djQUAN
0
- Joined
- May 27, 2013
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- 1,154
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I have this defective ballast from dad's car. It came with his newly purchased used car and the HID drop in kit probably cost around US$40.
The lamp blinked and this ballast made an arcing sound so I replaced it and that fixed his lights. I decided to look inside out of curiosity and was surprised on what I found.
Yes, that is fine white sand in it which serves no other purpose I can think of other than as filler.
And then there's the second layer of potting compound
Desoldered the connector and ignitor block and the board came out
I found the problem. This film cap had a crack and part of its guts blown out
Board cleaned off of leftover potting compound and flux residue ready to be reassembled again
Replacement cap from a CRT monitor. I'm well aware of the lower voltage rating but the input side comes from a 400V electrolytic. Besides, chinese spec is overrated.
Reassembled everything and crossed my fingers. Flipped the switch expecting fireworks but it worked.
Input power peaked at over 90W but later stabilized to about 42W once the bulb was at operating temp which is what a typical 35W ballast consumes.
If interested, there are more pictures and circuit descriptions here: Cheapie Ballast
The lamp blinked and this ballast made an arcing sound so I replaced it and that fixed his lights. I decided to look inside out of curiosity and was surprised on what I found.
Yes, that is fine white sand in it which serves no other purpose I can think of other than as filler.
And then there's the second layer of potting compound
Desoldered the connector and ignitor block and the board came out
I found the problem. This film cap had a crack and part of its guts blown out
Board cleaned off of leftover potting compound and flux residue ready to be reassembled again
Replacement cap from a CRT monitor. I'm well aware of the lower voltage rating but the input side comes from a 400V electrolytic. Besides, chinese spec is overrated.
Reassembled everything and crossed my fingers. Flipped the switch expecting fireworks but it worked.
Input power peaked at over 90W but later stabilized to about 42W once the bulb was at operating temp which is what a typical 35W ballast consumes.
If interested, there are more pictures and circuit descriptions here: Cheapie Ballast