Flourescent ballast troubleshooting

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sparky_magoo

sparky_magoo

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Reno
I went on a service call today. The other full time service man in our company started the call. It was for an exterior sign which had four 84" T-12 HO lamps. He said the ballast & lamps were NFG. I replaced the lamps & it lit up. I replaced the ballast anyway. It was leaking tar & should have been replaced, IMHO.

This situation comes up all the time. How do I test flourescent ballasts. I go to a site & find black-ended, burnt up tubes. I always stick my "hot stick" into the sockets & it rings. I assume the ballast is good & re-lamp. Frequently, the fixture won't light up. I then replace the ballast & the fixture works. Is there any way to field-test the ballast, so I don't have to make two trips?
 
Cut and paste the links below and you will get some good info from Advance Transformer

"www.advancetransformer.com/uploads/resources/flb-troubleshooting-guide.pdf"

Fluorescent Pocket/Troubleshooting Guide

"www.advancetransformer.com/uploads/resources/advance-ballast-checker.pdf"

Advance Ballast Checker Information Sheet
 
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my experince

If known good lamps do not light it's usually a bad ballast, but you already know that.

I have had some success if my solinoid voltage testers (wiggeys) will reach and I have the dexterity to make it. Open circuit voltage lamp holder to lampholder is about 180 - 200 V I think.

Visual check on the sockets(broke, cracked, burnt) and tugging the wires (gentley) works some times.

But this probably is nothing new
 
This is how i had this exsplained to me from a company side.The sign or what ever is out.They already are facing a $70 min bill just for me showing up.If all i do is replace lamps thet still at all most $100.Now if i drive off and probplem happens again in short period we have disgruntled customer.Best cost effective thing i can do is replace bulbs and ballast and i am 99% likely to solved promlem.
 
I'll change the ballast in a heartbeat along with the lamps f the label shows any signs of discoloring. ALWAYS in plastic signs, because there is just too much work taking them apart to not change the ballast(s). I sub for a retail maintenance company that requires that ballasts be changed with the lamps. Their theory is that the store personnel will replace lamps as needed, and will call when lamp changes no longer work. Granted, ballasts and lamps are testable, but you can't test for a ballast that is heating up and shutting down on the internal thermal.
 
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mdshunk said:
I'll change the ballast in a heartbeat along with the lamps f the label shows any signs of discoloring. ALWAYS in plastic signs, because there is just too much work taking them apart to not change the ballast(s). I sub for a retail maintenance company that requires that ballasts be changed with the lamps. Their theory is that the store personnel will replace lamps as needed, and will call when lamp changes no longer work. Granted, ballasts and lamps are testable, but you can't test for a ballast that is heating up and shutting down on the internal thermal.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. your right. It takes so long to disassemble the sign, that I like to replace the ballast. The other poster was correct. Customers get PO'ed when I relamp & the ballast fails a month later. This has happenened to me too many times. I agree with the poster who said, when the label is discolered, replace the ballast. Usually, when I replace a ballast, the label is totally gone. Perhaps, I should be more agrresive in replacing ballasts. More money for the company & less static I have to here when the ballast fails two weeks later.

Still, How can I test the ballast in the field?
 
I look at it this way: the ballast is what killed the tubes. That you're there is all the evidence you need.
 
Still, How can I test the ballast in the field?
[/I][/QUOTE] Why waist the time.
 
sparky_magoo said:
Still, How can I test the ballast in the field?
Click to expand...

Did you check the links I posted?

This one, "www.advancetransformer.com/uploads/resources/flb-troubleshooting-guide.pdf"
 
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We do an ample amount of lighting troubleshooting for retail properties in Atl. area. My first step is to test for correct voltage and if that's correct, then replace lamp. If lamp does not light up, then its a complete tune up, ballast, cap, etc...plus new lamp.
 
paul hodge said:
... then its a complete tune up...
Click to expand...

"Tune up". Thank you. I might borrow that. Laymen can relate more to the term "tune up" better than "ballast replacement".

Customer- "What does my light need"
Me - "Nothing besides the ordinary tune-up parts."
 
mdshunk said:
"Tune up". Thank you. I might borrow that. Laymen can relate more to the term "tune up" better than "ballast replacement".

Customer- "What does my light need"
Me - "Nothing besides the ordinary tune-up parts."
Click to expand...

There is a risk to that kind of response. If you happen to be talking to someone who knows what is in a fluorescent light, you could come across as scamming them. I think it would come across better to tell them that you replaced the ballast and the bulbs and the whole thing is as good as new.
 
Bob NH said:
...you could come across as scamming them.
Click to expand...
Maybe, which is why it is always prudent to tailor your speech to your audience. "Tune up parts" is just another tool in the linguistic toolbox, is all. Finding ways to explain technical things to a non-technical end user is a good thing. In practice, I would probalby explain what the repair required, and gauge the level of "deer in the headlights stare", and perhaps add that they are ordinary tune-up items. Who knows. I just learned that phrase in relation to fluorescent and HID lights just now, so we'll see how it works out. I suspect that there are a certain amount of people who care less about the minutia and are more concerned whether they have a serious or run-of-the-mill problem. If a the phrase "nothing but the ordinary tune-up items" raises suspicion among my customers, and they don't want to take my word for it, I'd rather not have them as my customer. In truth, there's too much good work out there for me to mess around with folks like that. I understand that my attitude on that matter might have to be adjusted in a different market areas, but where I operate, there's more than enough work to go around. Let someone else deal with the suspicious minds.
 
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Call it what you may, but for me I'm not going back and forth to the supply house to replace one piece of the HID at a time.

Time=Cost to Customer.

Bob, man your way too serious...Lighten Up :smile:
 
mdshunk said:
I'll change the ballast in a heartbeat along with the lamps f the label shows any signs of discoloring. ALWAYS in plastic signs, because there is just too much work taking them apart to not change the ballast(s). I sub for a retail maintenance company that requires that ballasts be changed with the lamps. Their theory is that the store personnel will replace lamps as needed, and will call when lamp changes no longer work. Granted, ballasts and lamps are testable, but you can't test for a ballast that is heating up and shutting down on the internal thermal.
Click to expand...


I agree. Fair Service to the customer calls for a Fair Fix.
Tell the customer that the expense of the ballast (which is 'probably' bad)
is less than the extra service call later.

I worked in an old hospital for years. The ballasts were 'dripping' bad, but most still worked because the tubes were failing to conduct at rated ampere load. It seems, in my memory, that time I replaced a 'dark-ended' tube with a new one, the other tube would fail within two weeks. Every time I replaced TWO tubes, then the ballast could not supply the rated ampere load. So, I adopted the practice of replacing any 'dripping' or old-style ballast with a new ballast, along with always TWO new tubes.
Turned a two man job into a one man job.

glene77is
 
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