Major ballast problems.. please help!

[janedoe]

Hi,

I've had several ballasts quit lighting on me in a short while and I'm starting to think it's more than a coincidence...if you happen to know anything about this or my questions below your input would be much appreciated as I don't know what to do from here :/

I have different brands of 1000w running off the same power supply, one is magnetic and the others digital...would that cause any conflict?

Are sylvania HPS compatible bulbs to use for both of those?

I brougt home a new one today as a 2 month old stopped working (among others)...when i plugged it in, that caused another to stop. Very puzzled by this! as two electricians have said everything is done right...

Please let me know if you have any idea what would cause them to consistently stop working, different ones at random.

Thanks so much for your time!

 

[wantaknow]

sounds like a bad ballast ,i use diamond magnetic ballest and never have had problems with them and if somthing does go out a like an igniter or a capasitor they are easy to replace ,does the magnetic ballest humm or vibrate or is it just dead ,some digital ballast are crap ,look on the front page and see the definitive ballest thread .hope this will help some

 

[gronnh20]

Are you running them on one 120vac circuit? You may be missing a ground at your outlet. You may try putting a surge suppressor on each ballast that may help you. But it really sounds like you are overloading a single circuit with a bad breaker the way I read your post.

 

[janedoe]

Hi guys thanks for your comments.

I don't think the ballast is bad, as I've used several different brands and it keeps happening, the same thing. I haven't heard any hum or vibration from the ones that appear to no longer be working. I'm thinking something small is just being overlooked....

They are hooked up to 240v and I don't think are crowded, but the guy in the store did ask me if I have it surge protected and I'm not sure how to do that...maybe this is the problem.

What is a surge suppresor for ballasts?

tyty, I'm a bit new to all of this: :-)

 

[pvtpilot]

I surge protector is basically an extension cord with multiple plug in sites. They have a built in load limit and when the load is exceeded the cord shuts power off to everything plugged.

You can get fancy $500.00 units made for servers and the like or you can go cheap and get one for $10.00.

Generally you can find them at any retail store in America.
I bet you have one already.... maybe your computer is plugged into it?

Peace
S-H

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I think he was asking about a surge protector inline with your ballast. You do not want to use one with a magnetic ballast. JK