I have a subject for one of our Fall meetings.

[Delphinus]

I had a double-whammy: one bulb not firing, and one ballast not firing. It took a few permutations to figure out which was which. But I was able to get the errant ballast fixed by swapping some wires out, so that variable is at least eliminated.

I am about to go try leaving the bulb of for 10 minutes, and see if this gets it to strike. I am a little worried about leaving the ballast on for too long without the light striking, I have no idea what the implications might be for running a current through a ballast with it having nowhere to go (the ballast hums when it's on, regardless whether the light is on or not...)

Does that make my original assertion any clearer or just muddier? :D Clear as mud, as I always say...