ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area hid testing equipment

Need advice on the best testing equipment to test hid and flourescent lighting. Including bulbs ballasts and starters and capacitors. What are you guys using out there?

Master:
We use 'troubleshooting' instructions provided by mfg. Also, a known 'good bulb' & a digital voltmeter for output and cap testing. THe ballast mfg sites have troubleshooting suggestions, and output info available.
(Advance; Universal; Valmont, etc)

John

I use the known good lamp approach. First change the lamp, if that's not the problem, replace the ballast. On HID, since most ballasts come as a ballast kit, replace all the components. There are lamp testers available and I have one but rarely use it. This saves a lot of time and IMO money, since I don't have to go back a few weeks after I've changed the capacitor in a fixture to change the igniter.