What's wrong with my T5?

[SmokinErb22]

Gonna try to keep this short and sweet.

My T5 won't light up. I did get this secondhand, she thought there was a short in the wire because the whole thing stopped working at once...all 8 bulbs.

So I took my multi-meter and tested the voltages....

Power coming to it from the wall, power going into the 1st ballast, power going out of the 1st ballast.... Yet none of the lights work.

No power is reaching the 2nd ballast. I think this may be a bad switch, was thinking of just taking the switch out and twisting/capping the wires together. Absolutely do not need an on-off switch. My other T5 has no switches, just plug it in and it comes on, figured I could wire this up to do the same thing.


Bulbs are fine, to eliminate the obvious. Tested 'em in my working T5.

But.... why won't at least 4 of the bulbs come on since one ballast is working fine? All 4 power wires that run to the sockets have voltage. Electronic ballasts, so no starters.

 

[SmokinErb22]

Also, on a related subject. My 1000w magnetic ballast isn't running NEARLY as bright as it should.

95% sure I just need a new Capacitor. Confirm, anyone?

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

A few things you could check, is take it apart

1. check the actual wire connection to the "tombstone" or socket itself, they are linked together so if one becomes loose the bulbs wont work. Check them all on both sides of the fixture.

2. You said the second ballast isn't working, well it wouldn't be unreasonable to think the ballast is dead. They can be replaced easily, just order a new one and put it in.

3. If you want to remove the switch just cut it out and wire it back together, the switch isn't a necessity.

I like to use a voltage detector pen, you can get them at home depot for like 10 bucks, you touch them to any wire and it will tell you if it's hot or not. It can make diagnosing electrical problems a lot easier.



As for the HPS, yeah it's the capacitor that can need replacing after a while.

 

[High Country]

It's just shit itself…get another one!

But try a new capacitor first…new fluoro maybe.

Sucks when shit like that happens.

 

[SmokinErb22]

Really hoping on solution #1 up there. It's already all taken apart, just don't wanna start replacing things that don't need to be replaced. The wiring for the sockets is the only thing I didn't check, didn't realize they would affect the entire fixture. I'll check it out after work.

And I can't confirm the second ballast is dead yet, the wire that carries power to it isn't hot. I'll tinker with it today a bit.