# ballast keeps burning out



## BryanMD

I really should read these through more carefully.


----------



## hairdog

How far away from the panel are these lights? If it's too far away you could possibly be getting excessive voltage drop causing your problem.


----------



## user4818

My guess is that the ballast is not securely mounted and therefore not heat sinked properly.


----------



## idontknow

Sounds like a classic loose neutral. Retighten all your connections till you find one that is excessively loose. there is your problem. Well not really but that seems to be the standard answer to all troubleshooting problems.

I'd personally lean on a feeder problem as it's affecting an area of lights instead of a random 3. Whip out the ol megger and find your problem.


----------



## JohnJ0906

idontknow said:


> Sounds like a classic loose neutral. Retighten all your connections till you find one that is excessively loose. there is your problem. Well not really but that seems to be the standard answer to all troubleshooting problems.
> 
> I'd personally lean on a feeder problem as it's affecting an area of lights instead of a random 3. Whip out the ol megger and find your problem.


OP said the ballast is 208v, so there probably isn't a neutral on that circuit.


----------



## Greg

Heat will shorten the life of the ballast. A problem I've run into is, cheap ballasts. Are they all the same type. I had Tamlite ballasts blow constantly but Keystone's ballast seam to last a lot longer. Is it the ballast or the cap that is letting go early. The cheap plastic caps pop real easy. Replace them with good quality metal caps.


----------



## brian john

idontknow said:


> Sounds like a classic loose neutral. Retighten all your connections till you find one that is excessively loose. there is your problem. Well not really but that seems to be the standard answer to all troubleshooting problems.
> 
> I'd personally lean on a feeder problem as it's affecting an area of lights instead of a random 3. Whip out the ol megger and find your problem.


On a 120 VAC 2-wire circuit a loose neutral is no worse than a loose phase conductor.

On a 208 2-wire circuit (as noted) the loose neutral is not an issue.

If there was an insulation issue that MIGHT cause a ballast issue you should be tripping a CB, not sure a megger is of much use here either.

That leaves VD and heat, as noted by several posters.

If I am wrong please correct me.


----------



## cobra50

Have you checked the fixtures internal wiring to the socket or igniter for bends,pinches.Sometimes the wires are to close to a reflector that causes high heat. Are these 3 poles in a row?


----------



## sparky970

brian john said:


> On a 120 VAC 2-wire circuit a loose neutral is no worse than a loose phase conductor.
> 
> On a 208 2-wire circuit (as noted) the loose neutral is not an issue.
> 
> If there was an insulation issue that MIGHT cause a ballast issue you should be tripping a CB, not sure a megger is of much use here either.
> 
> That leaves VD and heat, as noted by several posters.
> 
> If I am wrong please correct me.


I didn't know ballasts could catch VD. :laughing::laughing::laughing:


----------



## Bob Badger

Peter D said:


> My guess is that the ballast is not securely mounted and therefore not heat sinked properly.


I would look into this, Pete is right about proper ballast mounting being critical to heat control.


----------



## bobelectric

Electronic ballast for a pole light????? I'm at a lost schiccy.


----------



## Seattlepro

Have you put a ohm meter on the Capacitor to test it is working correctly? Is it the right size?


----------



## kbsparky

OP's profile says he is in Canada. 

Canada does not allow 208 Volt ballasts (ever read the instructions that come with quad-tap units?).

Sooooo .... they must be committing suicide, since they are illegal .... :laughing:

(Seriously), must be something to do with being _electronic_ -- maybe some outside interference, or proximity to RF, etc.


----------



## crosport

208 ballasts not allowed in Canada?That,s funny!


----------



## Toronto Sparky

I've never seen a 208v ballast.. 120, 240, 347 , 600 Yes.. 
Then again I think the tri-taps have 120/208/347


----------



## Vintage Sounds

Toronto Sparky said:


> I've never seen a 208v ballast.. 120, 240, 347 , 600 Yes..
> Then again I think the tri-taps have 120/208/347


Maybe it's one of those 120-277 ones?


----------



## Bob Badger

Never mind, I was wrong


----------



## B4T

Bob Badger said:


> Never mind, I was wrong


 WHAT?? you were wrong? :whistling2:


----------



## Mike_586

Toronto Sparky said:


> I've never seen a 208v ballast.. 120, 240, 347 , 600 Yes..
> Then again I think the tri-taps have 120/208/347


Usually the tri-taps I see are 120V-*277V*-347V 

Never seen a 208V ballast myself, thought that isn't to say they don't exist, I still occasionally get surprised at some of the devices I run into. Though those days are few and far between now days.


----------



## BCSparkyGirl

yup, I am confused as to the 208v myself....never seen those before.......all the ones we put up are 120 or 347.


----------



## Bob Badger

BCSparkyGirl said:


> yup, I am confused as to the 208v myself....never seen those before.......all the ones we put up are 120 or 347.


Makes us even as I never see 347.:jester:

A typical multitap ballast here would have 120, 208, 240, 277 and maybe 480 as well.


----------



## BCSparkyGirl

the parkades in the residential towers we put up here in Van are typically 347. Might be a Canada thing?


----------



## goose134

BCSparkyGirl said:


> the parkades in the residential towers we put up here in Van are typically 347. Might be a Canada thing?


Definitely.


----------



## Voltech

Maybe Try a different electrician:laughing::laughing::laughing:....


----------



## nitro71

I'd also look for envrionmental issues. Is there a piece of equipment near these lights creating vibration? I'd also look at where it is on the circuit. At the tail end or in the middle? Are there lights further along the string that don't have problems? If at the end I'd trace back to the connections ahead of the troubled lights and check those.


----------



## Toronto Sparky

Bob Badger said:


> Makes us even as I never see 347.:jester:
> 
> A typical multitap ballast here would have 120, 208, 240, 277 and maybe 480 as well.



347 is Huge in Canada for Commercial and Industrial lighting
600/347 wye


----------



## sparky105

The best part about 347 lighting is you can always find them cheap at lawn sales because after the slug steals them and gets them home he finds out that they won't light and than tries to sell them to some other slug:no:


----------



## intelectrician

*ballast burn out*

:thumbsup:


goat said:


> 208v electronic ballast keeps burning out for pole light. Out of 100 three keep burning out in same location...all voltages check out, lamps are correct match for ballast and pole has been completely re-wired to make sure no wires pinched....anyone one got any ideas?????????


----------



## intelectrician

*ballast burn out*



intelectrician said:


> :thumbsup:


 what is the distance? hard to check voltage drop with no load. r u checking it with light on? voltage will be the same a mile away with no load.


----------



## guest

intelectrician said:


> :thumbsup:





intelectrician said:


> what is the distance? hard to check voltage drop with no load. r u checking it with light on? voltage will be the same a mile away with no load.


You do realize that you're responding to a thread that is close to three years old? :laughing:

The OP has moved on to other jobs by now...:whistling2::laughing:


----------



## k_buz

Do you replace the lamp when you replace the ballast?


----------



## sbrn33

brian john said:


> On a 120 VAC 2-wire circuit a loose neutral is no worse than a loose phase conductor.
> 
> On a 208 2-wire circuit (as noted) the loose neutral is not an issue.
> 
> If there was an insulation issue that MIGHT cause a ballast issue you should be tripping a CB, not sure a megger is of much use here either.
> 
> That leaves VD and heat, as noted by several posters.
> 
> If I am wrong please correct me.


Brian, do you maybe think he was making fun of some of the posts on here? You know, how the answer to every single problem somebody can't figure out is "it's a loose neutral".:laughing:


----------



## k_buz

it...I hate it when that happens


----------



## Toronto Sparky

Did the price of gas go back to 2010 too?


----------

