18W electronic ballast repair

- M
- maka1
  
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posted
17 years ago

Fri, Sep 29, 2006 9:48 PM

I am attempting to troubleshoot an electronic ballast from an 18W floor lamp. The ballast is the plug-in variety at the end of cord. So far, I've wrested open the plastic case and removed the blown in-line axial lead 2.5A / 125V fuse from the circuit board. I've replaced the fuse only to have it blow immediately upon plugging in the lamp. I'm as green as you can be at electronic repair but quite curious. I have a multi-meter. Any suggestions on narrowing down which component may be bad?

- J
- James Sweet
  
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posted
17 years ago

Sat, Sep 30, 2006 5:17 AM

Well go figure if the fuse blew there's a problem, at least you replaced it with one of the correct value.

Usually when these sort of ballasts fail the culprit is one or both of the power transistors in the output section are shorted. You may also find shorted diodes in the area that were taken out in the process and possibly some cold solder joints that caused the failure. Does your multimeter have a diode check function? That's quite useful for testing diodes and transistors.

- S
- Sam Goldwasser
  
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posted
17 years ago

Sat, Sep 30, 2006 12:22 PM

Respectfully to the original poster. If you're not at all experienced at electronics, this is NOT the type of device to be repairing. There could be a fire hazard if the repair isn't done properly or with the proper components. And there are lethal voltages involved inside that little device.

Put it aside and tackle it when you have more experience. Really. :)

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