How to Replace a Fluorescent Light Ballast

Learn How to Replace a Fluorescent Light Ballast. It's not difficult. Includes a cameo appearance from Baxter. ;-) See my channel here: / djlattas

[@mirceavasiu9275]

Thanks... this is the only video where someone is not cutting the wires when the change the ballast. It is not necessary to cut them. God job!

[@slash8915]

Something about this video is so wholesome. Thanks for being everyone's dad.

[@jsagers2008]

It was an honor to hold the light😂

[@kmccracken51]

My hubby is a bit forgetful...he turned 70 on Sunday. He used to be awesome, especially with electronics but was clueless on how to change a ballast. So I am the handy-woman in the house now. Your video was super easy to follow and made a stressful job easier than I had expected. Thanks!

[@MrDustt36]

Loved it. Smiled wide at the "f***ed up screwdriver" part. Thanks, guys! 🇺🇲

[@2035jim]

I laughed my ass off lol it was funny

[@neilpatel3750]

Just replaced mine and your demo of how the connectors slide out and then you manhandle the wire out really helped A lot! I was getting ready to splice twist and nut wires. Didn’t need to twist or splice a single wire thanks to your vid.

[@Slipmahoney21]

Great video! This is the first time I have changed a light ballast, and your video made it very easy! Thank you!!!

[@RhondaBengochea]

Yes I agree

[@jasonjohnson7641]

Thanks for this video. I watched a few others, then thankfully saw your video. Awesome! Piece of cake, very simple DIY project. Not cutting wires, no wire nuts. Thanks again !

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Jason Johnson Thanks for your feedback :)

[@melagrazal]

Handyman Dave, I want to thank you for educating me. I was able to replace the ballast I'm my kitchen. Many thanks.

[@tamarawidrick5177]

Having a FANTASTIC DIY DAY!!! Just got done tearing apart my Beckett oil burner. New transformer, relay, nozzle, pump filter, CAD cell and she FIRED right up! Next frontier = my light fixture. Thanks for the straightforward video!

[@john4524]

I just started a job in maintenance and I’m not an electrician by any means, so I don’t understand the wiring diagram of a ballast. But having changed a few so far I’m running into some odd wiring issues from previous people changing them out and seeing how you only had jumpers on the yellow actually made sense to me now. I’ve been trying to find videos that help explain how this all works but now I see a better picture of what I’m doing. Thank you!

[@FRJ1982]

Me too, this'll definitely help me look like I know what I'm doing 🤣

[@seantan2001]

Beautiful!!! I just fixed my kitchen lights for $25 (including new ballast and 4 plastic holders)!!! Thank you so much!!!

[@sicario2195]

“Bill Murray teaches you how to change a ballast”👍

[@stanleypatrickstocker2520]

Just watched your video to replace the ballast in my kitchen. Very helpful. It went smoothly! Thank you!

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Stanley Stocker Awesome, thanks for letting me know!

[@NinjaChak]

Thank you, save me a lot of $! Electricians here in FL quoted me $150-$170 just to change it. In the Midwest, they typically charged $50. Had no idea it was this easy.

[@billrose2083]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !! I can do this now......even if I have fucked up screw !! 🤣 Great video, man !!

[@01ernst]

Your step by step gave me insight into replacing my T8 ballast today. Finding Ballast got help with employee at Home Depot. My information was 2-T8 bulbs (tubes) 48" length. Success!

[@jeffmarcum3643]

Thanks for this video! I just changed my ballast. What I really liked is that you showed removing the "bulb connectors" (whatever they are called). I was about to cut and splice 6 wires but after watching this I didn't have to. My only difference is I couldn't simply pull the wire out of the bulb socket/connector - I had to use a little screwdriver to release the spring clamp or whatever is inside grabbing the wire.

[@JosephQ384]

I'm a new Superintendent for a residential building and a few of these need replacing. I feel alot more confident about executing this task now. I subscribed, thanks alot!

[@ajfam871]

Thank you sir. Very helpful to home owners. The one part I miss about renting is calling the land lord to fix something. The frustrating part about owning a home is it seems like there is always something that needs fixing.

[@rosemarybrustoski1456]

Thank you! No one else has explained where those extra wires go and why or how to get those holders out. Something everyone else found so impossible to clarify was made very simple by your excellent video. Now I think I can actually do this.

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

Thank you Rosemary I am glad that I could help

[@misterwebb1472]

Just cut the wires instead of trying to take the holders out

[@MrRoadkillbill]

Nice job! PERFECT!! This is exactly what I have, a 4 lamp fluorescent set-up. I removed the old one, but by the time i got back from the store I forgot which wires went where. This video instruction was exactly what i needed. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS!!

[@aliwashere81]

Thanks for this. I've seen other videos that require a bit more time splicing new wires with the old and this is the only one that showed that the sockets can simply be pulled out and the new wire inserted. Saved a bit of time and a bunch of wire connectors.

[@jukeboxwendy]

Thanks! Gonna fix my sisters fixture today! I feel much more confident now.

[@ateam4928]

I’m a maintenance man for a bank and haven’t changed a ballast before. Your video was great and I’m confident I’ll be able to change it! 😊👍🏼

[@saturnino315]

It ain't a proper handyman job if you don't drop at least one F' bomb. Lol. Thank you so much for posting this. I have a project now.

[@rw5838]

Safety: In the event that you do love electrical work (which you should NOT), PLEASE disconnect in the following order: 1. Ungrounded Conductor (Black) 2. Grounded Conductor (White) 3. Grounding Conductor (Green or Bare). The reason why is because IF you do the grounding (bare/green) wire last, you will have some type of "safety" net total trip the breaker should a fault occur IF the grounder conductor (white) is not working properly. BUT if you disconnect the white and green wires first and then the black wire last, you are at God's mercy if you incur a fault. Above all, just disconnect the power, do a lockout tag out and check voltage. Better safe than sorry.

[@waymor2460]

Great video, helped me a lot. I changed a 2 ballast 4 lamp fixture with a single 4 lamp ballast. Much easier to re-wire than use existing wires. I actually removed each set of tombstones because connections were hidden behind a plate. I did all the wiring on a table then just installed the ballast and tombstone plates.

[@happygrass5]

The editing is damn near perfect on this video.

[@ramielchafei]

Thank you.. I followed your instructions and got the lights to work again. Great instructor and camera woman 😁

[@jereksliwinski2789]

Thank you sir, I followed this video to replace the ballast on a tortoise uvb lamp, saved about $100 👍 👍 Nice looking Russian tortoise btw 😊

[@randallewebb]

Thanks for making this video. I replaced my ballast after watching this and my light now works. Took about 35 minutes, in total labor time as I was trying to keep the wires separated. Other than that though your instructions were great.

[@mariomaciel4745]

Thank you so much, I have a bad ballast in my basement, thought I was going to have to hire an electrician and spend to much $$$$$. Now THANKS to you i am going to do it myself. THANK YOU so much.

[@georgepotter353]

I'm about to try and replace a ballast in my art studio. This video was very helpful and your demeanor has me at ease about attempting it myself. Thanks much.

[@paulford5588]

Thanks my friend this was very helpful and easier than I thought ✌🏻❤️🙏🏻😇

[@elsbethtascioni7144]

Thanks for this video, followed it in changing my magnetic ballast to the newer electronic ballast and now I'm in business,"Got light", yeah!!

[@ssramage]

The breathing heavy and the F'ed up screwdriver make this 100% relatable 😂

[@tylergrey1468]

thank you! I was a little bit confused because I only had 2 bulbs...and for anyone in the same situation as me... of course the red goes with red, blue with blue...on the other side, its just 1 yellow per side. I wasn't able to find my breaker for the room, and did it hot as well..went fine, just be careful. I also was replacing a very old one I think. When I was pulling the wires out of the connectors on the ends, there were pieces of wire that I couldn't get out, but I got out as much as I could...and it's still working.

[@lyncourt1]

Thank you! Your instructions were perfect and easy to follow! Much appreciated!

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Kyle Meaker Awesome thanks:-)

[@chriswright4529]

Thank you, I couldn’t find where my shut off was and with the ballast not working I couldn’t figure out if I had the right one months went by and no one would help me thank you for showing me how to do it while it’s still hot now we don’t do laundry in the dark

[@kendanzan8088]

My kitchen lights stopped working for some reason. tried changing the light switch and resetting breakers etc etc, and then I learned it was the ballast. After watching this vid I was able to change the ballast myself and solve the issue. Thanks a lot!

[@lyndakelley1547]

you made this so simple this 71 year old grandma on a fixed income is going yo try it...Thanks...

[@sellmyhoustonhome7358]

Thank you for the lesson! I just successfully changed my ballast thanks to you!😃

[@ericli4859]

Great video! One minor suggestion is that when you pull the side wires out, instead of forcing it out each of the white plastic holder, I used a pin and lifted the copper contraption from the back to get them out.

[@kevinc3751]

Wouldn’t be an authentic DIY without at least one curse word slipping out. 😂

[@irvinaisola5148]

Thank you! I'm gonna try it. I was scared but feel better now.

[@Andrew-by3sx]

Thank you. I replaced the ballast in my kitchen after watching this video. Taking the wires out of the connector was the hardest part. The wires won't come out easy. Other than that, everything was easy. You need to cut off power in the electric panel before working on the ballast.

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Andrew Kim Awesome!

[@GisonLee]

Wonderful presentation. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@BV-fr8bf]

No repair project is complete without at least one swear word!

[@darkfiresshit]

Fuckin a!

[@abbeysomething1352]

So uncertain until I watched this guy! Heading to hardware~keep your light shining new friends🤦🏻‍♀️😎😘

[@cmhirsch825]

Great video! I followed your instructions and it was easy. You took the scary factor out of it.

[@mpc72367]

Thank you. Successfully changed my ballast today with the help of your instruction!

[@joephilaphet5498]

Awesome video! This was right to the point and saved me money. Felt great doing it myself!

[@AlanGoswami-nz9lg]

DEAR DIY HANDIMAN DAVE; SIR, YOU ARE WHAT I DEFINE GENIUS AS, THAT IS, "THE ABILITY TO SAY OR EXPLAIN A COMPLEX THING IN A SIMPLE WAY."

[@TotalMishap]

Seriously? You call this guy a genius for changing out a ballast? It's as easy as tying your shoe for Christ sake.

[@lhasan3622]

Loved this video. Went to change the ballast, alas my hands weren't strong enough to get part of the fixture removed to access the red and blue wires (old bathroom fixture and there was some rust). Have to wait for a helpong hand but I'm confident in what I was doing.

[@nickmohasel4882]

Thanks for teaching us. I had to fix mine today, your video helped me do it.. 🙏🙏👍🏻👍🏻🍺

[@murmur2410]

Great video. If I'm just replacing a holder, is it as simple as pulling the wire out the old, and placing it in the new?

[@mrjb629]

Thank you very much for the video and the information sir. I did mine and it now works great! Much appreciated!

[@screwedspud]

Thank You for a very easy to understand video....I will change my ballast with confidence ! Good Job !

[@thegniffen4645]

Thanks for this simple, straight-forward video. Well done Dave! I'm subscribing - kinda hoping for a video showing off the guitars now! I'm a Fender man myself but, I'll bet that Guild is a beauty!

[@brianmboland]

This dude is a classic! Please do more videos!

[@mpowers8288]

I tried to remove the wire from the light "socket" like you show but the wire broke off inside the light socket. Could not get the little wire pulled out of light socket. Now what?

[@NOMAD-qp3dd]

Thanks sir, saved myself about a hundred bucks doing it myself. Is surprisingly easy. Hardest part being on a ladder 🤣

[@pianoguy33]

Thanks for posting this video and helping folks out. Saved me some money.

[@Drew-bl5in]

Thanks for the tutorial! Gave me a better understanding of what's involved.

[@jrscoggins1977]

Thanks you helped this single gal replace her first ballast today!!!

[@PsyJaye]

I like your show but I especially like that Guild case and wonder what model you have and what the other instruments (like the smaller flat case , lap steel, keyboard)? I had a Guild Songbird similar to the one Barry Gibb used but mine was a beautiful red and someone stole it while I was going to play a free gig - I so miss my baby. I do miss my guitar but I have to use my practice Yamaha which is just not solid and rattles. Oh well.

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Jaye Parker Cool... thanks! My acoustic guild is a d25, and I have a guild blues bird, the squarish case is for my les Paul style jay turser, I have an epiphone dot and a 50th anniversary fender straticaster. My wife has a Yamaha P-105 digital piano keyboard. Sorry to hear your songbird was stolen that really stinks!

[@hanknelson2570]

Thank you Sir, you were a big help, and I learned a new word to used while playing electrician 😊

[@jonnysquirrels]

Robin Williams teaching me electrical stuff?! 😮

[@Ryan-td3td]

that helped thanks. In the the first vid I watched, the guy cut the wires and spliced them instead of just removing the pieces and pulling the wires out. This was easier. Thanks! Time to replace that F***ed up screwdriver ;)

[@amandar.7723]

4:14 priceless!!!!!! You can't fix something without dropping at least one F-bomb hahaha

[@m.e.c.1007]

LMAO right?!

[@Rando_765]

Wish I could give 2 👍🏻. One for the video and one for the F’d up screwdriver 😂

[@tomtwhite1]

Hello, I’m trying to replace a worn out ballast. The old ballast has 1 black 1 white 1 red and 1 blue wire. The new ballast has one black one white 2 red 2 blue and 2 yellow wires. Can the switch be made easily? Or does the whole fixture and/or tombstones have to be reconfigured? Thanks for your help. Tom W.

[@davidmlang1]

Excellent video thanks !!! Replacing mine was so easy after watching this video :)

[@rolezpolez6378]

Thanks & I appreciate your great video. Your know how and very informative share should help me with my kitchen ballast project.

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Rolez Polez Great!

[@Tim-Temple]

Great job! Thanks for filming this!

[@kenbroadway6547]

Typically, we just cut the wires to length and use wire nuts to reconnect...or you could actually pull the tombstones out like shown on the video...but it's a lot more work.

[@josegomez6549]

Nah. Less work, unless you don't have proper technique.

[@loisthomas7408]

Way easier than cutting the red, yellow and blue wired and having to buy wire nuts. Especially if you do not have the right tools. This way of removing the wires from the clips that hold the light bulb is great. I had trouble getting the wires out, they would not budge. But I found that if you just stick the end of an open paperclip in the hole with the wire they pop right out.

[@OldSoulwithAColdStroll]

You Reversed the Blue & Red Side.

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+D Yes it doesn't matter.

[@lblush]

Great video. I'll be giving this a try now.

[@Reaperman4711]

thanks, happens to be the exact fixture I needed too. 👍

[@gibbemeyer1]

Perfect, off to the store now. Thank you.

[@thePeacePlace1]

You reversed the red and blue wires! Still worked but i wonder about long term. All in all, good video.

[@Jupe367]

I noticed that too. I had to replay that to make sure. His blue and red are reversed.

[@timothyplunkett3887]

Very helpful video, everything is working great. Thank you!

[@chileanskater27]

"The one problem is this fucked up screw" haha always seems to be the issue. Well done video, that part made me laugh. 😂👍🔌

[@larryjames1731]

Would just turning off the light switch work?

[@PaddleDogC5]

Yes

[@clivesmith211]

Thank you for making a very instructional film

[@romansten9]

Does anyone know why ballasts go bad? And before anyone dodges the question and says "things wear out"......yeah, but just about every other light in my home will outlive me. So whats the real answer about ballasts?

[@AOMartialArts]

This is A GREAT question. And I see, 3 years later, no one can answer. 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@dragonfly1414]

I learn something new today, thank you for posting.

[@JBoneWilly]

Great video! Tip: mention whether or not your sockets are shunted / non-shunted

[@kegrant11]

Hi Dave! I'd like to pick you brain because I can't find an exact replacement ballast for my T8, 2-tube fixture. As I was getting frustrated, I decided to swap out the old T8 fixture with an LED and already bought that LED fixture. Still, I don't like to just throw things away if I might find a cost effective ballast in my travels. Here's the situation. . . Lithonia model #3348 fixture with a Keystone ballast KTEB-232SIS-1-TP. This fixture has the two bulbs wired in a SERIES (only wires coming from the ballast, other than the power end), are two wires, one each going to the tombstones on one end of the fixture. The other end of the fixture tombstones are connected by a single wire between them. Tried hard to find an exact match for the instant ballast and continually find "discontinued." Most of what I can find in terms of ballasts are the power side wires and the other end with two blues and one red. Is there any way I can use that kind of ballast without rewiring the tombstones? In other words, can I leave the tombstones wired as they are now (series) and use a ballast with the two blues and one red? How would I connect those ballast wires to the existing series wiring of the fixture? Can I just cap one of the blue wires? Would the one connected blue wire be able to power two bulbs in series? Would be a learning experience for me. Or, must I bite the bullet and just rewire them in parallel which really isn't my question. Regards, Keith

[@2035jim]

Just buy a rapid start ballast with matching wires. Put this fixture back up and get rid of the led because led’s are built to fail

[@ajkauthen]

Did you do jumpers for the tombstones on the yellow side?

[@johnc528]

Very nice! The other videos I looked at show cutting the wires and splicing to the old ones, rather than just inserting the new ones into the bulb sockets. Nice to see how this is done. Thanks! Cojones working on hot electrical there! Not for me.

[@georgepotter353]

Glad you mentioned that. The bulb sockets were throwing me as well.

[@AK-mo6id]

Thanks a lot for this very informative video. I too tried to change the ballast today but my old and new ballasts are not identical so I guess I have go get the same kind. Btw, one thing I noticed is that u plugged in one wire on each of the white pieces on one side but only to two of the white pieces on other side, so how do the other two bulbs work without the wires in them?

[@NeonBoom2586]

When you wired your common tombstone connectors with the yellow wires, how did you wire them? Was it like this: Tombstone connector for lamp one: Wire hole 1: yellow Wire hole 2: white wire 1 Wire hole 3: yellow Wire hole 4: white wire 2 Tombstone connector for lamp 2: Wire hole 1: no wire Wire hole 2: white wire 2 Wire hole 3: no wire Wire hole 4: white wire 1 I am trying to troubleshoot a rapid ballast replacement for 2 lamps. When I switch it on it flashes once and shuts off/does not turn on.

[@Anonymous-lw8og]

As a building engineer I change this all the time man I’ve done so many i have memories the wiring for all types of light fixtures T8 FT40 u-bend u name them I’ve done them

[@hms267]

Please share your wisdom.

[@tommcgee3412]

Thank you! I have been playing with a faulltering fluorescent set for YEARS. Actually bought a ballast last year, thought I'd cured it with new tubes and fiddling. Tonight I saw your Tube talk and bingo it's done. An anniversary for my patient wife. How many guitars do you have. Quite a stack of cases. I hope you play.

[@Ben-rz5wl]

In my strip light one of the two bulbs is working and the other is not. I tested the bulb in a different light and it is good. Could it be the sockets on the side that does not work that need to be replaced?

[@Linknelson]

Man, this was a perfect video thanks for the help!

[@TheTurbinator]

Go to 4:13 for the best part of the video :D

[@evanswisconsin]

Great video. Got mine changed out for $19.97. Costs that much just to get an electrician on the phone. Like that you left the F-bomb in. What DIY project is complete without a few choice words of frustration?!

[@BeYourOwnHandymanHome]

+Craig Evans Exactly lol!

[@shameronstar7220]

Thank You! My kitchen light works again.🤗💡