This is a High Power Factor Ballast...do those Run Warmer than Low Power Factor Ones?.....afterall they do run the lamps at higher Current....also the Tar leak from the Ballast Smells Funny....
as long as the tar in hardened and not stickey it shouldn't contain a dangerous amount of PCBs. I wouldn't touch it without gloves on to see if it's stickey though. If it is stickey throw the fixture out as well as the gloves you used to touch to tar.
Will this run 34w lamps without overheating? Both my .8A ballasts (a GE BonusLine and a 1979 Advance Kool-Koil) are rated for them...
My GE BonusLine ballast in my rescued shoplight has lost some of it's tar (but contained in the ballast compartment) but it's solid and it's still pretty quiet, even on modified-sine-wave inverter electricity.
It was running 34w lamps when I got it but I didn't even try them on that ballast as I didn't want to risk it... running 34w lamps for the past fifteen years (oh did I mention I found out it was purchased like 15 years ago at a True Value store which explains the post-1995, pre-2003 GE Watt-Misers but the light itself likely sat on the shelf for a long time NOS). Seems okay running a pair of MainLighters and upside down uplighting the ceiling until I mount it...but is there a hazard that ballast will fail violently/should I remove it and replace it with something else to preserve it)?
Wouldn't use 34W lamps, note the label will usually say not certified for use with 34W
Probably not bad, if it really concerned you install an in-line fuse and make sure its suspended off anything if the ballast decided to go smokey/fireworks
Yeah, that works for me too! My rule of thumb is, when in doubt don't use 34w lamps. I have some and I'd use them in fixtures at room temperature and use them up, but only on a ballast that is certain to work with them...
even then i don't use them. I've never installed a 34W lamp. The only case i'd use them is if nothing else is available of if the ballast is electronic RS. And that's if it's not mine. If it's my fixture it's 40W lamps and that's final.
Yep! all ballasts made before sometime in the 70s have PCB-containing capacitors. My rule of thumb is if it has leaked tar, it should be for display use only (not fit for use) since if tar has leaked, the heat in the ballast doesn't distribute as well which means there's a greater chance the capacitor will run hotter and leak the PCBs. Plus if it continues leaking tar it's a lot of work to clean it all up so in the end it's not worth it.
Personally, I'd junk any leaked ballast regardless of if it works or not unless it's vintage, then it'd probably get nailed onto the wall with the leads cut short for display uses.
I use any ballast that works pretty much...unless there is reduced light output Or flickering. .i havent had one leak but Had many that leaked tar a bit and they continue to.work for many years it seems...just because it overheated once or twice in its lifetime does not mean its a dud, hot weather and failing lamps could cause it to overheat
And 34w lamps...
The tar that leaked out of mine and dripped onto the inside of the reflector looks a little bit shiny...does this mean it could be PCB-infested? It's only a small amount and it's inside the fixture so I don't think it's a huge hazard...although it may work for many more years...but when/if I get another similar ballast it will be removed and preserved/saved for a backup...
Mine is obviously vintage and if I find something else I will remove it and keep it for a display item and an emergency backup...I think they quit using PCBs in 1980 or sometime around there...usually if the label doesn't say "NO PCBs" there is a good chance it has it. I just read up some on PCBs and they are pretty nasty to the environment but I think as long as it's a ballast inside a florescent light it shouldn't be a huge hazard...although from now on when handling a PCB-containing ballast I think I will wear gloves.
I have around 5 ballasts that contain PCBs of those 5 only two are still in regular use and have inline fuses protecting them.
The other three (2 used, 1 NOS) are in storage but if I do started using them I'll install fuses on them too. PCBs were banned in the late 70s so any HPF ballast made before 1979 has a high chance of containing PCBs. They should be fine to use if you don't let the cap leak IE no 34w lamps at all.
HID ballasts also had PCBs but with those all you need to do is to replace the cap with a non PCB one which I recommend doing anyways since old caps can short and take the ballast down with it.
@ Joe can you get a pic or two of the fuses you use? I want to fuse the shoplite and preheat industrial shoplite. Both fixtures use PCB-containing ballasts and aren't protected. of course i have a mega beef with 34W lamps though so they should be safe. Vince said he's had univeral brand ballasts identical to the one in my shoplite go up in fireworks so I do have a bad feeling in my gut. That's always the issue with getting used electrical appliances: you just never know what could happen or wether or not it was used properly in its previous location.
@Andy, it depends on the ballast design, generally ballasts that have the cap in series with the lamp (CWA, CWI, or the lead lamp on a tulamp circuit) have this problem. Ballasts with the cap in parallel with it (HX, R) generally will not have this problem.
@Mike, I have a pic of a fuseholder I use in my gallery.
Mike, I have to agree...you don't always know it's previous history...
The label on the ballast above looks very similar (although not identical) to this...
BTW, this light and its three twins have cloth wiring inside them. I checked the spare one in the basement and it had a white cloth wire and a black cloth wire. They looked to be either 12 or 10 guage too. There was no ground wire coming out of it so I assume these light weren't originally grounded, though it doesn't make sense since RS need to be grounded. Maybe the nuetral was originally used as a ground?
Login
My GE BonusLine ballast in my rescued shoplight has lost some of it's tar (but contained in the ballast compartment) but it's solid and it's still pretty quiet, even on modified-sine-wave inverter electricity.
It was running 34w lamps when I got it but I didn't even try them on that ballast as I didn't want to risk it... running 34w lamps for the past fifteen years (oh did I mention I found out it was purchased like 15 years ago at a True Value store which explains the post-1995, pre-2003 GE Watt-Misers but the light itself likely sat on the shelf for a long time NOS). Seems okay running a pair of MainLighters and upside down uplighting the ceiling until I mount it...but is there a hazard that ballast will fail violently/should I remove it and replace it with something else to preserve it)?
Probably not bad, if it really concerned you install an in-line fuse and make sure its suspended off anything if the ballast decided to go smokey/fireworks
Personally, I'd junk any leaked ballast regardless of if it works or not unless it's vintage, then it'd probably get nailed onto the wall with the leads cut short for display uses.
The tar that leaked out of mine and dripped onto the inside of the reflector looks a little bit shiny...does this mean it could be PCB-infested? It's only a small amount and it's inside the fixture so I don't think it's a huge hazard...although it may work for many more years...but when/if I get another similar ballast it will be removed and preserved/saved for a backup...
The other three (2 used, 1 NOS) are in storage but if I do started using them I'll install fuses on them too. PCBs were banned in the late 70s so any HPF ballast made before 1979 has a high chance of containing PCBs. They should be fine to use if you don't let the cap leak IE no 34w lamps at all.
HID ballasts also had PCBs but with those all you need to do is to replace the cap with a non PCB one which I recommend doing anyways since old caps can short and take the ballast down with it.
What size fuse do you use on your PCB-containing ballasts?
@Mike, I have a pic of a fuseholder I use in my gallery.
The label on the ballast above looks very similar (although not identical) to this...
BTW, this light and its three twins have cloth wiring inside them. I checked the spare one in the basement and it had a white cloth wire and a black cloth wire. They looked to be either 12 or 10 guage too. There was no ground wire coming out of it so I assume these light weren't originally grounded, though it doesn't make sense since RS need to be grounded. Maybe the nuetral was originally used as a ground?