What causes a ballast to go bad?

Causes of Ballast Failure Premature ballast failure is often caused by the surrounding environment. When it’s too hot or too cold, the ballast can burn or fail to start your lamps at all. Heat combined with prolonged condensation inside an electronic ballast can cause corrosion.Click to see full answer. Furthermore, what are the signs of a bad ballast? If your fluorescent lighting is displaying any of the signs below, it could be a symptom of a bad ballast: Flickering. Buzzing. Delayed start. Low output. Inconsistent lighting levels. Switch to an electronic ballast, keep lamp. Switch to an electronic ballast, switch to a T8 fluorescent. Secondly, is a bad ballast dangerous? As with any electrical situation where overheating is possible, a bad ballast can pose a fire danger. Most bad ballasts simply burn themselves out, but it’s still good to recognize the odor and find the problem. Overheated ballasts that release PCBs also may pose health risks because PCBs are possible carcinogens. One may also ask, how long does a ballast last? about 20 years How much is it to replace a ballast?A replacement ballast costs about $10-25 depending on capacity and brand. The bite is that an electrician trip charge (which includes 30 or 60 minutes work) is going to be $75-150 probably – for about 5 minutes work on each light fixture.