Discuss Testing compact electronic ballasts in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

GBDamo

-
Esteemed
Arms
Reaction score
3,010
Currently in the process of changing lamps, all 32w GX24p-3.

Every one has had to have the ballast changed.

New lamps in, not working.

New ballast in working.

Ive phoned the ballast supplier and they report there are no lamp incompatibility issues.

The customer is pushing back on cost, as theve only ever had to change the lamps, why are they all suddenly broken?

The fittings are about five years old and used 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

They are fitted above a suspended ceiling in a heated area so i cant see any environmental issues, no damp.

Anyone heard of poor quality lamps causing ballasts to fail?

Any idea on how to go about testing an electronic ballast?

Typically, on electronic ballast fittings,i work on the 'if its not the lamp its the ballast' method and replace but the number out here is becomming a worry.

Any ideas much appreciated.
 
some ballasts,
if you change the tube with the power still on
(not that any of us would do such a thing) wont start back up until the power has been removed and turned back on. some type of failed lamp detection that locks out further attempts to restart the lamp.

I have also known some of the very early electronic ballasts to fail completely if the tubes are changed with power on.
 
I think if you do the maths Damo that's not bad for a ballast to be finally failing.

This coupled with possible use of cheap lamps in the past could be a contributing factor to the situation you have now.

Edit I miss read the time they was on.
Ignore my poor maths :(
 
heat damage causes ballasts to cook after a few years, esp. in cheap fittings. i was called out last week to a tripped 10A MCB feeding 6 florries. 2 of them had cooked ballasts. approx 6 years old.
 
can you not lay in some flat panel led 600 x 600 to fit the grid?
 
Well, I currently have an old one and a new one on the bench and would like to test them.

My worry is due to the nature of the electronics they will not output until a load is detected.

Anyone any experience of testing them?
 
This is proving quite an ask, I've been googling for a good hour with no joy.
 
am I being dumb here? power up both the new and old ballasts,
try a new tube in each in turn. note result
try a suspect tube in each. note result.
there are no serviceable parts inside the ballast so you are really only trying to find out if they work?
 
am I being dumb here? power up both the new and old ballasts,
try a new tube in each in turn. note result
try a suspect tube in each. note result.
there are no serviceable parts inside the ballast so you are really only trying to find out if they work?

These are 4pin compact fluorescent lamps, 2x32w off of one Electronic Ballast.

I have done all the obvious on site but was wondering if they can be bench tested and outputs measured.

It would appear that is a little hopeful without some serious test kit and a mocked up lamp holder.

My multimeter and volt stick just wont cut the mustard here I fear.
 
By definition, if the old ballast won't drive new good tubes, it's faulty. That much you will already know before it reaches the bench. What you really want to find out is why they failed, which can normally only be done by internal examination and possibly detective work. External tests probably won't reveal anything.
 
By definition, if the old ballast won't drive new good tubes, it's faulty. That much you will already know before it reaches the bench. What you really want to find out is why they failed, which can normally only be done by internal examination and possibly detective work. External tests probably won't reveal anything.

Cheers Lucien, you're correct. I'd like to say they have failed because of 'X' but that appears beyond my capabilities.

It's just odd that of the nine lights out the three I got to all had failed ballasts, there are another six to do which could all be lamps but it just seems weird.

I'm getting "the last company just changed the lamps"..."Why are they all broken now?"

My only response so far is possibly age or duff lamps used previously.

Just worried I'm missing something simple.
 

Reply to Testing compact electronic ballasts in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock