Issues with a CMH/LEC Ballast

[Eleutherios]

My ballast's core is apparently going out. As per the guy, who I talked to at my shop, that I got it from. It is about 4 years old and Sunlight Systems ain't what they used to be. The symptoms are that I have been going through bulbs much more quickly. Then now, the ballast cuts off after a few hours and feels a lot hotter. If I unplug the ballast from the power source, then the lamp from the ballast, and then plug it all back in. It comes on... for a while. I have enough high output blurpies, that I use sentimentally, but need this fixed.

Their options are the magnetic or the digital for twice the price (not an option.) I see a few other brands, but nothing I am familiar with. Should I look at trying to repair the one, that I have?

 

[Creeperpark]

Throw it away and invest in some digital fixtures for the best investment. They last longer are quiet and use less electricity. You get what you pay for and if you can't afford them then try using 2 to 4 130-watt LEDs.

I recommend never using anything that has problems so you don't burn the grow down. I have seen photos of member's houses on fire from using broken or cheap equipment.

 

[Eleutherios]

Throw it away and invest in some digital fixtures for the best investment. They last longer are quiet and use less electricity. You get what you pay for and if you can't afford them then try using 2 to 4 130-watt LEDs.

I recommend never using anything that has problems so you don't burn the grow down. I have seen photos of member's houses on fire from using broken or cheap equipment.

When I switched to LEC/CMH, my old magnetic coil Sun Systems 400watt hps ballast, which was under warranty, got "repaired," and then shortly after, started smoking. So after getting the thing, I had, due to circumstances, moved east of The Middle of Nowhere. Long story short, after spending an hour or so on the phone. I was finally able to get them to ship me a new one. Within a few days.... the exact same thing happened. Pretty sure it was the capacitor. So not a lot of faith in their magnetic coil tech anymore. Used to, they were built like tanks and could be repaired.

So I found a mom and pop shop, with good ratings, out of Maine, with one (a respectable brand digital ballast) on super clearance. It seems like the new models are all integrated. Which makes more sense, with the drop in power, due to the cord. Just seems like some seriously lopsided weight to contend with.

I guess my follow up question is: since I quit using it before it broke entirely, and therefore may not have damaged other components, is there a brand that makes Billy Badass parts, that I could replace it with? Sort of like putting a Mercedes engine in an old hooptie.

 

[Ca++]

I quite like Palmar. There are also Philips/GE/Osram, but Palmar has always been reliable. Most smoke getting out the box, is poor connections at the choke. I have seen that many times. The caps just tend to dry. I have never seen one smoke.
Most chokes should last a good few years. It's an odd fault. It would be worth using a wall wart power usage plug/adapter. Just to see what it's getting from the wall, to be burning out lamps.

Edit: Don't look for LEC. It's just another name for CMH, that someone invented so it can only lead back to them. It's CMH. There is another company at it to. Reading themselves to keep selling their 'special' lighting, long after CMH is dead.

 

[Eleutherios]

I quite like Palmar. There are also Philips/GE/Osram, but Palmar has always been reliable. Most smoke getting out the box, is poor connections at the choke. I have seen that many times. The caps just tend to dry. I have never seen one smoke.
Most chokes should last a good few years. It's an odd fault. It would be worth using a wall wart power usage plug/adapter. Just to see what it's getting from the wall, to be burning out lamps.

Edit: Don't look for LEC. It's just another name for CMH, that someone invented so it can only lead back to them. It's CMH. There is another company at it to. Reading themselves to keep selling their 'special' lighting, long after CMH is dead.

Thank you very much for the response. It was enough to make me want to hold onto the unit and repair it, on that magical date, when their is less on my proverbial plate. Its realistic stuff; like getting a $150-300 repair kit to fix a vacuum pump, worth a few $K. It would be worth having it as a back up if nothing else and I hate waste.

I ended up getting Digital Greenhouse ballast, on super clearance, from some mom and pop shop, in Maine, who had it up on Ebay, for a song. I wanted something, with some good reviews, and it seemed to have it. Seems like anymore, they are moving to combined units, where the ballast and reflector are a single entity. It makes sense from the standpoint of the drop in current, from the length of cord, but seems like it would translate to having to deal with a very unevenly weighted item.

I figured that out with the LEC vs CMH deal. I really like the lights though, especially in tandem with some high output blurpies. I'm working on modifying the space so as to have the LED's on either side, with the HID on a rail, going down the middle, and think that will really open things up.

 

[Ca++]

I would post you a 400, if it were not so damned heavy. Watch the small adds for a high bay, as many are coming down to be replaced by LED. Making them worth little more than scrap prices. You might be happier saving a couple from the scrap pile, than having another produced for you