Reel light issue

[Youk]

I owe you a Guiness!!! There were 7 out of the 24 bulbs that were out, I took everything apart, rotated the bulbs 180 degrees, put everything back together, and they all work! I'm very stoked, but not sure why there are no instructions when you buy these bulbs that they need to be plugged in a certain way to work. The bulbs and sockets should have only one way that you can plug them in to work right, would have saved me 3 weeks and a lot of work/aggravation, but live and learn, and thanks to you folks for all the advice!
Now it's back to converting my fluorescent tubes to LED strips. Still cannot locate the ballasts, I've got one last place to look, but is going to take some extensive disassembly. I have the 10 1/2" skinny fluorescent bulbs, about 1/4" diameter, maybe the ballasts for these are different, or do not require ballasts??? Not well versed with these bulbs, any input anyone?
Thanks again,
Youk