Williams Ballast Question

dahnz

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It looks like I'll have to replace at least one ballast in my Williams cabs, so I just have a couple of quick questions on the subject. The wires appear to be glued into the ballast (or at least have had some sort of glue or gloop smothered over the connection points for the wires. Is this common? And do you just snip the wires before the gloop and solder them into the new ballast? Finally, assuming the gloop was a factory thing, not an operator "fix", do you need to apply any gloop on the new ballast?

Many thanks, Dominic
 
It looks like I'll have to replace at least one ballast in my Williams cabs, so I just have a couple of quick questions on the subject. The wires appear to be glued into the ballast (or at least have had some sort of glue or gloop smothered over the connection points for the wires. Is this common? And do you just snip the wires before the gloop and solder them into the new ballast? Finally, assuming the gloop was a factory thing, not an operator "fix", do you need to apply any gloop on the new ballast?

Many thanks, Dominic

Pics might help, but I have never seen any sort of "gloop" as factory standard on Williams cabinets, anywhere.

If it is a factory fluorescent fixture, you can buy a replacement ballast almost anywhere. Just cut the black & white wires running out of the ballast and attach the new wires using a wire nut and bolt it in. It's a 5 minute job.

ken
 
Thanks heaps, guys

I'm not sure how common 110V ballasts are down here, but I need to order some bits and pieces from the States anyway, so I'll get a few then.

If you're interested I can post a pic in a couple of days of the gloop, but it was probably just an operator following up his soldering with a glue gun.

Dominic
 
Just get a standard 10-15-20-25 Watt ballast, suitable for a F14-T8 bulb.

And no, it doesn't matter which wires of the ballast you hook up to either of the wires to the fixture...
 
ballast

What some of the state side guys may not have realsied is there is a good chance your running a 60htz ballast on a 50htz supply, yet it makes them warm and a few go up in flames so if your 220 VAC @ 50 htz that may well be why its gloopy. US is 110 @ 60htz

cheers

j
 
that gloop you see is from the inside of the balast, holds the magic smoke in . you will see that tar like substance when the balast takes a dump
 
Thanks, Space Cowboy - I'll definitely be replacing that ballast then. Anyone have any recommendations for US lighting supplies firms that ship internationally? And is there any modern brand of ballast that will fit the screw holes in the Williams assembly or do you just need to drill new holes?
 
Thanks, Space Cowboy - I'll definitely be replacing that ballast then. Anyone have any recommendations for US lighting supplies firms that ship internationally? And is there any modern brand of ballast that will fit the screw holes in the Williams assembly or do you just need to drill new holes?

Most of the small ballasts I buy from Home Depot and Lowes here just bolt in exactly...
 
yeah same same here, I just get them from local suppliers , usually industrial electrical houses , at work we have accounts there so I get wholesale discounts
 
I usually just go to Wal-mart and buy an 18" under the counter fluorescent light fixture for $8.00. The bulb is included. Cut the plug off and wire it into the existing cabinet wiring. Works like a charm and is cheap!!
 
Thanks. I could replace it with a new all-in-one unit but I'd like to keep it as original as I can. By the bye, the guy in the lighting store who wouldn't sell me a ballast (because he said it had to be installed by a sparkie) said that fluoro tubes and ballasts are voltless - ie, no matter what I feed into it (230V or 110V) it will work without any adjustments required. Is that right?
 
I've never heard of a voltless bulb (although fluorescents may be different). I know that filament bulbs can be burned out if you pump too much voltage through them, and I know that a shorted ballast will blow a new bulb, so I think that's BS.

Not sure about the ballast, though. I'm looking at one that says:

14-15-19-20-22 W
118v 60Hz
340 Amp

That tells me it's rated for the 115ac line current we have here. (It came out of a Ms. Pac-Man, btw.)

I know that a transformer doesn't care about the voltage input. A 1:1 transformer will output whatever voltage is input. But I do know that too much voltage can fry it, as with anything...
 
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