Hey LL,

Well, after 6 months of happy projector use I finally ran into my first problem. As the topic says my bulb wont fire any more. Any suggestions? below is a list of things that may help.

-400W ballast, PS T15 bulb
-Ballast still clicks (thought I'm sure thats no guarrantee that is working properly)
-No physically apparent dmg to bulb, ballast, or mogul
-Bulb contact and socket contact seem clean and void of the dreaded carbon arching (just to be sure I steel wooled each before rescrewing)

Specific Questions:
-Any way to check if the ballast is working? (for instance can a volt meter handle the pulses?)
-Any other diagnostics that may help?

I was eventually going to be upgrading/changing light engine but wanted to wait till research on ceramics/powerball has matured

Thanks,
Brian

theres one way to find out

Anyone got any tips, diagnostics, etc. this is really bugging me....

Booooooommmmm.......

Hehehehe. Okay time to grim up...
Obviously the first thing you want to check for is changes to your environment. Is there more load on the circuit you use to power the unit? What happens if you plug it in somwhere else? Has it been moved? Have you double checked your groundings? Did you unplug the ballast and let it sit for half an hour? Did you double check ALL your wires? Did you check the bulb? Examine the arc chamber for cracks or ruptures? Are there any UPS's attached to that circuit?

Now for the costly part... go to HD and buy a 400 HPS bulb and see if it powers on for you. Be careful with the bulb, you might be able to return it. If it fires, then let it cool and place your bulb back in..Does it fire now?

Still not firing? If your eballast is not attached, shake it VERY gently. Do you hear anything rattling? It will sound like tiny screws, but what it is, are solder pieces...

I havent gotten one fixed yet, but I think the piece can resoldered.

SJ

SJ... thanks for the help man..

wires- check
circuit - check (fans still working, etc..... ballast and fans only thing on that line)
plug in somewhere else - will try... doubtfully will help
groundings - check
arc chamber cracks - none visible
shake bulb - ahhhh.. there was some rattling and apon further investigation there is a loose peice about an inch long.. but I cant see where it would go to. whats the chance this thing just falls off tho?

will try the replacement bulb thing when I get a chance....

Loose piece AN INCH LONG?
Whats it made of? Not metal I hope...If it is, then one of the connector bridges that supply power to the ends of the arc chamber fell off.

I was talking about the Eballast for the shake, but it sounds like the problem has reared its head. Can you post a clear picture of your bulb and the plumbing that comes off of it? Look for broken welds on the metal pieces....

SJ

A broken piece an inch long inside the bulb probably means the bulb is beyond hope of coming back to life...

But hey! Look on the bright side! It might be time to upgrade to a 400w ceramic arc bulb! http://www.bulbs.com/products/product_deta...inventory=13318

Or you can buy the LL T15 that they stock currently. And then wait for the 400w EYE Cera Arc too come out...

Ok,

so I ordered a new bulb from LL and tried it. No go. This pretty much leaves the ballast. I got it about six months ago. Should I crack it open and have a look? Send it back to LL? Any advice would be great.

do you have the old style LL eballast (black)?? I had two that died on me. LL support was very helpful on both issues. The first one died after 3 months use (just barely made the return within the 90 day period) the second one died 3 months later. I'm currently running the new vue ballast from LL.