Metal Halide shorting question?

[aj2001]

Just picked up a used 175 watt halide w/ an advance ballast.Plugged it in and it lit right up, then after a couple minutes it shut off,wouldnt start up again for a few minutes, then lit right up again, and again 3 minutes or so later went out again.Bulb? Ballast? or not properly ground?
Thanx
Aj

 

[trigger0214]

I'd really inspect the bulbs for crack or breaks.

 

[Bodine]

Do you have a new lamp? This is common with new lamps.

 

[aj2001]

Its definately not a new bulb, and I cant find any cracks,I just wanna make sure it isnt the ballast before I buy a new bulb for it.
Thanx
Aj

 

[Anonymous]

Are you sure the lamp is the correct one? This happens frequently when the lamp is not installed in te proper orientation. If it is supposed to be mounted horizontal and is vertical and visa versa this can/will happen. Check the lamp for BU or BH marking(horizontal mounting) if you see BV it is vertical. HTH

 

[dobish]

That same thing happened to me when a bulb went bad....I replaced the bulb and it works great. You might want to try a cheap bulb from the local Home Depot to verify this is truly the problem before you go spending a bunch for a 6500 or 10000K.

 

[philakapd]

Hi Adam.

Obviously there are several possibilities here. First, check to see if it is an autotransformer ballast. Does it have different conductor leads for different voltages? i.e. 120v, 208v, 277v, 480v. Make sure you have the 120v wire from the transformer connected to your househould current.

If the voltage is correct, check the wattage values on the ballast and compare them with the lamp you are using. A 120v lamp using 175 watts will draw approximately 1.45 Amps.

If it is not an electronic ballast, then there is a piece of bi-metal inside that will open the circuit up if the ballast gets to hot. The cause of this would be the lamp is drawing too much current. Either because the lamp is to large for your circuit, or the lamp is bad. The only way to check the lamp is with a very exspensive tester to see if it is working properly. Maybe you know someone that has a "working" ballast you could try your lamp with, maybe at work if your in a factory industial type setting.

Hope this helps,

Good Luck,

Phil

 

[philakapd]

sorry, forgot to add something about the piece of bi-metal inside the ballast. If it gets too hot inside the ballast and the circuit opens (lamp shuts off), after a few minutes when the bi-metal cools down, it will close the circuit again and allow the lamp to come back on. This is a common problem which may be overlooked.