Is my MH/ballast working??

[jsl6v8]

Well I've fired up my "new/used" 250W pendant, and I gotta say I love the color, but my problem is that I'm currently questioning if its working or not, it fires up just fine and all but there is no heat going to the tank, it does have a nice fan on the pendant but still, and the ballast is silent and isn't all that hot either. Is there a way for me to check if its actually pushing the 250W?

[lifesworksataol]

is it electronic or mechanical? what brands on everything?
electric ballast run a little less heat then mechanical ballast.
you could use a killawatt (which tells the power the ballast is using) and a light meter (to tell how much light it is producing).

[jsl6v8]

I believe you mean magnetic not mechanical, and I'm not sure at all, I can't find anywhere on the thing that says what type it is. I kinda though the killawatt meter was the answer was just hoping for something simpler, thanks for your input jason.

[hexedagain]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11133734#post11133734 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jsl6v8
I believe you mean magnetic not mechanical, and I'm not sure at all, I can't find anywhere on the thing that says what type it is. I kinda though the killawatt meter was the answer was just hoping for something simpler, thanks for your input jason.

SE or DE bulbs?
Can you get a part/model number off of the ballast?( Along with the brand)

[lifesworksataol]

yea thats what i meant :-D been reading to many books lately on filtration.
yea whatever you can get off the ballast would help greatly!

[jsl6v8]

its a squat silver PFO lighting ballast, so I'm guessing magnetic. SE mogul socket bulbs. I have no model number on the ballast. I do get that nice shimmer effect but I don't know that that means anything really.

[AquaKnight407]

You typically would be able to hear a magnetic ballast fire up. I think electronica are/near silent?

[jsl6v8]

well it could just be that its silent in that it is able to hde its noise under everything else, my bedroom is by no means quiet, 2000gph going into a 40g sump isn't exactly a whisper :-)

[jsl6v8]

Alright the ballast just now kicked on, I heard an audible click when it kicked on, but other than that no noise, after 10 min there is no heat at all emitting from the ballast and when I put my ear up against it I can hear a slight buzz sound.

[dugg]

I don't think a MH bulb will even fire on voltage less then the bulb is rated at. I am pretty sure that if you put a 400w MH bulb on a 250w ballast, it won't fire at all. It won't just light up dimmed. If it is firing up and lighting, everything should be working fine.

[jsl6v8]

my understand is that they will fire at lower wattages but they just won't work properly as they aren't getting all the wattage they require but then I'm not 100% on that. Its just so little heat....

[jsl6v8]

oo oo good news the ballast is hot now, not cook an egg hot, but like washing your hands before cooking hot.

[lifesworksataol]

are you touching the housing for the ballast or the ballast its self? is it long like 10 inches or 5 inches?

[jsl6v8]

its short and squat, its the housing, dimensions are
7 3/4Wx8 1/2Lx5 5/8H

[lifesworksataol]

pics? how many bulbs does it run?

[jsl6v8]

1 bulb. just the 250w hamilton 14k http://www.pfolighting.com/AqBallasts.aspx looks like the top picture the AQ1, hopefully admins won't block the site.