ballast question

[vegasguy911]

question for you huys i have a refurbished ballast from inside sun and i opened it up and it looked kinda sketchy but i contacted them and they assured my that it was good for at least a few years ..is it cool or is it gonna burn down my place ...i just got a new hood so im kinda tapped cant get a new ballast yet .

 

[Guest]

sketchy how...you know what you are looking at sketchy or i just dont think that looks rite sketchy...i would think its cool man...got a pic

 

[Guest]

hahah yea, that's a pretty open description.

Personally... knowing my own criteria for 'sketchy' I would say toss it and buy a new one. But your level of sketchy may be dust on the circuits...in which case just take a nice hit and blow REALLY hard...

 

[vegasguy911]

sketchy like i dont know what im looking at but the wires and inside almost look like they are coated with some type of resin or somthing...i am gonna get a digital one but im sketched about ordering online i dont know any good cheap reputable sites to get a digital one

 

[Guest]

Ahhh, resin eh? Do ya smoke in the same room as your ballast? Might be tar....

Either way I think you're making the right call... if the wires are coated it can only lead to one thing - high internal temps, which is always bad around circuits.

Can't find a good site? Shoot there are tons... could even look at ebay. I wouldnt worry much about ordering a ballast... now a CO2 injector, along with a ballast, lights, hood, buckets, etc.... that I would be a little more concerned with.

 

[vegasguy911]

can you recomend a good cheap site? and not resin like that like a plastic type resin that is cracked and hardend over the rubber coating to the wires them selves...ill try to get a pic to you soon but i dunno..

 

[vegasguy911]

also what is the diferece between a 120v and a 240v i know the volts are different but what exactly does that mean and what should i get.

 

[vegasguy911]

?????????anyone?????

 

[1gopot]

120 vs 240

120 vs 240

120v are what most houses are wired at and rarely a proble. some older houses might be 240 but again not something you see often, look at your fuse box it could prob tell ya

 

[vegasguy911]

thanks man i really areciate your help.

 

[NiteTiger]

Um, a lot of newly worked products have a non-conductive gel coating to help with safety and heat.

You may very well be getting freaked by a good thing

 

[vegasguy911]

oh thats prolly what it is that makes sense...to make sure does the non conductive gel dry around the wires and everything else and form a translucent resin over everything...im sure thats prolly what it is though, thanks man you have been a big help...do you think I should still get a new digital one, what are some drawbacks to having a refurbished magnetic ballast
if any.???

 

[NiteTiger]

Sure does, gets crackly and funky looking. Almost looks like the wires have some horrible disease.

Think of it this way - If that gel hadn't been there, what do you think the insulation on the wires would look like :wink:

I've had refurb ballasts, and the only consistent problem I had was the capacitors in both needed to be replaced after a few months. But, cap failures are pretty common, and they're cheap ($16 for my 1k's). So, if they were factory refurbs, they probably swapped out the caps already, and you'll be good to go.

Since you're comfortable opening up the ballast, you ought to pick up a ballast kit from HTG Supply. 1kw runs $109, and the instructions are fantastic, ful color, step by step, with large clear pictures. Literally, my kids followed them and put it together.

 

[vegasguy911]

sweet thanks man i was worried about that now i know its that gel im feeling a little more at ease