. Obvious is the ballast,
but could the wiring be off with the mounts? I'd rather disassemble once
only. Thanks.

It's the ballast. As suggested, now is the time to upgrade to a T8.