hamilton technology fixture troubleshooting.

[Acer]

hello, i recently bought a used hamilton 3' metal halide fixture, single mogul type socket, 2 30watt flourescents one on each side, the bulb fires up, the tank goes from being dark to a dawn or dusk effect but then after about 30-40 secs it just dies out, the fans stay on so im sure its getting electricity, the flourescents have an independant ballast so those have no problems, is there anything i can check before i buy a $70 bulb only to find that is some other problem? any similar situations and what you do to fix or troubleshoot?

[ccCapt]

So the fluorescents stay on, but the mh goes off? I believe the Hamilton fixtures use a magnetic mh ballast. If that's the case, it sounds like the capacitor is going on it. It can be replaced.

[Acer]

ok I just visited hamiltons web site.. I guess the loose components are readily available on their website. I have basic electricity and soldering skills, how would I go about checking that? just check for continuance?

[roka64]

I am not an electrician, but I would think you may want to test the capacitor to make sure is getting charged.....But then again, I could be totally off track.

[ccCapt]

I'm not sure how you can check the cap. It probably needs to be on a full load before it kicks off. There is no soldering required to replace the cap. If it's like any other standard magnetic mh ballast, it's just wire nutted in.

[Acer]

maybe tomorrow im going to open this sucker up and take a loo around, im still doing research so any ideas are appreciated.