T5 help.

You might. You need to have two bulbs in the fixture in the paired spots or the lights won't come on.

 

I did try that. The picture you saw was the only way I could produce light.

 

That seems like a ballast issue.

 

Agreed. Good news is I found a used ballast from craiglist.
How long should a ballast typically live for?

 

Current USA sent me new ballast to replace myself. Wired everything up and I'm back in business. There was a one year warranty on the fixture.

 

Congrats, glad it is all settled out.

 

They asked I send the bad ballast back so they can be tested to understand why they failed. They paid for postage.

 

That is awesome