How to test a flourescent light ballast.

Рет қаралды 92,361

Alan. D.

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 54

@dustinlopiccolo4466 9 ай бұрын

Thanx a bunch. Real clear and easy to understand...now I gotta find a replacement ballast somewhere.

@rollthers3157 Жыл бұрын

The best (easy-to-follow) video on how to test a florescent light ballast!

@crazy4dariver Жыл бұрын

Great video. I have a two ballast set up running 4 lamps. Your video confirmed one ballast was toast. The funny part is I could have saved a ton of time by looking at the wires FIRST! The two yellow wires had melted off the insulation in several places. When I looked at the inside of the shield it was "duh!" Tar like substance directly below that ballast. But your video helped me confirm it.

@DisciplesHyper 2 жыл бұрын

Super helpful thank you. Quick and simple! I will be testing my ballast and see if that is my problem.

@edsosa9979 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the video. Thank you. Questions emergency battery bug eyes. ?? Why do they go bad ? Light stay on before you push the test button?? Turn off circuit the light dose not turn on on battery back up ?? Why dose it stay on when circuit back on ??

@jamesalumbaugh2423 5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! That was awesome!😊

@jimkenzie1771 3 ай бұрын

Hi Alan: I share everyone else's comments about your simple yet clear video. I have several two-bulb fluorescent fixtures in my barn; some work, and some don't. I tested the ballasts on two that aren't working, and I have tested all the bulbs in other fixtures that do work, and the bulbs are old, but they do come on. My ballasts are still in the fixtures, so I put the red probe into the socket where the bulbs fit - I presume that's the same thing? I set the MultiMeter to 20K, and it stays at "1" no matter where I put the red probe, touching yellow, red or blue terminals. I gather from your video that this means the ballasts are OK. Any hints as to where to look as to why the bulbs don't come on? They all used to work! Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Cheers, Jim

@DenisMorissetteJFK 9 ай бұрын

Can you do that test while the ballast is still in its enclosure? Of course, I would turn the power switch off first.

@alansmith7626 Жыл бұрын

I love your video however my 8ft, 2 bulb ballast only has 4 wires, black, white ,red, and blue--is the procedure the same? Thanks again!

@rollthers3157 Жыл бұрын

I would think so.

@PTL-vm6ox Жыл бұрын

When I followed this video I had different results. The old ballast had readings of 0.L for yellow, red and blue wires. When I checked continuity between red and red there was none, when I checked continuity between blue and blue there was none, when I checked continuity between yellow and yellow the multimeter beeped, showing the two yellows had a short. I later opened the ballast and the yellow wires had melted insulation resulting in a short. I then tested the new ballast. I connected the black multimeter probe to the white ballast wire and touched the six colored wires. All showed very high resistance of 400 M-ohms or more. I believe @Mikemotso [below] is correct. Each wire should show high resistance and not 0.L.

@vjmacintyre Жыл бұрын

High resistance = OL on some older meters.. open loop.. if the resistance is that high, it means it's an open circuit

@pabloperez2661 10 ай бұрын

I believe he was checking for a short between white wire and the color wires. The white and the blue were shorted.

@CaddyMan Жыл бұрын

I tried your resistance test with both an analog and digital meter on the 1K, 300K and Meg scales. I tested four working, near new ballasts and they all showed resistance readings on the blue wires? Are there differences between ballast types? These are all 20+ years old, just not used. I did not want to throw them out so I tested them. By your video, they all tested bad for the blue wires, so I had to convince myself, so I wired them all into housings and they worked. Can you shed some light on this?

@Alan.89 Жыл бұрын

Before filming the video I verified by reading a few different articles about ballasts and testing them. According to what I read this is how they are tested. The only thing I could do to solve this issue is take a known good ballast and a known bad ballast test both and wire both into a fixture and test. The ballast I have in the video is unknown and un-tested.

@wencheung3329 2 жыл бұрын

I bought a brand new Ballast from Homedepot and tested it using this method. The blue wire showed resistance. I used it anyway. It came out good. Is this method reliable?

@Alan.89 2 жыл бұрын

I’m not sure how reliable it is but the way I would look at it is if your ballast works use it if not toss it.

@kevinh.3865 2 жыл бұрын

What's your reading?

@salveloz5824 6 ай бұрын

How soon do the ballast go out? It seemed that the ballast went out about the life time that the fluorescent lights would go out In other words, would I have to change the ballast each time the fluorescent lights would go out ?

@UV_IR Жыл бұрын

Thank you Sir!!! well explained.

@andrewsztymelski7169 2 ай бұрын

Thank you

@drawtheword7590 2 жыл бұрын

helpful specially since you have same multi-meter

@paulk6216 8 ай бұрын

Wouldn't it make more sense to test the ballast before you take it out? Thanks!

@HeyZeus667 8 ай бұрын

He likely had the ballast laying around and decided to make a video about it. It wouldn't make a difference, other than to save a small amount of work removing it from the fixture. In either case it would still read a short between blue and white. As long as the power and neutral wires were disconnected, it would be the same.

@marsailmar1 Жыл бұрын

Wow!! Narrated by the great David Lynch!

@vjmacintyre Жыл бұрын

Does this work similarly for an electronic ballast?

@walleye56789 Жыл бұрын

Do you have to find the exact same one to replace or how do you go about cross referencing to find one that works?

@rs12official Жыл бұрын

Interesting video. What a nice old ballast, sad to see that it’s a goner. What did you replace it with?

@Alan.89 Жыл бұрын

It didn’t get replaced. The light was broken and ended up in the trash. I kept the ballast for video purposes.

@Basskingdom7 Жыл бұрын

Nice Video! I have one light bulb that works in the fixture and the other light bulb does not work. When I switch the good bulb to the other side it works. Does that sound like a bad ballast to you?

@soladeogloria5839 Жыл бұрын

It sounds like you have a burned out bulb

@WhiteoutMonster 11 ай бұрын

I've got red and two blue on one side, and a single black and white on the other

@PhilBarker-xl8bj 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@harishbhasin7395 Жыл бұрын

You must test good ballast also to show good and bad.

@pa-mo Ай бұрын

And note that instead of looking for a replacement ballast, you are (probably?) better off to rewire to bypass the ballast and use LED "ballast bypass" bulbs...

@Alan.89 Ай бұрын

@@pa-mo you sure can re-wire it for bypass led bulbs.

@ujayet 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe a dumb question but if it display numbers that mean there is resistance or no resistance?..of there is resistance...what cause it to resist?

@DisciplesHyper 2 жыл бұрын

I am pretty sure if their is numbers that is resistance. If their is not it means it is free flowing.

@markcutright9489 2 жыл бұрын

If there is no reading it has infinite resistance. If there is a reading, it has continuity and it's measuring the amount of resistance.

@jodystephenson6306 Жыл бұрын

@@markcutright9489 zero resistance, free-flow state,not infinite with no reading.

@josev1544 Жыл бұрын

by having a resistance or continuity what you are finding is that it is shorted out because there should be no connection between the white wire and any of the colored wires. continuity should only exist if the bulbs are connected and are in good condition. a good reading depending on your meter is the number 1 or OL.