HID Ballast testers

[Chad Mills]

Has anyone used these testers or heard much about them? They cost about $130. Thought they might come in handy, but didn't know how well they worked.
Thanks

 

[iwire]

I bought a Greenlee one, it's collecting dust on the shelf.

Pretty much worthless in my opinion.

Go to Advance Ballasts site and download the HID troubleshooting guide, with that guide and your multimeter you have all you need.

 

[ultramegabob]

I used to use a Greenlee ballast/lamp tester, it was pretty nice for checking any type of lamp that needed a ballast, thats about all I ever used it for, for the most part, if you have voltage and a good lamp, its a bad ballast, you can test a capacitor with a meter.....

 

[jerm]

what does any of that have to do with Lightning? :grin:

 

[quogueelectric]

Has anyone used these testers or heard much about them? They cost about $130. Thought they might come in handy, but didn't know how well they worked.
Thanks

I bought the greenlee in 1987 and it has been collecting dust in my truck for over 20 yrs.

 

[480sparky]

I've got the Greenlee 5715 as well, but I use it on a regular basis to test lamps only. I've never used it to test a ballast. If the lamp is good, I replace everything else (ballast, ignitor, capacitor, etc).

 

[electricman2]

Its been my experience that HID ballasts seldom fail if supplied with correct voltage and correct lamp is used. Install a known good lamp, if it doesn't work look for a bad ignitor or capacitor.