electrical question

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Fun & games with the kitchen light. Electrician was right - extremely fiddly.
1st removal discovered a loose switched live wire (push fit into a connector block). Remade the connection reassembled the light fitting & it worked:bannana:. Once:wallbash:.
Took it apart again and wire disconnected itself again. Remade the joint, reassembled the light fitting & it worked:bannana:. Once:doh:.
Took it apart again, took a photo of the electronic ballast, replaced the connector block. Reassembled the light fitting & it worked:bannana:. Once:wallbash:.

So I need to order a new electronic ballast of the right type and the right physical dimensions.
Google is usually my friend but this time I find that the only result for an exact match is available from China if I order 100+ units:mad:.
Any thoughts on how to find an alternative?
 
Will two single lamp ballasts fit in there?

Don't know. Are single ones smaller?
Chrome outer shell is about 65mm wide, 40mm deep and space between outlets (2 of the outlets can be seen on the right of the photo) is about 270mm
 
I would replace the two tubes first, the are quite cheap I think? One bad tube might be upsetting the other with the result that both tubes are out.

The general rule is to replace the starter, if that doesn’t work then replace the two tubes, if that fails then replace the ballast OR buy another unit of your choice. No starter with that so try the tubes next.

Your local professional electrical suppliers will have the equivalent ballast in stock.

Dec
 
I would replace the two tubes first, the are quite cheap I think? One bad tube might be upsetting the other with the result that both tubes are out.

The general rule is to replace the starter, if that doesn’t work then replace the two tubes, if that fails then replace the ballast OR buy another unit of your choice. No starter with that so try the tubes next.

Your local professional electrical suppliers will have the equivalent ballast in stock.

Dec

I bought spare tubes when I bought the fittings so i'll give that a try.
Got 2 of these fittings in the kitchen so to change one, I'd have to change both.
Even to change the tubes is a pain with 3 chrome parts on each end of each tube to play with
 
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Would one end not be spring loaded for ease of replacment?

Dec
 
Would one end not be spring loaded for ease of replacment?

Dec
Nope.
Unscrew chrome end caps
Separate 2 parts of each chrome shell
Tube comes out with a 90 degree twist
Wash all parts.
Reinsert tube, quarter turn, with half of the chrome shells over the tube.
Struggle to push the other part of the chrome shell over the fitting end to push fit to the part already on the tube.
Screw on the end cap & align the chrome bits.

You were right with the suggestion to change the tubes.
When I took it apart again I noticed one of the tubes was slightly black at the end. Changed that one and the fitting fired into life:bannana::bannana:

But, the replacement tubes I bought with the fitting are 3400K and the original tubes are 6500K:fail

So not only had to change the faulty one but all 4 tubes in both fittings:doh:
Still only 35 minutes to change 4 tubes:eek:
 
At least we now know how many posts it takes to change a light bulb. Well done.

Dec
 

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