I recently obtained this fixture that uses 4 13w PL bulbs, however the ballasts it came with are extremely loud and seem to heavily overdrive the lamps. The current ballasts are Robertson model SP2, which I will add an image of. Anyone know of quiet ballasts that would properly drive the lamps and that I could obtain at least 4 of? Thanks.


Here is a video of the fixture operating, showing the noise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGkSB_3NkI

For your reference, these lamps need about 280-300mA and an arc voltage drop of about 55V for proper operation.

It is also important to keep in mind that there are other 13W PL lamps sold in North America that are electrically different from the GX23 base lamps, which use the offset pin G24D1 base instead. If you find a ballast that requires the G24D1 base 13W PL lamps, you do not want to use it for the GX23 base 13W PL lamps as the G24D1 base lamps as they require an operating current of about 170mA and an arc voltage drop of about 100V or so.