• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

MH not working

salty28

salty28

I have an older halide fixture with 2 175W lamps. One side stopped working last week, so I decided to replace the ballast. Before ordering a new one, I decided to take a few voltage readings and got some unexpected results. On the lamp that is working, the ballast output starts at 40V when first turned on and then increases to 120V as the lamp warms up and gets brighter. On the side that stopped working, I do get 40V to start, but it climbs to about 130V and if I take out the bulb, it goes up to 225V! I've swapped the quick connect cables right at the ballast, so I'm sure it's not the bulbs or sockets. I just find it very strange, when the lamp originally went out, I thought I'd be getting 0 volts from the ballast, not 130V or 225V. Anybody have a answer? I just noticed a slight flicker of light from the side that's NOT working. The ballast comes with a capacitor, but no starter, if that helps. Luckily, I found an exact replacement ballast/capacitor online for $34 + $9 shipping. Any info would help.. Thanks!
 
D

DaveK

When you have a problem where one side doesn't work, first swap the bulbs. If the problem moves, it's the bulbs, if not the ballast.

MH bulbs can be funny and sometimes fail after a very short period of time. However, they should be covered under warranty.

Ballasts can also fail. If you do have to replace one, consider that the other may be ready to go. It might be worth replacing both. Also, consider replacing the ballast with an electronic ballast. You'll need to do some minor mods to the fixture, but they are a lot more efficient, and run cooler. Yes, they do cost a lot more, but they pay for themselves in electricity savings in a couple of years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top