Tips for VL 500 Ballast repairs?

[gafftaper]

Hi, so long story short, my buddy and I just recently picked up a bunch of used movers. They were barely used by people who apparently didn't know much about them. I got 10 Mac 250 Entours in the deal. He got 5- VL 2500's and 8- VL 500's. 3 of the VL 500s have bad ballasts. That tells me there's probably a known weakness that someone out there probably has dealt with.

So any tips or suggestions on dealing with repairs ourselves vs sending them out? I'm handy and clever, he's an electrician. Thanks

 

[Amiers]

They prolly had them hooked to a dimmer. Buy a new one test in all three fixtures if it works then whala buy the two more.

Don’t want to spend money then take out a working ballast and test across all three.

They could of touched the lamp while installing and the lamp explosion could of damaged things.

The lamp could not be installed properly thus creating some arcing and damage to the socket. If the ballast is ruled out.

I’m not sure where you can source parts I didn’t bother to google that bit. I’m sure someone else will help you with that one.

Honestly 3 outta the 8 not working is a good deal. You could save those for parts for the future. If parts aren’t easy to find.

 

[Les]

I'm assuming these are VL500A's and not VL500 80v since you specified ballast and not dimmer. If it were the latter, I'd suggest removing the dimmer and using them as VL500D's (which is surprisingly simple to do).

But since they are arc fixtures, I'd open them up and see what you're dealing with. My experience with VL is that ballasts, PSU's, etc are often off-the-shelf parts. It only seems to get proprietary when you dig in to the motor control stuff. You might be able to find a suitable match from the likes of Venture, Advance and other such ballast manufacturers. Don't rule out issues with capacitors and ignitors either.

Edit: Apparently Philips owns Advance, which might make cross-referencing easier. Or it could make things harder if they are able to wind their own unique ballast - though I doubt that's the case.

Keep this updated and post pics of them open if you can. I'm curious to see what you come across. If you need a contact at VL let me know - I have a few acquaintances there.

 

[gafftaper]

I'm assuming these are VL500A's and not VL500 80v since you specified ballast and not dimmer. If it were the latter, I'd suggest removing the dimmer and using them as VL500D's (which is surprisingly simple to do).

But since they are arc fixtures, I'd open them up and see what you're dealing with. My experience with VL is that ballasts, PSU's, etc are often off-the-shelf parts. It only seems to get proprietary when you dig in to the motor control stuff. You might be able to find a suitable match from the likes of Advance and other such ballast manufacturers. Don't rule out issues with capacitors and ignitors either.

Keep this updated and post pics of them open if you can. I'm curious to see what you come across.

Sorry yes they are the Arc version. We swapped ballasts around on known working fixtures to verify that the problem is definitely in the ballast units themselves.

I'll tell my buddy to open on up and see what he can find on the inside in terms of off the shelf parts.

 

[JohnD]

Don't forget lightparts.com oh, they also have a download for the VL500 service manual if you don't have it.

 

[JD]

Short of the ones that may have physical burns, E-Ballasts can be easy repairs.
Generic rules of thumb:
Fuse blowers- check the driver transistors/power MOS-fet's etc. If the new one blows, may be a shorted transformer.
Blinky-flicky- check the power supply caps. Open or low-value will drive them nuts.
Cold dead/fuse good- Igniter circuit, open caps, PWM control circuit.