Replacement Ballast Advice

mjjm986 · Jan 26, 2020

Hi All,

I was wondering if someone might be able to help. I'm looking for a replacement Ballast for outdoor lights. I can't seem to find a replacement that looks like the one I need. The one fitted to the light has a live in and a live out, no other connections. The ballasts I see online have output connections. Does anyone know how where I might find a replacemet?

Marvo · Jan 27, 2020

It looks like a standard 26w inductive ballast. You'll probably find on EBay or Amazon but they're pretty much out of fashion nowadays because of their poor efficiency and the expense of the copper required to manufacture them. Have you thought about converting it to a standard E27 screw fitting and using an LED lamp?

mjjm986 · Jan 27, 2020

Marvo said:
It looks like a standard 26w inductive ballast. You'll probably find on EBay or Amazon but they're pretty much out of fashion nowadays because of their poor efficiency and the expense of the copper required to manufacture them. Have you thought about converting it to a standard E27 screw fitting and using an LED lamp?

Thanks for the advice Marvo. That's actually a good shout, was so fixed on getting a replacement Ballast that the idea never occured to me. I have three lights on the same ring and two are in need of ballasts.

Correct me if I am wrong but all I would need to do is use a 2 pin to E27 converter and wire the live wire directly to the light fitting, thus bypassing the ballast. Also assuming that the Earth is fine where it is?

Would definitely save me money on getting new fixings.

Marvo · Jan 28, 2020

Personally I wouldn'y use a converter, I'd completely remove the old ballast and lamp holder and just install an E27 lamp holder in its place.

The earth looks like it's connected to the chassis of the fitting by one of the screws that secures the ballast. Just put that screw back in to connect the earth wire after removing the ballast.

mjjm986 · Feb 1, 2020

I did as you suggested and swapped out the fittings on all three lights, delighted with the results. Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it. Saved me a few quid vs buying new lights.