OLD ballast

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megloff11x

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I had the old 8ft fluorescent lights go out in the basement. New lamps didn't work, so I pulled the ballast.

It was so old it said "Made in the USA." And in New Jersey no less!

The date on it was was 1983, so it's been going for 25 years.

Any bets the Made in Mexico replacement will last 1/10th that?

Our facilities guy spends half his day every day just changing ballasts in the buildings.

I saved it to show future generations that at one time in our history America really made stuff, and it lasted.

Matt
 
Magnetic ballasts will last for decades. I also have taken out many "Made in USA" and even some Mexican made ones that are 15 or more years old and still working fine.

Electronic ballasts are not nearly as robust. They have a very high rate of failure especially when compare to magnetic ballasts.
 
emahler said:
planned obsolcnse is not a bad thing....it's good for the economy
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Yeah, but I sorta with they'd ast least last until the warranty is out, and maybe even a bit longer for increased customer confidence in me.
 
lifetime warranty

lifetime warranty

I once heard on the Paul Harvey radio show about a company that manufactured light bulbs. They offered a lifetime warranty on their lamps. Needless to say they went out of business!
 
I know I've replaced a good many of the ballasts for the 18 and 24 inch t-12's that look like a little chime transformer that were from the 50's and 60's. They last forever.
 
Two years ago I had a 1947, 20 watt from a library. It had just gone out the day before.
 
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