frequent on and off hard on lights ballast?
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massah
Well-Known Member
yes, the heat produced by the ballast when its on makes electronics and solder joints and parts "expand" slightly, then while off they cool and "contract" slightly...so the more you do this the higher the likelyhood of a failure, but keep in mind, cheap ballasts use cheap parts, and probably have cold solder joints that can easily detatch, more expensive ballasts use higher quality parts and are less prone to failures.
It's like a computer...I work in an environment that is very harsh on computer equipment...so in turn we get failures quite a bit...the machines that last the longest are the ones that never get powered off, and I've had several that once powered off, they never worked again
smokey mcsmokester
Well-Known Member
What he said
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
Ignition time for bulbs is like cold-start time on car engines, only more so ... a high-wear regime.
Start time for ballasts puts wear on the capacitor (for magnetics). I don't know how digital ballasts work, so no opinion there. cn
Start time for ballasts puts wear on the capacitor (for magnetics). I don't know how digital ballasts work, so no opinion there. cn
themanwiththeplan
Well-Known Member
great info and very correct. I can speak from 1st hand experience with the computers. My cousin works in an office where they've had cpu's running 7-10 years straight. sometimes when they power off the DO never turn back on again.yes, the heat produced by the ballast when its on makes electronics and solder joints and parts "expand" slightly, then while off they cool and "contract" slightly...so the more you do this the higher the likelyhood of a failure, but keep in mind, cheap ballasts use cheap parts, and probably have cold solder joints that can easily detatch, more expensive ballasts use higher quality parts and are less prone to failures.
It's like a computer...I work in an environment that is very harsh on computer equipment...so in turn we get failures quite a bit...the machines that last the longest are the ones that never get powered off, and I've had several that once powered off, they never worked again
Thats why theres been light bulbs that are 100 years old that still work (because they were NEVER shut off in those 100 years) there was a story about that on the news where at the local fire department they've using the same light for 100 years cuz its never been shut off.
themanwiththeplan
Well-Known Member
also...when you DO shut off your light its good to let it (the bulb and ballast) cool down fully before powering it back on.
they say wait AT LEAST 15 mins from the time it goes off till it goes back on but i like to wait at least 1hr in ideal situations. my lights are always either 12/12 or 18/6 so its never a problem for me. I wouldnt recommend turning it on and off multiple times a day though.
they say wait AT LEAST 15 mins from the time it goes off till it goes back on but i like to wait at least 1hr in ideal situations. my lights are always either 12/12 or 18/6 so its never a problem for me. I wouldnt recommend turning it on and off multiple times a day though.