Troubleshooting TekLight short

[amos]

I got home today and noticed that two bulbs on my teklight 4-bulb system weren't firing. After toggling the switch and looking at the connections, I took and plugged the cord into a gfci and it tripped the unit. Any recommendations from the smart folks out there on how to troubleshoot this?

 

Jon

[Coral Hind]

The GFCI tripping doesn't mean the fixture is bad as many light setups will cause a GFCI to trip.

 

I would try swapping the two known good bulbs with the two that aren't firing? If they work in the spot where the other bulbs didn't then you have a bad bulb.

If they don't light up then I would unplug the fixture and open it up to see if you have any loose connections or burned components. I am guessing it might have been a ballast that went bad.

 

Try that out and report back.

[dshnarw]

ours shorted out at the on/off switch, might check for loose connections/etc. there

[amos]

I opened things up and checked all of the connections. Everything seemed fine, no moisture or salt creep in the endcaps. I'm thinking that its the ballast (its an advance centium). I'm going to call sunlight supply tomorrow. I'm disappointed that the ballast only last 2 years.

 

Jon

[Coral Hind]

I sent you a PM on a replacement ballast.

[amos]

So I dug up a spare workhorse fulham 5 that I had, wired it in, and things the bulbs are firing again. For those with TekLights, it wasn't a difficult swap. I had to spend the most time searching for the wiring diagram. And a tip for TekLight owners who need to access the ballast and wiring, unscrew the reflector plate off first!

 

Jon