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	Subject - Ballast without Bulbs David Hyatt I know that bad bulbs can make a ballast go out faster, but what if you had a ballast wired and hot but no bulbs installed? lctrc789 david, that is a good qestion, I have seen the older PCb type ballasts that have had no lights on them for many months or longer and they apear to work well when you finally install bulbs in them, Of couse they go bad as well... I do not know about the newer electrocnic ballasts though I have seen them do this as well, perhaps because there is no load they may last longer as they do not get as hot as the old ones used to.. kbsparky Some ballasts are designed to have bulbs connected to them, OR ELSE they are toast. These are the ones that have circuit interrupting lampholders, or series wired power leads, such as the small single tube 2-4 foot electromagnetic type, or double tube 8 foot "slimline" type. Alfred I know what your talking about. I had some new light fixtures (only installed about a month) with lamps in them go bad. I had to change all thirty- one ballast. They were so hot that I had to use a glove to remove them. They were oozing the black insulation in them. It seemed that the company had gotten a bad batch. The fixtures were still under warranty. Hope this helps. Thanks Alfred Johnson PEI I was told by both GE and Holophane that not having a 400 HPS lamp in their ballasted fixtures is hard on the ignitor circuit. It believes the lamp is out and continues to try to start the circuit - apparently the initial strike is more taxing that maintaining the arc. Best to unplug it.