MH ballast problem

[stickx911]

I though I just had rubbish wiring because every time I went to plug it in, I had to jiggle the connections. Well tired of this i soldered and heatshrinked them together to find out I have to jiggle the ballast</em> to get it to fire...odd. I'm not sure what to do. I though about opening the ballast and giving it a look see, but I wouldn't even know what I'm looking for.

It's an IceCap 250w. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

 

[derek_s]

I would probably onen it and look for something loose. I opened one of mine, and it is pretty simple. Look for loose parts, burn marks, etc.

 

[shromy]

+1 should be somewhere around where your input(wall plug) or output(to bulb)connects to the board from the sounds of it.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Just make sure you unplug it before opening!

 

[mufret]

Is this one of the older ballasts (has a molex plug for the wiring harness)? If so you can open it up. If it's a newer model (will have the 3 wires coming out of the body of the ballast), they are epoxy filled and might be alittle more difficult to repair.

 

[skriz]

Have you contacted icecap? They're really good to deal with.

 

[stickx911]

mufret;260595 wrote: Is this one of the older ballasts (has a molex plug for the wiring harness)? If so you can open it up. If it's a newer model (will have the 3 wires coming out of the body of the ballast), they are epoxy filled and might be alittle more difficult to repair.

It is the newer (by your description)

Skriz;260619 wrote: Have you contacted icecap? They're really good to deal with.

No, I have not. I will though; should I just go through their site?

 

[skriz]

Call or email them. If it's within 3 years, the repair is free!

 

[stickx911]

mufret;260595 wrote: Is this one of the older ballasts (has a molex plug for the wiring harness)? If so you can open it up. If it's a newer model (will have the 3 wires coming out of the body of the ballast), they are epoxy filled and might be alittle more difficult to repair.

poo

it is epoxy filled. why would they do that? I guess keep the parts more in place...

I emailed them, but I assume they're closed for the weekend, so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

 

[stickx911]

Another question, if I were to have to replace the ballast, does the fact that I have a DE bulb make any difference in the ballast selection?

I was looking online at some retailers, and they show options like pulse start, hqi, dual hqi...? What should I be looking for. Any specific reason to stay away from the cheaper industrial setups (

 

[mufret]

You'll need to get either an HQI (M80) or electronic ballast to fire a DE bulb.

 

[stickx911]

icecap said no go, and that it is non-repairable and I have to buy a new one for $120+ shipping. boo.

 

[skriz]

then you have nothing to lose. Open it up and go for it!

 

[stickx911]

Skriz;261701 wrote: then you have nothing to lose. Open it up and go for it!

lol, did that, they filled it with plastic. its a big black brick of plastic. I'll go over my wiring again, and check all my connections everywhere as I really do not want to buy another ballast as this could still be something I'm doing wrong...maybe I could just melt out that epoxy and work on it :up: