Fluorescent Ballast, Floating Outputs?

[johnny watt]

What are the odds that the outputs of an electronic fluorescent ballast are floating with respect to ground/neutral/hot?

I have an application where three HO T12 lamps are wired in series and driven by a three lamps mag ballast and it is not easy to rewire them. I was curious, if in theory, it would be possible to drive these lamps as they are wired, with individual electronic ballasts.

 

[LarryFine]

I was curious, if in theory, it would be possible to drive these lamps as they are wired, with individual electronic ballasts.

It depends on what you mean by "as they are wired," but if you're asking what I think you're asking, I wouldn't try it. I would rewire the sockets so they're genuinely isolated. Here's why:

Years ago, I helped wire a warehouse for fluorescent lighting, using a 480-208Y/120 transformer. The guy I was helping energized the transformer before bonding the neutral.

When we made the bond, it made a pretty spark and one of the 8' tubes went out. I figured out (correctly) that that tube's secondary wire was pinched and grounded in the fixture.

That tells me that the outputs are not independent of the power leads. But then, this was years ago, before electronic ballasts. I think the best bet is to ask the ballast manufacturer.