Title: Bottle door lighting problem
Post by: BrianB on September 16, 2004, 06:55:00 am
I am currently in the middle of restoring my Vendorlator 117 B-H. I have completely disassembled the machine to facilitate the restoration. Prior to taking the machine apart, the Bottle Door Light didn't work properly. I figured that after I took this beast apart I would re-wire and replace the ballast, starter,bulb receptacle and bulb. I did all of the above and while conducting a system test to include the refrigeration unit and vending mechanism, I noticed that the same problem was occuring.
The bulb itself flickers and tries to start but won't. The starter is countinuously firing trying to get the bulb to light. I was initially worried about polarity. I remembered when I removed the old ballast (suspect part) it had (2) black leads. The one that I ordered from Soda Jerk Works has (1) black and (1) white. The new ballast is NOS/OEM, so I figured that it was "plug n' play". The rating on the ballast is suitable for the light (18 inch 15 watt 120 VAC). So after the initial problem I swapped leads to the reverse of the way I had them just to see if it made a difference, in addition I changed out the starter with a known good and chnaged out the bulb and bulb receptacle with know goods. It still didn't help.
The only thing I can think of now is this, The NOS ballast I bought was bad out of the box. The ballast would be considered a "single point of failure" along with the bulb and starter. Right now It seems like I'm chasing my tail. I don't want to have to shell out another $30 some odd dollars for another ballast just to satisfy a hunch. That means waiting a couple of weeks for the thing to arrive via mail and that's torture!!
Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
The bulb itself flickers and tries to start but won't. The starter is countinuously firing trying to get the bulb to light. I was initially worried about polarity. I remembered when I removed the old ballast (suspect part) it had (2) black leads. The one that I ordered from Soda Jerk Works has (1) black and (1) white. The new ballast is NOS/OEM, so I figured that it was "plug n' play". The rating on the ballast is suitable for the light (18 inch 15 watt 120 VAC). So after the initial problem I swapped leads to the reverse of the way I had them just to see if it made a difference, in addition I changed out the starter with a known good and chnaged out the bulb and bulb receptacle with know goods. It still didn't help.
The only thing I can think of now is this, The NOS ballast I bought was bad out of the box. The ballast would be considered a "single point of failure" along with the bulb and starter. Right now It seems like I'm chasing my tail. I don't want to have to shell out another $30 some odd dollars for another ballast just to satisfy a hunch. That means waiting a couple of weeks for the thing to arrive via mail and that's torture!!
Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Title: Bottle door lighting problem
Post by: johnieG on September 16, 2004, 08:28:19 am
Well, you're on the right track. the ballest is used to limit the current through the lamp, ( an electric arc is bassically a short-circut as far as electricty is concerned) here's how the circut lights the lamp...
1: You turn on the switch, completeing the circut.
2: The current flows through the ballast into the filiments at each end off the tube, this ionizes the mercury ( in the tube) into a hot gas.
3: The electricity strikes an arc across the tube & the current flow rises.
4: the ballast now limits the current flowing through the lit tube, & the starter is basically shunted ( bypassed by the electricity) being the like water, electricity will flow along the path of least resistance. the starter opens & turns off current to the filiments.
5: the lamp is lit. ( or should be, anyway!)
if the lamp flickers ( try's to strike an arc) the goes out, then the currents being interuppted, or the filiments did not have enough time to warm-up the gas to strike an the arc
A: the lamp's sockets are loose
B: the wrong size starter is being used, ( should be an F2 size), but check the starter, it will list the size of lamps it's intended to be used with.
C: the starters socket is damaged or loose
D: the metal housing must be grounded ( this aids in starting the lamp)
E: the ballast has a loose connection, or a cold solder joint internally.
F: or just a bad Lamp! & a bad (shorted) ballast will "Pop" a lamp like a flashbulb (remember those??)
if the ballast is intermittant, the ends of the lamp will glow, then it will attempt to light, & flicker & go out
1: You turn on the switch, completeing the circut.
2: The current flows through the ballast into the filiments at each end off the tube, this ionizes the mercury ( in the tube) into a hot gas.
3: The electricity strikes an arc across the tube & the current flow rises.
4: the ballast now limits the current flowing through the lit tube, & the starter is basically shunted ( bypassed by the electricity) being the like water, electricity will flow along the path of least resistance. the starter opens & turns off current to the filiments.
5: the lamp is lit. ( or should be, anyway!)
if the lamp flickers ( try's to strike an arc) the goes out, then the currents being interuppted, or the filiments did not have enough time to warm-up the gas to strike an the arc
A: the lamp's sockets are loose
B: the wrong size starter is being used, ( should be an F2 size), but check the starter, it will list the size of lamps it's intended to be used with.
C: the starters socket is damaged or loose
D: the metal housing must be grounded ( this aids in starting the lamp)
E: the ballast has a loose connection, or a cold solder joint internally.
F: or just a bad Lamp! & a bad (shorted) ballast will "Pop" a lamp like a flashbulb (remember those??)
if the ballast is intermittant, the ends of the lamp will glow, then it will attempt to light, & flicker & go out
Title: Bottle door lighting problem
Post by: MoonDawg on September 16, 2004, 10:11:20 am
Thanks Johnie. Very informative. 
Title: Bottle door lighting problem
Post by: BrianB on September 20, 2004, 08:27:08 am
Welp....It turns out that the ballast I received was the incorrect part. It was only rated up to 10 watts. It looks exactly like my original. I guess maybe I should have drilled a little deeper for more info prior to ordering it. I figure that by providing the Make/model of my machine that I would have gotten the proper part. Such is life. Instead of shelling out another $23 bucks, I went to Lowes and found a ballast that is almost the same exact size (maybe 1/2" longer) for $4.79. Got home and wired it up and.....PRESTO! we have lights! I really appreciate the quick response. It helped me re-analyze the situation and get back to the basics.
Brian
Brian
Title: Bottle door lighting problem
Post by: johnieG on September 20, 2004, 10:41:34 am
Happy to help get your machine lit-up again!
Yep! as stated above, ballasts are rated on what size
(wattage) bulb(s) they are intended to go with....
Next time I'll show you a trick to convert an old push-to-start type or a starter type of light-up sign into an instant start, using a circle-lamp ballast.
Yep! as stated above, ballasts are rated on what size
(wattage) bulb(s) they are intended to go with....
Next time I'll show you a trick to convert an old push-to-start type or a starter type of light-up sign into an instant start, using a circle-lamp ballast.