fluorescent light ballasts

sorenj07 · 5th November 2006, 04:50 PM

walking home from the train station today, i saw four chunky fluorescent light ballasts in an open box next to a dumpster. there are 3 Magnetek model 443-L-SLH-TC-P's, and 1 Advance Transformer Mark III model V-140-2-TP. they are all around 8" long, 1.5" tall, and 2.5" wide, and seem to weigh around 4lbs each. i'll post pics in a while.

basically i was wondering if i can use these for something. the magneteks have one primary and 3 secondaries, blue, yellow and red. in all of them, i measure around 30 ohms in the primary, 1 ohm on each secondary, and around 26 ohms between the primary and the blue...? i measure the same ~30 ohms and ~1 ohms on the one primary and one secondary of the Advance.

Nordic · 5th November 2006, 06:28 PM

DIY UV exposure box

sorenj07 · 5th November 2006, 06:53 PM

lol gotta work on that tan-line

Nordic · 5th November 2006, 06:57 PM

No man, for photo etching...

sorenj07 · 5th November 2006, 07:25 PM

well, i don't really etch a whole lot - i like p2p, and when i do need to board something up, i usually use perf. any idea what a ballast like this can be used for? a plate transformer? filter choke?

lndm · 5th November 2006, 10:50 PM

Ballasts (domestic, just a few) that I have measured didn't stack up to my audio needs. IIRC, they had low inductance and too high an interwinding capacitance.

sorenj07 · 6th November 2006, 05:11 AM

i'm actually kind of glad that ballasts aren't that great - i was just itching to take one of them apart

. i wonder what kind of core could be in such a long, thin package...

Wavebourn · 6th November 2006, 05:30 AM

It is interesting, what is their inductivity with DC current throw them...

lndm · 6th November 2006, 08:10 AM

FWIW

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...285#post897285

sorenj07 · 7th November 2006, 04:34 AM

update: I completely destroyed one of the Magneteks. It has a really weird core, which I'll try to describe (still haven't gotten a charger for my camera). There is a central core, in the shape of a really tall T. The windings were directly wound around this core with insulation separating them from each other. Two L-shaped cores to the right and left closed around the T to form two somewhat regular rectangles.

I had to use a chisel and hammer to excavate this core from a thick layer of black, greasy, waxy stuff that made an unbelievable mess. Black chips of the waxy stuff went everywhere. It was only midway through this process that I looked at my black-stained hands and thought the letters "PCB" but those were banned a long time ago, right? RIGHT?

...right?

5th November 2006, 04:50 PM	#1
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	fluorescent light ballasts walking home from the train station today, i saw four chunky fluorescent light ballasts in an open box next to a dumpster. there are 3 Magnetek model 443-L-SLH-TC-P's, and 1 Advance Transformer Mark III model V-140-2-TP. they are all around 8" long, 1.5" tall, and 2.5" wide, and seem to weigh around 4lbs each. i'll post pics in a while. basically i was wondering if i can use these for something. the magneteks have one primary and 3 secondaries, blue, yellow and red. in all of them, i measure around 30 ohms in the primary, 1 ohm on each secondary, and around 26 ohms between the primary and the blue...? i measure the same ~30 ohms and ~1 ohms on the one primary and one secondary of the Advance.

6th November 2006, 05:30 AM	#8
Wavebourn diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Pleasant Hill, CA	It is interesting, what is their inductivity with DC current throw them... __________________ Amicus est Socrates, magister meus, sed magis est arnica veritas.

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5th November 2006, 06:28 PM	#2
Nordic diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2005	DIY UV exposure box

5th November 2006, 06:53 PM	#3
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	lol gotta work on that tan-line

5th November 2006, 06:57 PM	#4
Nordic diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2005	No man, for photo etching...

5th November 2006, 07:25 PM	#5
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	well, i don't really etch a whole lot - i like p2p, and when i do need to board something up, i usually use perf. any idea what a ballast like this can be used for? a plate transformer? filter choke?

5th November 2006, 10:50 PM	#6
lndm diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: nsw	Ballasts (domestic, just a few) that I have measured didn't stack up to my audio needs. IIRC, they had low inductance and too high an interwinding capacitance.

6th November 2006, 05:11 AM	#7
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	i'm actually kind of glad that ballasts aren't that great - i was just itching to take one of them apart . i wonder what kind of core could be in such a long, thin package...

6th November 2006, 08:10 AM	#9
lndm diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: nsw	FWIW http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...285#post897285

7th November 2006, 04:34 AM	#10
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	update: I completely destroyed one of the Magneteks. It has a really weird core, which I'll try to describe (still haven't gotten a charger for my camera). There is a central core, in the shape of a really tall T. The windings were directly wound around this core with insulation separating them from each other. Two L-shaped cores to the right and left closed around the T to form two somewhat regular rectangles. I had to use a chisel and hammer to excavate this core from a thick layer of black, greasy, waxy stuff that made an unbelievable mess. Black chips of the waxy stuff went everywhere. It was only midway through this process that I looked at my black-stained hands and thought the letters "PCB" but those were banned a long time ago, right? RIGHT? ...right?

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