ballasts

[peter d]

There are more problems with the current/voltage relationship within buildings than in the past.
Maybe this is contributing to the 'burnout' we are seeing today.

As I said in my above post I'm quite convinced it has to do with a cheaply made product that is not made robustly enough for the environment it is in.

 

[mdshunk]

There's nothing more embarrassing to me than going back just a couple years later to replace the exact same ballast again, particularly when the room has 50 other fixtures that are just fine. I've always used Advance brand ballasts, which I have regarded as being of high quality. I really don't know what else I can do, but I do feel my reputation suffers a bit when this happens. It is hard to explain to a customer that it's out of my hands, but I did pick the ballast after all, so it is my "fault" you might say. I just hate putting so much effort into high quality work, only to be thrown under the bus by products that fail to perform.

 

[LLSolutions]

Have any of the replaced ones died? You may have hit a bad batch. Check voltage at the fixture too. Check it under load also, you never know?

 

[iwire]

I have opened a few dead electronic ballasts.

Each of the ones I opened had a blown fuse on the input wiring. Of course the fuse is soldered in place and I have no way of knowing if replacing it would fix anything or if it would just blow right away.

 

[mdshunk]

I have opened a few dead electronic ballasts.

Each of the ones I opened had a blown fuse on the input wiring. Of course the fuse is soldered in place and I have no way of knowing if replacing it would fix anything or if it would just blow right away.

I am left to wonder if lamps not being solidly in contact with the tombstones, or tombstones with marginal stab connections, would contribute to a sufficiently high current to blow that fuse? On another forum recently, it was advised by a knowledgeable person to check the condition of the tombstones, and the lamp connection thereto, carefully when servicing a fixture that has gone through multiple ballasts in a short period of time.

 

[iaov]

Ditto that.

Ditto on your ditto.

 

[peter d]

Ditto on your ditto.

I've already forgotten what we're dittoing.

 

[tyha]

have had that happen twice with the exact same problems and the first time it was a loose neutral in a j-box and the second it was a neutral was crossed and carried the load of 2 ckts on the same leg. next time you go there if all the lights are on the same circuit I will almost guarntee there is a loose neutral somewhere and if it is 2 or more circuits than the neutrals are crossed somewhere. either way it has something to do with the neutral

 

[Jeff80]

Are you close to a power station? voltage spike when switching grids fry a ton of our electronic universal ballasts. The other thing that comes to mind is losing a neutral down line and feeding 480 to the ballasts.

 

[jeffhornsby]

installing the lamps

installing the lamps

i would most likley bet it was a bad batch, but spikes, the location of a substation and installing the lamps while the power is turned can cause damage to the ballast

 

[scrooge]

Handle like glass.

Handle like glass.

Maybe forklifts, dropped.

 

[ronaldrc]

Long thread

Hey maybe thats just a jinxed location probably never get one to work there.