I am fixing the lighting in an older building and one of the plastic tombstones has melted.

There are approximately 100+ tombstones and one has melted. A search found a forum discussion that indicated:

lamps that were supplied to me were made for magnetic ballasts not electronic ballasts

I would think that it takes a combination of significant power and current to generate the heat necessary to melt plastic. I have new bulbs of unknown age for replacing bulb failures and in this case tombstone failure: the bulb was removed before my custody of the project.

QUESTIONS

1. How can I determine if the bulb is made for a magnetic ballast an not electronic ballast?

2. Can I determine if the ballast is magnetic or electronic with minimal effort (i.e. not opening the fixture and measuring from the tombstone)?

3. Are there any other reasons that would cause a meltdown and how can I test / confirm

UPDATES

• Wiring configuration is dual-ended
• T5 Bulbs

I am fixing the lighting in an older building and one of the plastic tombstones has melted.

There are approximately 100+ tombstones and one has melted. A search found a forum discussion that indicated:

lamps that were supplied to me were made for magnetic ballasts not electronic ballasts

I would think that it takes a combination of significant power and current to generate the heat necessary to melt plastic. I have new bulbs of unknown age for replacing bulb failures and in this case tombstone failure: the bulb was removed before my custody of the project.

QUESTIONS

1. How can I determine if the bulb is made for a magnetic ballast an not electronic ballast?

2. Can I determine if the ballast is magnetic or electronic with minimal effort (i.e. not opening the fixture and measuring from the tombstone)?

3. Are there any other reasons that would cause a meltdown and how can I test / confirm

UPDATES

• Wiring configuration is dual-ended
• T5 Bulbs

I am fixing the lighting on an older building and one of the plastic tombstones has melted. There are approximately 100+ tombstones and one has melted. A search found a forum discussion that indicated:

lamps that were supplied to me were made for magnetic ballasts not electronic ballasts

I would think that it takes a combination of significant power and current to generate the heat necessary to melt plastic. I have new bulbs of unknown age for replacing bulb failures and in this case tombstone failure: the bulb was removed before my custody of the project.

QUESTIONS

1. How can I determine if the bulb is made for a magnetic ballast an not electronic ballast?

2. Can I determine if the ballast is magnetic or electronic with minimal effort (i.e. not opening the fixture and measuring from the tombstone)?

3. Are there any other reasons that would cause a meltdown and how can I test / confirm

UPDATES

• Wiring configuration is dual-ended
• T5 Bulbs

I am fixing the lighting in an older building and one of the plastic tombstones has melted.

There are approximately 100+ tombstones and one has melted. A search found a forum discussion that indicated:

lamps that were supplied to me were made for magnetic ballasts not electronic ballasts

I would think that it takes a combination of significant power and current to generate the heat necessary to melt plastic. I have new bulbs of unknown age for replacing bulb failures and in this case tombstone failure: the bulb was removed before my custody of the project.

QUESTIONS

1. How can I determine if the bulb is made for a magnetic ballast an not electronic ballast?

2. Can I determine if the ballast is magnetic or electronic with minimal effort (i.e. not opening the fixture and measuring from the tombstone)?

3. Are there any other reasons that would cause a meltdown and how can I test / confirm

UPDATES

• Wiring configuration is dual-ended
• T5 Bulbs