Electrical 101

Question or Comment?

A 3 lamp fixture with two rapid start ballasts can be replaced with a 3 lamp instant start ballast. As seen below, connecting the 3 lamp instant start ballast to the three lamps can be a bit confusing. This is because the wire colors on the ballast and the lampholders will not match up.

On the 3 lamp ballast, an individual wire is connected to the lampholder of lamp 2 on the left side, and the common wire on the right side.
The other two individual wires are connected to the lampholders of lamps 1 and 3 on the right side, and the common wires to lamps on the left.

After 3 Lamp Two Seriesl Ballasts are Replaced

Replace 3 Lamp Two Instant Start with One Instant Start

How to Replace 3 Lamp Two Rapid Start Ballasts with One Instant Start

1 and 2 Lamp Rapid Start Ballasts Diagram

Factory wiring

Light Fixtures with Two Ballasts

Fluorescent tube light fixtures with two ballasts are typically wired in the same manner. Individual wires of one ballast connect to the one side of the fixture, individual wires from the other ballast connect to the other side of the fixture. The common wires of each ballast are connected to the other side of the fixture from each of the individual wires.

As seen below on ballast 1, individual wires are connected to the lampholders of lamp 2 on the left side, and the common wires on the right.

On ballast 2, common wires are connected to the lampholders of lamps 1 and 3 on the left side, and the individual wires on the right.