found this on the curb recently.
has 2 8w t5 in series with a push and hold to start button.
one of the tubes had an open heater when i first tried it.
put in some known good ones and it works but you can see the heaters glow bright orange while it is running.its also brighter than 2 8w t5 should be.killawatt shows .26a while warmed up.
ballast does not get too hot.
was this thing designed to drive the tubes this hard?

The 0.26A is mains or lamp current?
The f8t5 is supposed to be driven at 0.17A.
Was the ballast really original?
I have an impression like someone thought: "2x8W = 16W, so lets use the 15..20W ballast"...

its even higher when cold.
going to open it up and see whats in the base.