how to ... TEST A BALLAST???

[Superully]

i'm about to finish my donkey kong restoration, but the lighting fixture isn't working. both the starter and the tube itself have been tested working "outside the system", so basically all that remains is the ballast (for those of you who don't know, that's the "black box" in the middle of the picture)!



of course i could remove / replace it with a known working one or i could simply install a new fixture, but i'd like to keep the original stuff for now, so i was wondering wether there is a way to test those ballasts in circuit and find out whether it is dead indeed.

any help would be appreciated ...

[level42]

Yup.

Insert suspected ballast in working set-up.

Light on ? Ballast OK
Light off ? Ballast not OK. -> Replace.





You can get 110VAC ballast from Belgium for under 7 Euro's.

[PaulSwan]

Also meter out the tube connectors/wiring. The tube connectors often become brittle and break/deform due to the heat.
Paul.

[Superully]

Insert suspected ballast in working set-up.

Light on ? Ballast OK
Light off ? Ballast not OK. -> Replace.

fantastic, andré, you're a genius . on a serious note: is there no other way to test it without removal?

You can get 110VAC ballast from Belgium for under 7 Euro's.

yeah, i tried to get stuff from that guy a long time ago, he responded quickly first, but then never got back to me, although i wrote him a couple of emails afterwards. this was in july 2011, perhaps i should send him another email 

[Superully]

Also meter out the tube connectors/wiring. The tube connectors often become brittle and break/deform due to the heat.

for continuity?

[PaulSwan]

Yes, and with the starter socket as well. The press-fit connectors are all shite.
Paul.

[level42]

Insert suspected ballast in working set-up.

Light on ? Ballast OK
Light off ? Ballast not OK. -> Replace.

fantastic, andré, you're a genius . on a serious note: is there no other way to test it without removal?

Thank you. Who said I wasn't serious ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPpqFdmoD0s

[level42]

Now THAT guy is a GENIOUS ! 

[Muerto]

Lol, i want to see him cahnging the ballast!!!!!!

[Etienne MacGyver]

Nice animation on how it works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z55566ep0Hg

[Laszo]

Nice animation, I ones had a ballast with a choke that failed, it took out three lamps and then i decided something was wrong with the armture and i started thinking about how this thing worked. Funny how you first have to wreck three tubes before turning your brain into on mode 

[level42]

I realize this is an old thread and I also realize that I never gave a proper answer mainly because..........i didnt know it either......but since i first experienced a bad ballast blowing up a brand new tube I did some googling and found this on Bob Roberts' website:

So it seems you can simply measure the resistance of ballasts.....I did it on the "bad" one and it measured about 3 ohm where it should be 26 Ohm for a 14-16W ballast. So pretty clear that this one is dead.

[Etienne MacGyver]

Also its cool to see how the starter works in close up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhUGPu3DgHw

[level42]

Cool !!
It's all old-school though......today it's electronic HF switching "ballasts" all around.....

Today I was at Hornbach DIY store and they had a pretty sweet 57cm T5 (thinner than the regular tube) fixture with tube and electronic ballast for just €11,95. It was a German brand and looked like good quality and there was a diffuser over the tube.

Of course it had an electronic ballast and I was pretty tempted to use one for the Q*bert but.........I just have to keep it original........

[Etienne MacGyver]

Yep, "Oldschool meuk" FTW!