| Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris |
D Vautier 6/2017
When replacing a burned-out T8 or T12 ballast in your florescent light there is usually an extra wire socket in each of the tombstones (light socket holders) so you get one chance to replace the ballast without making a bunch of sloppy splices. Just snip off the old wire and plug in the new wire. Otherwise you have to splice the wires or get new tombstones because once the wires are inserted into those locking holes they do not come out.
However I did discover a way to remove the wires if the tumbstones come out easily. I took the socket out and pealed back the cardboard from the back of the tombstone. I inserted a needle into the clip beside the wire. By bending the needle slightly I was able to lift the spring clip enough to remove the wire without damaging the wire clip. I then installed a new ballast without too much trouble and without any splices.
Some sites do suggest splicing but this seems unnecessary when there are extra wire connectors built into the tombstone. It's a good idea to have extra tombstones around anyway.
Here is a tombstone with the back
off showing the wire clips.
Below is a tombstone with the cardboard bent back exposing the clip.
I inserted a needle and pried up just enough to
remove pressure which releases the old wire. This may be necessary if
you have a weird tombstone.
