JBJ Nano-cube DX problem

[J8851]

The lights crapped out. What the hell........... I'm not sure if it is the fuse that died or if the actual ballast died. Does anyone know how i can figure this out. Also where i can find replacement parts for it?

jim

[J8851]

i just did something really stupid and bypassed the fuse and well long story short.

Its the fuse i need to figure out where i can get another one.

[mr pink floyd]

how big is the fuse?

i have an extra fuse from an MH fixture lying around somewhere, ill see if i can find it. I think its like 1/4"x1" maybe?

im not positive, but i think a fuse is a fuse, and you can get them anywhere? I think theyre universal, just different sizes... not sure though, ill check for it tomorrow.

[craiglanda]

Well you need to know the rating of the fuse. You can get a replacement as long as you know how many amps it is rated for.

[J8851]

i was told in the nano forum that you can pick one up at a local hardware store or possible lowe's.

F2AL250V thats the number on the top of the metal part of te fuse.

[craiglanda]

Yeah you can pick up a fuse at a local hardware store or radioshack. Just go in knowing exactly what you are looking for cause most people that work at those stores are the sharpest tools in the shed I will take a look and see if i can dig up what fuse you will need...

[craiglanda]

Ok well you need a 2 amp, 250 volt quick blow fuse...just make sure to bring it with you so you can match it up. one other thing. are you sure it is just the fuse? You can bridge the connection to make sure it turns on to check if it is just the fuse.

[ShiftNation]

I think he said he checked it by bridging it .

[craiglanda]

haha yeah bypassed i guess would mean bridged LOL!

[J8851]

Yeah, bridge is correct. Turns out the ballast is fried which sucks because i'm a firm believer in that if one thing goes something else goes and because the ballast went i don't want to mess around with the other components so there goes another 100$ in a new complete ballast set-up. Big bummer

I'm postive the initial issue was the fuse because i could see where it had blown out and was no longer connected from one side to the other. The ballast when i turned it on after putting the new fuse on today flickered for a few moments then let out a puff of black nasty smoke and the lights went out. However, the fans still run. The Ballast smells terrible to.

[craiglanda]

hey i dunno if you checked out this site but depending on which ballast you need it may not be as expensive.
http://www.nanotuners.com/index.php?...5faa0a96b2c8b3

[mikelaubach]

The fuse did not cause the ballast to blow. The ballast died, drew excess current, and that pop'ed the fuse to keep it from catching fire. The fuse cannot even cause a problem. Unless we're in Alabama and the fuse is a .22 round. Though MythBusters killed that one too.

The fuse is like the circuit breaker in your house - there to protect the wiring and in the end, you. If the breaker blew we wouldn't blame it on a bad breaker, we'd find out the wife was using her hair dryer in the same 6-outlet strip as the refrigerator and microwave. <- That was meant to be humorous, in case there is any question.


And from that nano-tuners site, it looks like upgrades are cheaper than pure "replacement" like you were thinking.! That is always good.

[craiglanda]

yeah but if he brided the connection with some wire or leads that means the circuit doesnt have that protection...so i assume the transformer blew when he did that. It seems from his previous post that when he bridge the fuse it turned on...

[mikelaubach]

Right, but think of it this way - if the component was drawing less than the 2amps the fuse is rated for, then there is no reason the fuse will blow. The radio in your car has a 15 amp fuse. If your stock radio draws 15 amps, there is a SERIOUS problem - a short. Fuses are rated for higher than the peak draw of a device. Ballast take more current at startup than during normal run, just like alot of devices - electric motors for example take a tremendous amount of power at start versus just running (though newer designs have improved that tremendously).

If things are working as designed, then you can "bridge" (really you are just shorting across the fuse) all day long and not "blow" a part. What happened here is that the ballast died (wire shorted or some other calamity) and the current draw increased because of that short, and once it drew more than 2 amps, the fuse pop'ed.

He removed the fuse, and bridged the air gap with something conductive to see what would happen. Upon doing so, Jim basically installed a 100 Amp fuse. The power cord would melt before that piece of metal he used would "blow." This allowed the shorted ballast to draw as much current as it wanted and that is when the short really began to act as a welder and things got hot and started to melt. Melting plastic has a bad smell and smokes.

When we are having motorcycle problems, we always say "It's always the battery." In electronics, we always say "It's never the fuse."

Hope that helps.

[eaglesrx]

let me know if you decide you need a new hood. I have a 1st generation JBJ 24g nanocube hood, stock w/pc's. It hasn't been modded to fit the MH's.

Phu

Originally posted by J8851
The lights crapped out. What the hell........... I'm not sure if it is the fuse that died or if the actual ballast died. Does anyone know how i can figure this out. Also where i can find replacement parts for it?

jim

[J8851]

I just bought a brand-new ballast and going to put that in.