New Ballasts for PCs

[judochop]

I recently had to replace the four ballasts for my 32W PCs. Unfortunately, I could not drive all the way to Atlanta (I live in the Dalton area) to get the exact replacement ballasts (original ballast was Work Horse 3 Model # WH3-120-L). I went to Home Depot and asked them if they sold anything comparable that would run the PCs. They directed me to a GE Universal Lighting Technologies ballast part # 546BTCP. The HD ballast says "For use with (1) F20WT12 Lamp 120VAC 60Hz. Now when I power on the lamps I see them barely glow for about 6 minutes before they light fully. Sometimes they dont light all the way and I have to either jiggle or push the bulb to make it light all the way. It doesn't seem to be a connection issue cause I can see the bulb having a slight glow. Any idea what is wrong? Is it the ballasts? The bulbs are brand new 4-pin 32W PC Acintics.

Thanks for any input.

 

[frewl]

I'm not a pro or even an amateur but that seems to be a ballast for a 20 Watt lamp.

 

[judochop]

Thats what I was thinking... :unsure:

 

[frewl]

I got 2 32 watt ballast semi laying around. I just have to take them out of an AP24 hood they are made by current USA.

The Ballast are brand new I bought the hood so I could mess around with one and try to retrofit it with either MH or even LEDs. I know you need 4 but then 2 would be better then nothing for the moment.

 

[george]

Judo, one thing about those ballasts is that they're low frequency which means that the strobe that all fluorescent lights have will be down to the visible range.

Some people feel that fish and other denizens are affected by this. Most ballasts designed for the aquarium industry are high frequency ballasts (an Icecap 660 is 10K Hz, IIRC) to eliminate the visible strobe.

 

[judochop]

Thank you guys for the info. I tried to save a few bucks and it looks like I wasted my money. :sad: I guess I am gonna have to drive to Atlanta after all.

Frewl, thanks for the offer on those ballasts! I may take you up on that. I'll pm ya!

Thanks again,

Matt