Repairing a light strip

[sountfc]

I've got a flourescent strip that holds four bulbs, one is on one switch and the other three are on another switch. A couple of them are out, and it doesn't appear to be the bulbs. I'm guessing there may be an issue with the ballast. I haven't taken it apart yet to determine what type of ballast is in it, but I'm assuming it's not the standard heavy type found in older fixtures.

Has anyone repaired one of these and maybe can share a bit of information?

[RocketSurgeon]

I could be wrong, but I bet once it is repaired, you'll find each switch controls two bulbs.
One side has a bad ballast, and the other a bad connection or bulb. Again, I could be wrong, but what you are describing is not typical.

[sountfc]

Interesting. The fixture was given to me after someone had given it to them. Originally it had three white flourescents on one switch and one blue actinic on the other, so I just assumed that was intended as a "moon light" of sorts. I'll get it apart and see what I find.

I could be wrong, but I bet once it is repaired, you'll find each switch controls two bulbs.
One side has a bad ballast, and the other a bad connection or bulb. Again, I could be wrong, but what you are describing is not typical.

[RocketSurgeon]

u may be absolutely correct...just not a typical fixture. Curious to what you find inside. Once opened, you should be able to determine which switch goes to which ballast and which ballast goes to which bulbs. From there, we can begin to trouble shoot each individual circuit.

[sountfc]

As it turns out, you were 100% correct. I just took it apart, and now I remember that when it was given to me one of the fixtures was out. Now I can see that one switch is wired to two of the fixtures, and the other is wired to the other two. So, I have two bad ballasts that I need to replace. It's a T5 fixture, can I get these at Home Depot, or does anyone have a recommendation?

[RocketSurgeon]

If it is a cheap fixture, it may be easiest and cheaper to buy another fixture by the time you replace the ballast and bulbs.

[sountfc]

I found replacement ballasts for $25 total on Amazon, ordered those and will get it repaired this weekend. It's a nice enough fixture to be worth $25, for sure.

[Lori]

Sounds like I need to give you the one I have so you can tinker with it.

[sountfc]

I got it figured out, it was actually pretty simple.