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pirate
10-25-2011, 11:21 PM
So I bought a used hqi fixture and the 250 hqi does not light up. I opened it up to have a look and see if I could find something obviously wrong with it, but no luck.
So I opened the ballast box up and there is a M80 ballast( if I remember correctly) and cap inside of it, and in the fixture there is a ignitor. How do I go about trouble shooting it?
I it helps it's a coralife 250 hqi with with 2 65 watts pc and LEDs. I bought it and was gonna turn it into parts, but plans have changed.
Thanks

BlueTang<3
10-25-2011, 11:25 PM
Your confident the bulb is ok. Can you check for power at the end caps?

pirate
10-25-2011, 11:40 PM
Forgot to mention that. Yes the bulb is good, used a know good one from my existing fixcture. Test the bulb at the socket? What should be the voltage there? Anything to watch out for when testing?
Thanks

BlueTang<3
10-25-2011, 11:48 PM
Not super familiar with this I checked one time on a 400w bulb and at the end caps had 240 volts so i would say be afraid of this lol. I was just throwing out ideas to maybe get a response for you. :redface:

pirate
10-25-2011, 11:51 PM
I'm not too scared of it ( I know I should be but I'm too dumb) I would like to know what I should be gettin before I start poking around with the meter. Any other ideas out there?

mike31154
10-26-2011, 05:40 AM
Yeah, I'd be a little leary of poking around the socket with meter leads, too easy to short out one of the leads. Might not get shocked, but the little arc weld you get will certainly get your attention.

Since it appears to be a magnetic ballast, it's likely the capacitor or igniter (possibly both) that is (are) the culprit(s). Either of these shouldn't be too difficult to source & replace. My first guess would be the capacitor. The transformer should be fairly bullet proof and that would be a more costly item to replace for sure.

Here's a link to a pdf that might save your bacon. The Pocket Guide to High Intensity Discharge Lamp Ballasts. Great info & a logical troubleshooting chart near the end. Includes a rather important caution when measuring voltage at the socket, make sure the ignitor is disconnected. Also talks about distance between ballast & ignitor being a possible issue. Apparently there is such a thing as a special ignitor for longer wire runs.

http://www.advance.philips.com/documents/uploads/literature/RT-8100-R02_1209_HIDPcktGde.pdf

mark
10-26-2011, 01:48 PM
^ nice link

pirate
10-26-2011, 06:29 PM
That's what I'm looking for thanks. I guess I know what I'm doing tonight/tomorrow. So now where is the best place to pick up the replacement parts here in Calgary? Would prefer local.

Delphinus
10-26-2011, 07:36 PM
I've gotten ballasts and parts before at places like Litemore, Brite-Lite, Calgary Lighting Products, and Westburne.

pirate
10-27-2011, 03:49 AM
Thanks I'll be digging into the light hopefully tomorrow and see what it needs. Ill check out the places listed for parts cheers

pirate
10-27-2011, 06:18 PM
Well I got it fix. Thanks for all the help guys and gals

Delphinus
10-27-2011, 07:21 PM
Cool, good news. What did you need to replace, the ignitor or the capacitor? In the end, which place did you go to?

pirate
10-27-2011, 08:40 PM
Had to change the cap. I went all over the place and no one had them I stock/ or wanted to sell me a complete assy ( balast, ignitor, and cap). Then I tried a hyrdo shop and they had it in stock ( lots of parts there) but 250 was the smallest they went, and it was relatively cheep. Next time I need parts I'm heading straight to the hydro shop. :) plus I got some free maginiznes that had nothing to do with fish. :lol:

jostafew
11-02-2011, 02:27 AM
I hear ya on the hydro shop, picked up a male plug for my MH fixture for $5! None of the LFS could even get them and they were min. $15 online!