Anyone know how to troubleshoot MH ballast? Calgary
 

Stopped working, not much electronic knowledge so if anyone can offer help it would be greatly appreciated ...

Charles

I can help....pack it in a box and put at the curb and call it a sign to buy a LED Light Sorry lol had too............

If an LED fixture was not $500 ...

Charles

Is this the one that you bought from me?

I did not have any issues with it running from June to Sept before I upgraded. But there is a knob on the ballast that says fuse. I've never opened this but presume you could unscrew it and inspect. Hopefully the fuse just burned out and you can see the filament is not intact (like an incandescent light bulb).

Hope this helps.

Yeah, it is the one I got from you :(

Sadly the fuse is intact, and from what little Google-Fu I have been able to summon, it is either the light switch, the capacitor (I don't even know what that is!) or the transformer ... bleh ...

Charles

What kind of ballast?

it's a jbj viper k2 250watt

I'm not familiar specifically with that model but after googling it I found a page that claims it is a cap and coil style ballast and not electronic. In which case you should be able to open it up and replace components if need be, but you'd have to look up the part #'s and order from a place like Litemore, BriteLite, Calgary Lighting Products, or Westburne, or some place like that.

For a double-ended 250w halide it will be an ANSI M80 ballast and the bad news is that I think these are not made anymore. However I'll explain what I know anyhow. There are three components: the transformer (the "coil"), the capacitor (the "cap", looks like a tin can) and then pulse-start ballasts (of which M80 would be) have a 3rd component, the ignitor, which looks like a smaller cap usually. Sometimes, it is the capacitor and sometimes it is the ignitor when they go, but unfortunately unless you are an electrician, diagnosing the errant component involves trial-and-error replacing until it starts working.

Having said all that, however .....

Double-ended halide lamps are notoriously finicky. Have you confirmed that it isn't the lamp? Because dollars to donuts, I bet it is the lamp. If you try another it might just fire up. When I ran these lamps myself I had some fail as early as 6 months in and they wouldn't even turn on.

In my experience time to replace the ballast assembly.

I do have another lamp I can check yes, once the daystar shined again ...

Charles

Yep, it is karked, tried two different bulbs and no luck ... any one recommend Radion Gen2 or AI Vega for my tank?

Charles

Did you get it fixed? When my JBJ ballast quit it was just the switch. Easy fix, I bypassed the switch.

I don't know enough about electronics, tried to get an electrical guy to look at it but no joy, I ended up buying an LED, guess I should have tried a little harder ... thanks for the suggestion ...

Charles

It appears to be a coil/capacitor magnetic ballast, not electronic. In most cases with these, it's the capacitor or ignitor (if it has one) that will fail. Either should be simple to replace, but you need to get the numbers/specs of the capacitor in order to find a compatible replacement or original part. Careful when handling a capacitor, particularly a large one, they can store a charge for a long time. Short the terminals with a screwdriver or something similar with an insulated handle to discharge it. If you put your fingers across the terminals inadvertantly, you could get a nasty zap.

I see that you've purchased an LED fixture now, but it may still be worth resurrecting the Halide. A couple of links to pages with pdf version of HID Lighting Ballast Pocket Guide follow. This has detailed info on most types of ballast & includes a troubleshooting section at the end.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/building...ance_2003a.pdf

http://code-elec.com/content/00/01/5...ting-guide.pdf

& a link to the manual for your light, I think...

http://www.aquacave.com/Manuals/JBJ-...luxeManual.pdf

All the right experience
 

Take a trip down to the Incredigrow store off Macleod by cheesecake cafe. These hydroponic horticulture specialists work with mh ballasts for a living they can give you options.

Make a phone call
 

You should pick up the phone and call jbj lighting tech support and discuss the problem and fixes thoroughly with them to get as much information out of them as possible.

Maybe they can just send the part you need.