electronic digital ballast blows fuse inside it?

[pokerman2006200]

hey people i need help. i dont know why my ballast keeps blowing the little fuse inside it. Is it a bad ballast? I jus got this ballast to.

 

[pokerman2006200]

it will work, then shut offs, i replace the fuse it works for a little bit, then shuts off?

 

[srk]

is it a lumatek?

 

[srk]

if it is a lumatek digital I've heard to get it exchanged where you bought it b/c they'll keep blowing the fuse. Shake your ballast do you hear shit inside it?

 

[VenturaHwy]

Take it back, why keep a defective ballast.

 

[pokerman2006200]

yea it gets hot, yea its the fuse that came with it

 

[srk]

they're gonna get hot thats not why its popping. If its a lumatek when the fuse blows lots of shit gets inside the ballast and causes problems.

 

[JohnnyToke]

if you are going to use digital ballast, you should have an old style magnetic for a backup on hand. nothing worse than having your grow in flower and your ballast go down. you will more than likely need it sooner or later. i tried the digital 1000's from SS. went through 5 of them in one month popping the internal fuses before giving up on them.

I hear the 400 & 600's are more reliable but I still use the magnetics regardless of the wattage.

JT

 

[pokerman2006200]

yea i have an old diamond ballast but thats about to go to...it barely puts any wattage out...does anybody know why the old magnetic ballast would not put much power out? the bulb is lit but not at max

 

[wantaknow]

most likly the bulb ,or the starter

 

[pokerman2006200]

yea its not the bulb i just bought a new hortilux bulb, if its the starter how do i fix that? is there any places that fix old ballast?

 

[JohnnyToke]

open it up, look at the capacitor and see which capacitor it is. find a replacement at your local electric supply or online. they run $15 or so and this will most likely fix your problem.

JT

 

[SpacedCWBY]

JT is on to something, but the digis that I've seen are all built on circuit boards - might be a bit of an issue getting that just right and void the warranty.

Take those things back and get a core/coil - they're proven.

 

[JohnnyToke]

if its a digital ballast, I have no internal repair knowledge of these.

if its a magnetic instead of digital. when you open it up, it should have a large coil, large "can" type capacitor and a smaller ignitor.

its important to replace the capacitor with one of the same values. doesnt necessarily need to be by the same manufacturer. honestly, its a 10 minute repair job at best.

JT

 

[SpacedCWBY]

Stealth ballast design... HTGsupply has got cheap c/c ballast rebuilt kits. Put 2 or 3 of these into a PC case. Air cooled, safe, stealth. lol, the shit stoners come up with...

 

[pokerman2006200]

sup jt, do u know where i could purchase the capacitors or small igniters?

if its a digital ballast, I have no internal repair knowledge of these.

if its a magnetic instead of digital. when you open it up, it should have a large coil, large "can" type capacitor and a smaller ignitor.

its important to replace the capacitor with one of the same values. doesnt necessarily need to be by the same manufacturer. honestly, its a 10 minute repair job at best.

JT

 

[JohnnyToke]

ebay or online from htg is probably the best place. capacitors and ignitors wont raise any red flags being shipped to you.

htg sells replacement ballast kits for around $50. might not be a bad idea to by the whole set. start out by replacing the capacitor. if that fixes your problem, you have a spare ignitor and coil on hand in case they break down the road.

JT