T5 help

thanh386

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Anyomw know why a set of lights would light up for a sec and turn off? Ice cap 660 ballasts
 
did you double check to make sure the bulbs are in the endcaps correctly and none of the wiring got messed up when you were changing bulbs?

How old is the ballast?
 
Did it just do it once and then never worked again? If it is only some of the time you can bet it is a loose wire in the tombstone or where you connect to the ballast.
 
make sure ALL the lights are in the sockets correctly. If they are on the same switch a loose one will sometimes make another one cut off.

B
 
Before you check fuses I would unplug everything and then replug again to make sure it is not a connection problem
 
Metal Halide will cycle like that when a lamp is going bad but fluorescent will not. The most likely cause will be a loose lamp, a loose wire at the tombstone (the part that holds the lamp), a loose connection in wirenut or terminal that connects the tombstone to the ballast, a broken wire (but you can't see the break because of the insulation) or a ballast that is over heating. If it cuts out in 2 seconds I would not suspect the ballast of overheating unless I ruled everything else out.
 
rdnelson99;744774 wrote: Metal Halide will cycle like that when a lamp is going bad but fluorescent will not. The most likely cause will be a loose lamp, a loose wire at the tombstone (the part that holds the lamp), a loose connection in wirenut or terminal that connects the tombstone to the ballast, a broken wire (but you can't see the break because of the insulation) or a ballast that is over heating. If it cuts out in 2 seconds I would not suspect the ballast of overheating unless I ruled everything else out.

+1 or it could be a short somewhere causing a rapid overheat of the ballast

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Mine did this. I ended up frying a t5 end. Had to replace the connection cup
 
JohnIII;744788 wrote: +1 or it could be a short somewhere causing a rapid overheat of the ballast

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Possible but unlikely. Thanh, don't change the fuses. If a fuse blew, it would never work again until you changed the fuse. You will be wasting time and money. Check all connections first. Tug gently on all wires and see if they come out or feel loose. BUT UN PLUG IT FIRST. Your hair is curly enough already. Keep in mind, a ballast bumps the voltage up substantially. If you contact a loose wire while it is plugged in it will really hurt.
 
rdnelson99;744809 wrote: possible but unlikely. Thanh, don't change the fuses. If a fuse blew, it would never work again until you changed the fuse. you will be wasting time and money. check all connections first. Tug gently on all wires and see if they come out or feel loose. But un plug it first. Your hair is curly enough already. Keep in mind, a ballast bumps the voltage up substantially. If you contact a loose wire while it is plugged in it will really hurt.

lol
 
If they were working before and you didn't manhandle the endcaps when you were changing out the bulbs, I'll bet it's either a bulb that not seated properly or a bad bulb.
 
Replaced all the fuses. Worked for a bit now off again. Rawr. Back at work so have to wait till later to try something new
 
This was happening to me and it was the fuses on the fixture. When I plugged the fixture into a different outlet (on a different circuit) it went back to normal. Aquatic life told me it was a saftey feature in their fixtures that prevented the actual breaker from tripping and causing bigger problems on the system. Just thought id share my experience with this
 
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