Wooohooo Got My Ballasts ... But one doesn't work

[Kraut!]

Oh Joy!
Two new 250w MH ballasts... and one doesn't work. I rewired twice. Switched harnesses, Changed bulbs, whispered sweet nothings in its ear, and did a little fire dance around it.... nothing worked. everytime i plug it in, it blows the CGFI. I was going to switch to a non-CGFI outlet.... BUT my freakin apartment doesn't have one! So what do you think? Faulty ballast or faulty dude wiring it?

 

[aquarookie]

Did you wire these late at night like I did mine? If so, that may be your culprit. I say, undo it and start from scratch when you are wide awake. If it is still screwed up, send it back. Sorry to hear about that one, but hey, congrats on new ballasts!

 

[Reef Monkey]

Where did you end up getting these ballasts at? I'm looking at getting a 70 watt electronic ballast for my nano. Anyone know where I can get one, as most places don't carry that small of a ballast for MH?

 

[crizzleb]

ha ha loser. Its only cuz its yours.

 

[dragoneggs]

Well as long as you wired it correctly and swap the bulbs and you gave it plenty of time to fire up (5 min)... it must be faulty.

 

[Kraut!]

ha ha loser. Its only cuz its yours.

No no no... It's only because you touched it first

 

[Kraut!]

Well here's the deal... I found that one of the ballasts has more amp draw on startup, and I was testing it on the same circuit as the fridge AND the water heater AND Furnace... so POP! I tried putting it on the same circuit as the aquarium... POP! But when I plug it in to the same circuit as my Reptarium, it works just fine and happiness resumes.
Do you think it can still be a bad ballast even though it works and just draws more current?

 

[aquarookie]

Is it an icecap ballast? If so, I have their toll free number which I will be happy to give you if you don't have it yet.

 

[coil1002]

Whats the amp draw on start up for the one thats tripping the gfi they should be right around the same if not I would get a new ballast high amps are not a good thing when not needed. It could denote a defect in the ballast.

 

[snobanker]

It should have the same current draw...must be a bad ballast.