How do I know if my metal halide ballast is bad?
Signs that a Metal Halide light bulb or ballast needs replaced: The lamp appears to be a different color, or are turning pink.
How do I test a ballast with a multimeter?
To measure it, set your digital multimeter to around a thousand ohms resistance setting. Connect the black leads to the white ground wire on your ballast. Afterward, test every other wire with the red lead. When you do this test, a good ballast will return an “open-loop” or max resistance.
How do you troubleshoot a metal halide fixture?
Check to see if the lamp is loose in the socket or if the base is distorted so that the lamp will not seat properly. Check socket for loose contacts, poor connections, or broken wiring. High pressure sodium and low-wattage metal halide lamps require a starter that provides a high-voltage pulse to start the lamp.
How do you test a metal halide light fixture?
Check the ballast output with a voltage tester. Turn on the lamp and touch the ends of the tester leads to the lamp electrodes with the bulb in place, then remove the bulb and make the same test. You should get voltage readings in both cases that agree with the output specified on the label.
How long do metal halide ballasts last?
Most high quality ballasts have a life expectancy anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 hours. The life is greatly dependent on operating temperature and the quality of components used.
How do I know if its the ballast or bulb?
2. Look for warning signs that the ballast is failing.
- Buzzing. If you hear a strange sound coming from your bulbs or light fixture, like a buzzing or humming noise, that’s often a sign your ballast is going.
- Dimming or flickering.
- No lights at all.
- Changing colors.
- Swollen casing.
- Burn marks.
- Water damage.
- Leaking oil.
What is a light ballast?
In a fluorescent lighting system, the ballast regulates the current to the lamps and provides sufficient voltage to start the lamps. Without a ballast to limit its current, a fluorescent lamp connected directly to a high voltage power source would rapidly and uncontrollably increase its current draw.
Can you touch a metal halide bulb?
This will definitely harm the lamp and can cause premature failure. If you have a large lamp with an external envelope, it is IMPOSSIBLE to touch the MH lamp, so you don’t need to worry so much.
Is a light ballast a capacitor?
The ballast units are generally composed of a transformer to reduce the incoming voltage, a small capacitor (that may contain PCBs) and possibly a thermal cut-off switch or safety fuse. PCB were used as liquid insulators in electronic equipment.
Is a ballast the same as a capacitor?
Ballasts vary greatly in complexity. They may be as simple as a resistor, inductor, or capacitor (or a combination of these) wired in series with the lamp; or as complex as the electronic ballasts used in compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and high-intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps).
How long does a metal halide bulb last?
6,000 hours to 15,000 hours
Metal Halide lights have an better lifespan relative to old technology like incandescent lights but they have a short lifespan compared to LED. Typical lifespan values range from 6,000 hours to 15,000 hours before a bulb requires replacement.
How to tell if a metal halide light bulb or ballast needs?
Signs that a Metal Halide light bulb or ballast needs replaced: The lamp appears to be a different color, or are turning pink This is known as color shift, a natural effect of Metal Halide over long periods of operation. Usually the lamps will gain a pinkish hue when compared to other lamps in the same system.
What to do if your halide light bulb blows?
If your metal halide lamp does not start or burns irregularly, there may be a problem with the ballast or the bulb. Metal halide bulbs are long lasting, but they do eventually wear out. Check the lamp — it may have become loose in the socket. If that’s the case, tighten it. If you suspect the lamp may be blown or defective, try a replacement lamp.
What’s the temperature of a metal halide lamp?
Metal halide lamps operate at a high temperature. Always let a lamp cool down completely before you touch it. The color temperature of lighting produced by metal halide lamps is close to natural sunlight. Metal halide lamps belong to a family of high intensity discharge (HID) lamps that includes mercury-vapor and sodium-vapor lamps.
How do you check the ballast of a lamp?
Check the ballast output with a voltage tester. Turn on the lamp and touch the ends of the tester leads to the lamp electrodes with the bulb in place, then remove the bulb and make the same test. You should get voltage readings in both cases that agree with the output specified on the label.
