What does a burned out ballast smell like?

A common source of these odors is the fluorescent light ballast. When called to such an incident, you typically will find an electrical odor or a haze of smoke. Overheating ballasts give off a distinctive odor; with experience, you will learn to easily recognize the odor at subsequent incidents.

What causes a ballast to overheat?

When a bulb of the wrong size or voltage is used in the fixture, the ballast often overheats, causing the light to shut off. The bulbs and the fixture must also match in frequency, or the ballast becomes overworked and overheated. Other signs of incompatible bulbs include slow and obvious flickering or a loud whine.

What happens when a ballast goes bad?

What happens when a ballast goes bad? When it’s too hot or too cold, the ballast can burn or fail to start your lamps at all. Heat combined with prolonged condensation inside an electronic ballast can cause corrosion. Some people may suggest removing the parts of the ballast casing and cleaning the electrical board.

How can you tell if the ballast is bad?

2. Look for warning signs that the ballast is failing.

1. Buzzing. If you hear a strange sound coming from your bulbs or light fixture, like a buzzing or humming noise, that’s often a sign your ballast is going.
2. Dimming or flickering.
3. No lights at all.
4. Changing colors.
5. Swollen casing.
6. Burn marks.
7. Water damage.
8. Leaking oil.

Is a bad ballast a fire hazard?

The problem is that the lamp ballast (a small transformer mounted in the light fixture base) can fail. Because a failing ballast can get extremely hot, it can become a fire hazard. All modern magnetic ballast designs have an internal temperature sensor that shuts the ballast off when it gets too hot.

What is ballast for?

In a fluorescent lighting system, the ballast regulates the current to the lamps and provides sufficient voltage to start the lamps. Without a ballast to limit its current, a fluorescent lamp connected directly to a high voltage power source would rapidly and uncontrollably increase its current draw.

How much does it cost to replace a ballast?

A replacement ballast costs about $10-25 depending on capacity and brand. The bite is that an electrician trip charge (which includes 30 or 60 minutes work) is going to be $75-150 probably – for about 5 minutes work on each light fixture.

How long does a ballast last?

According to the Certified Ballast Manufacturers Association, the average magnetic ballast lasts about 75,000 hours, or 12 to 15 years with normal use. The optimum economic life of a fluorescent lighting system with magnetic ballasts is usually about 15 years.

Do you need an electrician to change a ballast?

Yes. As a matter of fact, you do need a lock out tag out device in place for changing a ballast. ‘An electrician is replacing the ballast on a fluorescent light.

What causes ballast to fail?

Every ballast has an ambient operating temperature range and UL location rating. When it’s too hot or too cold, the ballast can burn or fail to start your lamps at all. Heat combined with prolonged condensation inside an electronic ballast can cause corrosion and ballast failure.

Can a light ballast cause a fire?

Overheated fluorescent lights can cause fires! Overheating of the ballast could result in the following: Ignition of nearby combustible materials.

What can I do about a bad smell from a ballast?

Clean the housing by scraping any residue off and wiping with kerosene, turpentine or rubbing alcohol. Check with your city or county’s hazardous waste department to find out the regulations for properly disposing of the ballast and contaminated materials. Ballasts that did not leak can be recycled by companies…

What to do if you smell a burning smell from a light fixture?

If you smell something burning and it’s coming from your light fixture don’t ignore it. If a light fixture gives off a burning smell, disconnect the fixture until you have determined the source of the odor. Overheating electrical wires and devices often emit a burning smell.

What to do if a fluorescent light ballast overheats?

When faced with numerous fluorescent lights, or lights that are attached to high ceilings, use a thermal imaging camera to quickly spot the overheating ballast, facilitating the job of identifying the source of the odor. Once you identify the offending light, shut it off.

Can a bad light ballast cause a fire?

Dangers. As with any electrical situation where overheating is possible, a bad ballast can pose a fire danger. The overheated ballast could cause the plastic housing on the light itself to melt and, in the right conditions, flame up. Most bad ballasts simply burn themselves out, but it’s still good to recognize the odor and find the problem.

Clean the housing by scraping any residue off and wiping with kerosene, turpentine or rubbing alcohol. Check with your city or county’s hazardous waste department to find out the regulations for properly disposing of the ballast and contaminated materials. Ballasts that did not leak can be recycled by companies…

If you smell something burning and it’s coming from your light fixture don’t ignore it. If a light fixture gives off a burning smell, disconnect the fixture until you have determined the source of the odor. Overheating electrical wires and devices often emit a burning smell.

What should I do if my light ballast is hot?

A light exhibiting such symptoms should be considered suspect and examined. A further test would be to check for heat from the ballast. Ballasts usually run hot, about 140 degrees F, but if one is so hot that you can’t keep your hands on it, it is likely the culprit.

How to get rid of the smell of Burnt Toast?

To help reduce the smell with home remedies, you can: 1 rinse your nose with a saline solution 2 use a decongestant 3 use an anesthetic spray to numb the nerve cells in your nose