Does anyone know about the workings of a digital ballast?

A

Allred83

Well-Known Member
:wall: Ok my ballast has started acting up its a digital and i was cureous if sence it can light both MH and HPS bulbs like a magnetic one does it run diffrent igniters for the diffrent bulbs? My MH wont start up right away it kinda does a dull flash 2 times then goes out BUT if you wait for the ballast to compleatly cool down and plug it in repetedly 10 or so times it starts gitting briter and then finaly comes on im waiting for a hps bulb to arrive in the mail and see if it works does anyone know about igniters in a digital ballast
 
Have you tried a fan blowing on the ballast to keep it cool? It sounds like the ballast is or has failed. The digital ones are solid state so there isn't much you can do to fix them yourself. I just has one go bad on me last week. It popped the house breaker and when I reset it, the ballast started making a weird noise and belched out all the magic smoke. It stunk the whole house up.

The power on and off sounds like you may have a bad transistor or capacitor in the ballast...Either way, it is not something you can fix yourself. If under warranty, send it back or check where you got it for repair options...But I think your better off buying a new one (with a new warranty) .
 
this ballast is only 3 months old it still has a new warranty im just trying to gather as much info i can because the supplyer i got it from said out of the 100's sold that he has only had a couple problems and has never heard of this problem so im just doing all the ground work so i can set up a streight exchange because if i send it to him and it boots right up then i look like a fool and i pay shipping both ways instead of just one way
 
he is just a supplyer and dosent know all the workings of the ballast but yah i think something is failing inside the ballast itself
 
so does anyone know if a digital ballast has igniters like a magnetic ballast and if not how does the ballast turnon the diffrent bulbs
 
should be built right in it and i think it does google it man or it could be a circuit board inside as the ignitor
 
Check your local hardware store and see if they carry a MH or HPS bulb that matches your ballast. If that new light fails, get yourself some emergency CFLs and get that ballast into the return system ASAP.

Its possible your bulb is bad, but without a different one to try, you don't know and I understand on wanting to wait to be sure of that.

You said that ballast is under warranty. DO NOT TRY AND FIX IT! Don't open it or do anything to it or you will be out of luck because if it looks tampered with, you can't exchange it.

I am in the same boat as you on the exchange, but I was lucky enough to have two ballasts and reflectors. During the waiting for the new one, I am flipping my reflectors with the working ballast every 6 hours during lights on.
 
Allred83 said:
so does anyone know if a digital ballast has igniters like a magnetic ballast and if not how does the ballast turnon the diffrent bulbs
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Its electronically detected by the driver circuit in the ballast. It does a check to ID the bulb type and then feeds voltage based on what it detects. A shorted bulb or wiring will cause the ballast to just shut down.

Have you checked for loose connections between your ballast, reflector, and bulb?
 
yes i have checked everything the problem with returning the ballast and it being my fault i look like a ass and i have to pay shipping both ways if i verify the problem before i send it i only have to pay shipping one way and he will supply the other
 
Allred83 said:
yes i have checked everything the problem with returning the ballast and it being my fault i look like a ass and i have to pay shipping both ways if i verify the problem before i send it i only have to pay shipping one way and he will supply the other
Click to expand...

I respect that. Good luck!
 
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