I hope someone can give me a little guidance troubleshooting a couple of 70 Watt MH lights I have. I built the setup to be portable, installed the ballasts in a metal box just big enough to hold them with nearly no ventilation. I used standard AC outlets to plug in the fixtures. I realize the potential problem of plugging in standard lights, but I'm the only one who uses them. I used them for photographic lighting, so they were on for only a few minutes to maybe half an hour at a time.Then, one fine day I forgot and left them on for something like 12 hours. When I discovered my error, the lamps were no longer lit and the box was too hot to touch comfortably. The ballast frames were much too hot to touch, not boiling hot (I did the spit test), but probably 130 or so. After cooling down completely, they don't work.
So, not many components to consider, but since these are the only ones I have, I can't do the ol' diagnosis by substitution trick. The ballasts, as I understand it, are just transformers, and I can check continuity easily enough. If they check good, which of the other three components is most likely to have failed, the capacitor, ignitor, or bulb? All components except the bulbs are in the same box.
Thanks in advance, and I think my next investment will be a timer-switch!!
