How To Remove Ballast Cover From Fluorescent Light Fixture

Remove the fluorescent ballast compartment cover to expose the internal wiring and ballast.

How to remove ballast cover from fluorescent light fixture. Remove the light bulbs fluorescent tubes. Loosen the exposed screws that hold the cover hiding the wiring and ballast by turning them counterclockwise with a phillips screwdriver or a nut driver. Remove the cover to expose the mounting. Depending on the style of fixture the lens cover wraps around the fixture is.

Push the cover up with your thumbs and pull your fingers towards you to lift the edge of the cover up and over the edge of the accessory. Test these with a voltage tester to make sure they re dead which may require first unscrewing the wire caps so wear rubber gloves to protect against shock. In many t8 fixtures the ballast is covered by a casing and the t8 tubes are on top of it meaning you need to take out the tubes and unscrew the casing to get to the ballast. Locate the ballast cover on one end of the fixture unscrew it and remove it.

Note the black and white wires coming from the house circuit connected to the power wires on the ballast. Grip the top edge of the fixture s cover with your fingers. Remove the lens cover from the fixture. It may be attached with nuts or clips or simply snapped into place.

Unscrew the nut holding the ballast to the fixture while holding it in place with your other hand. This is best done with a nut driver or socket wrench. Unplug the fixture or turn off the power at the main panel. To access the parts of the fixture you ll need to remove the diffuser usually done by pressing lightly on the sides of the diffuser.

Repeat the process for the remaining tubes. This will allow you to access and remove the metal cover plate also fitted into the fixture with compression tabs not screws. Turn off the fluorescent fixture s circuit breaker inside the breaker panel. How to remove the wrap around the cover of a fluorescent lamp place your thumbs on the bottom of the cover and your fingers on the top inside edge of the cover.

Also remove the tubes by twisting the pins out of the sockets. Attempt to pull the cover down while lightly pressing it with your thumbs. Gently pull down on one end so the contacts slide out of the socket and remove the bulb from the fixture. Remove the ballast by lowering the side held by the nut and sliding it in that direction.

Grab the bulb and twist it about 90 degrees until you see the metal contacts at its ends. The attachment method for ballast covers varies widely among manufacturers.