1000w ballast repair help

I have 2-1000w ballast that I'm going to repair since there are like 3 parts to a ballast.

A little apprehensive of discharging the capaciter. Anyone have experience and can give me tips.

Before anyone says it can kill me or have someone else repair it, I don't do shit like that. People learn and then can do it it safely. This is what I'll be doing.

If I'm not mistaken, you use a screwdriver and touch both polls to discharge the cap. A screwdriver of any kind should work correct or am I to use a really thick type of one.

After that it's just unscrewing a screw and that's it for the cap.

See why I can do it myself?

Thanks

Yes, a capacitor can be shorted with a screwdriver.

If I was doing it with a screwdriver, I would use a med or large screwdriver and make sure the handle was in really good shape (no cracks or anything) and that I had safety glasses on. I think the arc can actually cause damage to the cap, so using a resistor was always the preferred method.

Also..... DON'T DO IT YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF!

I repaired 2 magnetic 1000 watt ballasts.

With the first one I didn't know that they had soldered the quick connectors, due to my inexperience and they used very little solder which was the same silver color as the quick connects. So after I manhandled them and ripped them off I also had to replace the connectors with the capacitor. After the initial blunder the repair went well and the ballast is still in service. Beware of soldered quick connects.

With the second ballast, I removed the capacitor, took it to the store, was given one that looked different yet told it was the new replacement part. I installed it and turned it on and it instantly fried my Hortilux hps. The bulb's glass was covered on the inside with a silver appearing material, and when fired would quickly overheat and shut down. Make sure your replacement part is exactly identical, and test repairs on an old bulb.

Those are the 2 lessons I can pass along.

smink13 said:

I have 2-1000w ballast that I'm going to repair since there are like 3 parts to a ballast.

A little apprehensive of discharging the capaciter. Anyone have experience and can give me tips.

Before anyone says it can kill me or have someone else repair it, I don't do shit like that. People learn and then can do it it safely. This is what I'll be doing.

If I'm not mistaken, you use a screwdriver and touch both polls to discharge the cap. A screwdriver of any kind should work correct or am I to use a really thick type of one.

After that it's just unscrewing a screw and that's it for the cap.

See why I can do it myself?

Thanks

Click to expand...

got a picture? is it a magnetron or digital? magnetic ballasts are easy. is it multi tap? what voltage are you running?

THE FOLLOWING ONLY APPLIES TO MAGNETRON BALLASTS WITHOUT DIGITAL COMPONENTS ONLY

your magnetic ballast will consist of an input, light output, step-up transformer, capacitor, and ignitor.

if fully wired, cap will lose buffer charge within 24 hours of being unplugged. this should save you the trouble from having to short the cap. you should not even need to take the rubber safety shield off the top unless it's the cap that you are replacing. if so, you can use an INSULATED screwdriver to short the terminals (like arcing a solenoid). if the cap isn't your problem, and the ballast has been off for 24 hours or more, don't worry about the cap, you won't be touching it.

the ignitor is plug and play, just remove old wire nuts, remove old component, replace/rewire new ignitor, tape all wire nuts.

if it's the transformer, it's a simple rewire. remove cap and ignitor, wire into new ballast.

wiring is easy, but you need to isolate the broken component.

the ignitor is (or at least, used to be) the most expensive component.

here is a picture on how to wire a magnetic ballast...



if your ballast is multi-tap, you will use the appropriate voltage wire to the white (com) wire of your power cord.

Should the cap be leaking see it as a great time to upgrade

good luck

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....zzzzzzzzzzz........zzzz. lol

Thanks you, exactly what I was looking for. It doesn't seem hard to do, just trying to be safer if possible. I read the same about leaving it unplugged will discharge it on its own. Unfortunately it is the cap. This is what I'm working with one of left is the 110v hps 1000w -sunsystem 10 is the brand and on right is switchable 1000w -cropmaster is the brand

Same capaciter on both here's a closeup

Magnetic ballasts

@CaptainCAVEMAN @cat of curiosity

smink13 said:

Thanks you, exactly what I was looking for. It doesn't seem hard to do, just trying to be safer if possible. I read the same about leaving it unplugged will discharge it on its own. Unfortunately it is the cap. This is what I'm working with one of left is the 110v hps 1000w -sunsystem 10 is the brand and on right is switchable 1000w -cropmaster is the brand

Same capaciter on both here's a closeup

Magnetic ballasts

@CaptainCAVEMAN @cat of curiosity

Click to expand...

the cap is the same for a 1kw mh and 1kw hps, no problems there. how do you know it's the cap? those usually don't go bad...

Light turns on and only has about a third of the power. Same when I put a MH in. My understanding is if it isn't making a shitty fizzle type sound it isn't the transformer and only other things there are is the ignitor and cap. If it lights it isn't ignitor and points to cap right?
@cat of curiosity