ballast help

[sharkboy]

does anyone have a ballast for 6ft vho's so that i can check to see if the bulbs are bad? is there another way to check a ballast?

[ErikH]

not sure if you can get into the ballast or not, but if you can you can look for popped capacitors. They will look swollen and or popped with battery acid type substance coming out of the top.
http://www.jebswebsite.com/misc_pics/ibm_mobo_capacitors.jpg

[Noober]

haha, yeah thats probably a capasitor problem, good place to start. I didnt come here just to say the same thing that was mentioned previously. its just that i thought the literal "leaking" capasitor was funny, has double meaning since capasitors will leak electricity as well haha, anyway sorry dumb joke. good luck

[sharkboy]

thanks...i will try and see if i can get inside without tearing things up...

[topsoil]

Can't you just check the ballast with a voltmeter? The voltage runs about 600V (instant start type bulbs) for a few seconds, then drops a bit once a fluorescent bulb gets going. If you have a voltmeter that has different scales (most do), just set the scale to read on the 1000V range, then see if you get any sort of reading across the lamp wires. Just be carefull not to shock yourself!

If you want to check the ballast with a bulb, any fluorescent bulb will work. Doesn't have to be VHO type. The NO fluorescent tubes just burn out faster because they are being overdriven.

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

Art,
Give me a call, I have a couple extra ballasts if you need 'em.

Steve

[jroescher]

Swap bulbs with someone that has a working 6' fixture. Then you'll know for sure what's wrong. Surely someone near you has a similar sized tank with vho's that would be willing to help.

[Bill S]

I have a working 6' VHO setup you can try. Won't be around until late Sunday night though.