New to retrofit t5s... Some dumb questions

[c_scherer123]

I have never used a retrofit kit for lighting, never seen one either. I have a 2 bulb T5 Icecap kit (it just came in the mail, with no instructions, and I was a bit shy on time to really look it over).
I have a very basic idea about hooking it up. But if someone could go over it I'd be grateful.
I can attach the lights directly to the top of my canopy.

But where do people normally hide the ballasts? Mine came with 8 feet of wire, so I am not too sure how far away it should be.

How do you hide your wiring (within hood and going to the plug in)?

Grounding for the ballasts? How does that work?

How far apart do you normally put your bulbs?

Sorry for all of the dumb questions. I tried a number of searches but I can't quite seem to find the answers.
Thanks in advance!

[Dez]

To answer some of your questions, it really depends how you want it to look. I leave my wires zip tied together and put the ballast underneath the stand out of the way of any water or possible drip locations. Some people would heat shrink the wires together for a cleaner look. I simply used meretts to connect the wires (or the quick push in connects on the T5 end caps, depending where and what you are connecting). You can also get those plastic tube things from Office Depot or Staples meant to organize your wires in a home office. Like I said, it all depends how ghetto or not you want it to look inside your hood or canopy.

Grounding I believe can go right onto the reflector and then into the ground of your wall outlet.

Bulb distance depends on you. Usually the reflectors are spaced out for maximum reflectivity. I like jamming lots of light bulbs in when I retrofit.

Hope this helps.