Ballast kit problem

[Rodrigo]

Hi, everyone.

Just a quick question, there was a power outage in my area a few days ago, as a result something happened with the HPS ballast and now the light doesn't come on. I know it is not the bulb.
I was looking into buying a whole new transformer+igniter+capacitor (ballast) kit, but now I wonder if there's a way I can find out which one of these elements may be damaged and replace the one element instead of the whole kit, they go for about US$80 here, but the less I need to spend the better. I'm good with electrics, wiring and soldering, so I'm good doing this on my own.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[wufo]

Might sound daft but have u checked the fuse in the plug.

 

[Starkiller]

If the ballast doesn't stink I'd try the igniter first.

 

[Rodrigo]

There's no fuse, so that wasn't it.
The ballast doesn't smell, so I'm down to either the igniter or the capacitor, the problem is both these components look identical, they're both cylindrical and almost identical in size, both have writings on them but it doesn't say what they are. So I guess I'm gonna have to check a wiring diagram and try to figure out which one is which.

Any other ideas?

 

[Starkiller]

If there's a symbol that looks kind of like a backwards u with an f next to it that will be the capacitor. The wiring diagram is your best bet.

 

[Rodrigo]

Well, after 3 weeks of not having the HPS I went ahead and bought a new ballast kit (transformer+igniter+capacitor), it was US$60.
When I got home I went to install it and wouldn't you know, I found the problem. As it turned out, all the components were OK, the failure was on the output cables that connect to the bulb (after passing through the electrical components). For some reason the Live wire sort of exploded and got cut, so I cut away the burned wires and changed the connectors the were crisped, reconnect everything and voila!
Hopefully I'll be able to return the kit tomorrow and get my $60 back, I can't find the fucking receipt!

Thanks all for your advice anyways.


Good luck and Happy growing!

 

[David Bowman]

Or keep it as a backup for when something like this happens again.