Diy with Jenny#3- Replacing capacitors in M58 magnetic ballasts

[Jennifer]

I got the Diy done on how to replace capacitors in M58 style magnetic MH ballasts.

As with all of my projects, I hope this info is useful to someone.
http://home.comcast.net/~jennyleep/DiyBallastRepair.htm

 

[Miller]

Good job Jennifer! (although I hope to never have a use for your repair)

Now you have a spare set of ballast.

 

[jbishop]

That is sweet. Thank you for taking the time to write that up

 

[reefsmurf]

Another great job.
That looks like a Catalina Aquarium ballast.. I used to have 2 of those

 

[Jim Tansey]

Jennifer,

Beautiful job on that presentation.

Jim

 

[stingythingy45]

Great job,
Even dug the electric blue fingernails.

 

[JBendel]

Well Done!

 

[saltwaterB]

Jennifer, that came out absolutely great! Very easy for anyone to follow.
Wish I had that back when I had to do my first few, would have come in very handy, and saved a ton of frustration.

 

[delta]

Nice Job Jennifer

 

[alpha0r]

Very well done and easy to follow. Could you use a machine screw and nut if you don't have a pop rivet gun?

I'm glad that 20k bulb didn't blow up. I might need a backup one day.

 

[Jennifer]

Good job Jennifer! (although I hope to never have a use for your repair)

Now you have a spare set of ballast.

Thanks Barry. Never hurts to have back ups. I am tempted to install this over my 70 gallon. But with energy costs on the rise I think it would be wise to keep the light I have on that tank. 3 - 250 watt MH running is enough nevermind 5 - 250 watt MH.

jbishop
That is sweet. Thank you for taking the time to write that up

Thanks and you are welcome. I hope you never need to use the info. But if you do I hope this makes the repairs go smoothly for you.

reefsmurf
Another great job.
That looks like a Catalina Aquarium ballast.. I used to have 2 of those

Thank you. Catalina Aquarium-- I am not sure but I will look those up. I never could find much info on the web about this ballast. All it says is UltraLights on the side.

Jim Tansey Jennifer,

Beautiful job on that presentation.

Jim

Thanks JIM.

stingythingy45
Great job,
Even dug the electric blue fingernails.

Thanks BOB.
Gotta love the electric blue nail polish. Especially when working with electricity.

 

[Jennifer]

Well Done!

Thank you!!!

saltwaterB
Jennifer, that came out absolutely great! Very easy for anyone to follow.
Wish I had that back when I had to do my first few, would have come in very handy, and saved a ton of frustration.

Thanks B, Sorry I could not have been there for you. Hopefully others will not have to suffer the frustration you went through.

delta
Nice Job Jennifer

Thanks GREG !!!

alpha0r
Very well done and easy to follow. Could you use a machine screw and nut if you don't have a pop rivet gun?

I'm glad that 20k bulb didn't blow up. I might need a backup one day.

Thanks Jackson, You could use a machine screw if you did not have access to the pop rivet gun. I just wanted the repair to look like a factory done job but the machine screw would do fine.

I am sorry, I thought that was a junk bulb. I did not realize it was your back up. I am glad it did not blow up. If it had, I would have covered you on the back up bulbs even if I had to buy you 1.


Thanks again guys it means a lot to me.

 

[Aquadiva]

This is awesome..

Nice write-up. Lots of pics and easy to follow.

BTW.. any way to tell for sure if the capacitor is weak, even though it still fires the bulb?

 

[Jennifer]

This is awesome..

Nice write-up. Lots of pics and easy to follow.

BTW.. any way to tell for sure if the capacitor is weak, even though it still fires the bulb?

Thanks Linda;

The only way I know of for sure is with some expensive test equipment. Or you could take the capacitor out and check it with a capacitance meter.

If your bulbs are not as bright as they used to be and you think there might be something wrong. Try replacing the bulb first. If that does not work then you might think about replacing the capacitors.