I added a couple of 48" florescent fixtures in my work area, the newer style using the T8 bulbs and electronic ballasts. Thought I'd also convert some old T12s to T8s to get rid of the buzz and flicker. Replacement ballasts are a lot cheaper than new fixtures so thought that I'd just replace ballasts and get new T8 tubes.

Did a no-power test fit and the T8 bulbs fit the old T12 sockets - OK so far. I was hoping for an easy remove and replace on the ballast, but when I took a quick peak inside one of the old T12 fixtures, they have twice as many wires running around as the new T8 ballast. The old ballasts connect to both terminals in each socket where the new T8 ballast connects to only one terminal in each.

I did not take the old T12 down and completely disassemble it to see how the wires are attached to the sockets. Obviously the old wires come out with the old ballast and the new ballast comes with it own leads. If nothing else, one could simply clip old wires and splice the new ones appropriately, terminating the old ones that were not needed.

Has anyone tried retrofitting T8 ballasts in older fixtures and did it work?

Thanks,

Tom