Old hamilton Ballast not brite. Whats wrong

[rtbm]

So I have an old hamilton m58 ballast I got in a trade ages ago that I finally have a use for.

First off the cords on this thing are tiny. They say 3 x .75mm. Not exactly sure what that is but it looks like 16 gauge at most. The actually say 1997 on them so it's safe to say it is at least that old.

Anyway When I finally fired up a bulb it was very dim. I tried a different bulb and it was the same.

So my question is, Is the ballast just kaput or can it be fixed? Not really sure if the capacitor has to do with this sort of thing but could that be the issue?


thanks

 

[karsseboom]

When the bulbs look dim its your capacitor not the ballast.

 

[rtbm]

Ok then If i replaced the capacitor this ballast should be ok then?

 

[alton]

The day you turn on a mag ballast it starts losing efficiancy. A 13 year old ballast is toast and is an energy waster. All the heat coming off of the ballast is wasted energy. An electronic on the other hand either works or doesn't. Buy another ballast. Also you need to match your lamp to your ballast, if you are using a Reeflux or Radium on a new mag ballast they will be 25% dimmer than on a electronic ballast.

 

[rtbm]

i was planning on running an xm on this thing. Perfect bulb for m58.

So you are saying that the dimness has nothing to do with the capacitor though and that the ballast is just exhausted basically?

 

[rtbm]

woops

 

[shifty51008]

my older ballast was doing the same thing, hello lights said to replace the cap. once I did that everything ran back to normal.

 

[rtbm]

my older ballast was doing the same thing, hello lights said to replace the cap. once I did that everything ran back to normal.

That kind of what I thought. I just got another cap for like 13.00

I'll at least try it.