Got the ballasts back today...

[PrivateJoker64]

At your suggestion I checked out the neutral ground wire in the outlet. It checked OK. I hooked up one of the ballasts and it didn't work. I fooled around with it for a while, then it occurred to me to check the neutral ground on the output side of my timer. That was the problem! The neutral ground is broken INSIDE the timer. Hooked up a different timer and the light came on.
The second ballast, however, has a stripped hole for the ground screw. I think it is a #6 screw, so tomorrow I will dig out a #8 ground screw the same length and hook it up. Thought you'd want to know what the problem turned out to be. Thanks for your help!
Dana Coleman

[IceCap Service]

Thanks for the update. It is very seldom we actually hear from customers what actually fixed the problem. When we can not find any problem with a returned ballast we take every means to try and correct a problem even when we have very little info. Many times I will actually swap out the circuit board or in the case of a MH ballast completely swap it out in hopes of fixing a problem. More times than not, it is actually something in the system other than a ballast causing problems. Again, thanks for the update.

[PrivateJoker64]

Sorry to keep bothering you, but the second ballast, with the stripped screw hole, does not work. Ground is OK, everything checks OK. Checked it with the other bulb / socket, but it just doesn't work. BTW, the other (working) ballast works fine with both bulbs / sockets. In desperation I am sending it to you again.
I don't know what else to do.