Troubleshooting and Fixing My Garage Light

Last October, I had a friend come and put another light in my garage. 

My garage has always been dark and over the years I went from a fixture with one bulb to one with two bulbs, then three bulbs and it was still quite dark. 

I contacted my handyman, and he told me he was really busy now as with the hot and cold weather, people still want to get their furnaces worked on and the air-conditioner working when the days are hot. He said he was super busy and wasn't sure when he could get to it. 

Here is the post where I talk about putting them all in last November. 

I tested the bulbs in other fixtures to make sure the problem wasn't the bulbs. I am lucky enough to have a brother that is an electrician. I asked what he thought the problem was, and he said it could be a loose wire in the fixture or the ballast. I tested the power to the fixture and it was going to the fixture and since my friend that put it up is an electrician, I figured it wouldn't be that. 

I then decided to just replace the ballast, but realized that my new ballast was longer than the ballast that was in the fixture so I had to take down part of the fixture to be able to move the screw that holds the ballast in. It was in a hard spot between shelving and stacked items that need to be moved so I can texture behind them, so I was leaning a bit on the ladder which was a bit stressful. 

I was able to cut the wires and splice the new ballast in and was praying that the light would work, as if it didn't work with the new ballast, I wouldn't have known what else to try. 

The new ballast worked and I was so hot and dripping sweat. I had only had a few hours sleep the night before and it took it out of me. 

I was so happy to have a working light in the garage again! I have been wanting to continue working on my garage clean out and texturing the walls, but being sick and with my health issues, I haven't worked on it in months now. 

I am so excited to have shelving in there and hope I continue to get it cleaned out and looking good. The best part of the whole thing, was that it didn't cost me anything! 

Have a blessed day!