Lighting Ballast

[Psyclist]

Is there any way to test the ballast out of a light fitting to see if it is defective or just not working at all without fitting it into a light fitting?

I seem to have a few ballast reaching the end of their lifespans as the same type are just stopping working within weeks of each other but I have a box full of what look like spares (and similar rated ballast) and I just wanted to know if I could check them with a multimeter or anything without power to check if they are fit for use or not to save me having to order new ones for the time being.

 

[ricicle]

If they are wire wound ballasts then an IR test could give you some indication along with a resistance test compared to a known good unit.

 

[ericmark]

Be it a transformer or simple choke to test with a resistant meter of some type will show faulty units but may also show units which are faulty as good. A shorted few coils will hardly effect resistance but will stop them working.

I had a similar problem and there were two ways around it. One build a test rig which was in fact a florescent lamp where I could easy swap coil. Or buy new. In UK I would buy new. On the Falklands I made a test rig.

I am sure a tester could be made to measure inductance. Some multi-meters will measure capacitance normally with a 10v transformer so sure there is something to measure inductance. But most chokes don't have the inductance marked on them so in real terms it would not really help.

Today we tend to move towards the inverters (HF units) rather than chokes so I would tend to bin them and replace those that fail with HF units.