ballast gone bad

[wjhuie]

I have had one of my 400w ballast go out it is a raw m 59 ballast.
the people at hellolights say that they are allmost bulletproof and that it my be the capactor does anybody know anything about these things

[Rendos]

It should have a cap/coil type ballast inside the enclosure along with a capacitor which helps fire the bulb. It will look like a small cylinder with 2 wires coming out of it. If you want to try replacing that before replacing the ballast, get the numbers off the old one, and go to Lowe's or an industrial lighting shop. They usually have them in stock. More than likely it is the capacitor...not the actual ballast that has gone bad. Also check to make sure a wire hasn't gotten corroded badly...that could also do it. If the ballast has a power on/off switch, that could have gone bad too. You may want to check it out also.

[just dave]

I've had to replace capacitors and switches before so I keep a few around just in case. Never had to replace the actual ballast.

[willember]

is there any way taking it apart could shock the begesus out of him? I have hear of some stuff holding a charge even after it is unplugged. Be cafeful with electricity...

[wjhuie]

already shocked the begesus out of my self hey dave any chance you might sell me a capacitor if you have onr to spare its for a 400w m59 I've heard it's a pretty common ballast

[wjhuie]

the ballsat is a raw ballast I did all the wiring myself and there is no on or off switch except the timer it's plugged in to. It ran fine for a year till I blew a bulb and replaced it with a used ushio 20k till my new bulb arrived the usio worked fine for two days then the next day it did not fire at all. I checked all connections and they are ok.