Calling all MH experts...Left side not igniting

[buoymarker28]

Ok this is what i have on my 120 gal reef
175 w true 10K bulbs
175 w electronic balast
there are 4 acticinic blue PCs but that's not the issue here. Specifically 4' RETROFIT 2MH 4 COMPACT FL 65W from Hamilton technology...(oh i did contact them and let me tell ya....i don't think humans work there....at least no one alive answers the phone and emails yielded nothing either)

After 9 months of working flawlessly last week the electricity went off for like 30sec and then came right back on....well the left side bulb would not ignite. Naturally i switched bulbs to make sure the bulb was working and it is. I've done the dumb things like jiggle all the cords, t

All of the act03 bulbs are working fine, but they are on a different set of ballasts and obviously the fixtures in the hood are different.

My question is, what is the next step in troubleshooting? I mean it can realistically only be two things
A the retro fit hood
B the ballast

Is this just a simple order the hood and see if that works and if not order the ballast or is there something else i can do?

 

[zoomfish1]

Sounds like a ballast problem. It either has to be ballast or bulb, so if the bulb works, then ballast.

 

[Ti]

Did you check the ground?

 

[mhurley]

Re: Calling all MH experts...Left side not igniting

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8927282#post8927282 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by buoymarker28
175 w electronic balast

If you lost power, then there's the possibility that when it came back on, you took a power spike that hit and damaged that one electronic ballast. If so, it's likely toast.

 

[dhnguyen]

I would concur with mhurley on this. Chances are likely your ballast on the left side is toast. I typically connect all my eletronic devices (including any electronic reef equipment) into a surge protector as a precaution.


D.

 

[buoymarker28]

Yeah that is kinda what i was afraid of...i do have them plugged into a surge protector..i know that they say to allow 10-20 min to allow the system to ccol off before turning them on again...with the electricity going on and off within 30 sec i was wondering if that caused teh ballast to fry.......

 

[dhnguyen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8927909#post8927909 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by buoymarker28
Yeah that is kinda what i was afraid of...i do have them plugged into a surge protector..i know that they say to allow 10-20 min to allow the system to ccol off before turning them on again...with the electricity going on and off within 30 sec i was wondering if that caused teh ballast to fry.......

If possible, you might want to open up the ballast cover and see if there is a fuse inside that might be blown. This would be easier and cheaper to fix.

 

[buoymarker28]

Just got off the phone with Hamilton Tech and she was actually pretty helpful. She indicated that it sounded like a transformer had gone bad. SHe's able to send me a new one and have me replace it.

we'll see. I'm in unchartered waters here.....it's my 1st foray into troubleshooting MH and ballasts.......