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I am installing a hanging light in the kitchen. Initially it was a GX24 4 pin bulb socket. As you can see in pic, there are 4 wires, 2 pairs of reds (hot) and 2 pairs of blue (neutral). 2 reds were connected to one side of gx24 socket and 2 blues were on the other side. They all had separate connections

I clipped one red and one blue and connected to the hanging light wire but it is not working.

When I tested hot/neutral wires, I was only seeing reading on red but only ~23 volts.

Now, I am thinking this single wire is not sending enough volt. Can I connect two reds to each other and then connect to the hanging light single cables and same for neutrals.

Is combining possible and safe in this case?

Photo of the box in the ceiling:

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Thanks

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No, your plan is lost in confusion.

Red and blue are not normal colors for hot and neutral. That is your first "red flag".

Actually, that type of GX24 socket is for fluorescent lights. There is not any 120V there. That voltage is regulated to drive one fluorescent tube correctly. It is not coming from a 120V supply and is coming from a fluorescent ballast, hence the 2 blue and 2 red which are normal for ballasts.

If you were to remove the entire fixture, there might be 120V available on the other side of the ballast.

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  • Wow .. thanks!!! That makes perfect sense. I looked around and I do not see any other cable. Am I out of luck then?
    – Neo
    Commented Oct 22, 2021 at 1:38
  • @Neo, that flexible metal conduit that contains the red and blue wires has to go somewhere. It will lead to the ballast, and the ballast will be connected to regular 120v power
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Oct 22, 2021 at 2:09
  • @JPhi1618 See the picture attached in the below answer. This is a closed box and out of the reach. I may have to call in a electrician if there is no option :(
    – Neo
    Commented Oct 22, 2021 at 2:17
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    @Neo, the front panel should come off that metal box showing the electrical connections. Its designed to be accessible if the ballast ever needs to be replaced (or bypassed). That said, electricity can be dangerous, so if you're unsure, calling in some help is fine. It should be a pretty straightforward job to wire the new light for an experienced hand.
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Oct 22, 2021 at 2:54
  • @JPhi1618, thanks, I was able to pull the cable from ballast and it worked. I do have another issue. I was installing two lights each in different openning. One had ballast had 2 black and 2 whites. I checked with multi meter and 1 black was hot while other was giving no reading. I hooked with the light with the live one and it worked. Now for the second ballast, there is only 1 black and white but it does not give any reading. I tried turning all switches on on the first floor but no reading. Where would I activate this?
    – Neo
    Commented Oct 23, 2021 at 2:23

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