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I sold a ballast and two florescent tubes to a diy customer. He installed them and says that the sign doesn't light up every night. Would a bad ballast do that? I asked him if he double checked all of his connections and he says he has.
There are two cabinets connected to his timer and one lights up every night but the one with the new ballast doesn't. So it can't be the timer. Thanks
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Maybe he linked them up in series, not parallel?
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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What Preston said.. Plus with the new electronic ballasts you need to rewire all the sockets. It is completely different wiring method then Magnetic ballasts.
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I forgot to mention, I sold him brand new sockets too. He says he wired it in accordance with the diagram on the ballast so I don't see how he could have gone wrong there. Looks like I may end up having to do a service call. Thanks
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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you state that the deal was for a DIY customer,... let him do it himself,...Why support an obvious effort to cut you out of the labor and the profit from it????????
-------------------- fly low...timi/NC is, Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC Posts: 2224 | From: Winston-Salem,NC,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Have him bring back the ballast you sold him so that you can test it in your shop.
-------------------- Robare M. Novou Milwaukee Sign Works Milwaukee Wisconsin USA Posts: 21 | From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA | Registered: Mar 2003
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Robare has a point,....why go out and do the labor he tried to avoid paying you for in the 1st place to find out if the ballast is bad and or he screwed up,...make him do the same thing you would have to do if he were paying you to do it,...
edited to add,...who is to say he didn't wire it wrong in the first place and it went bad due to his mistakes????
[ July 02, 2013, 03:43 AM: Message edited by: Tim Barrow ]
-------------------- fly low...timi/NC is, Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC Posts: 2224 | From: Winston-Salem,NC,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I realize that, Tim. Thing is; what would make the sign light one night and not the next? I would think a ballast would either work or not. But is it not that simple? If I have to do a service call, I will bill him for it.
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Part of being a DIY'er is that he takes all the risks. To save money, he is forgoing your experience and expertise at his own risk. That is what DIY is all about.
If the ballast is in question, he needs to bring it back so you can test it. If it tests correctly, then it is up to him to figure out what is going on. All you can do is offer to do a service call and bill him accordingly.
Live like brothers, but do business like strangers.
Why would it light one night and not the next? Is the system on a timer? If so, is the timer set correctly or could it be faulty. Does the system use a photocell. If so, is there a nearby light source that could be interfering?
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Glenn, He says the timer (or photocell) operates both signs(there are two on one pole). He says the main sign lights up every night but the one with the new ballast/sockets/tubes fails to light on some nights. If he does in fact have a photocell, it would be shutting off both units instead of the one.
However, it could be possible that the main sign is direct wired and bypasses his timer or photocell. If that's the case, his main sign may be lit all the time and he just doesn't realize it. In that case his timer could, in fact, be bad.
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Whoops.. Miss-read your post... It wasn't directed at you though..
I feel your pain though..I get so tired of the general public calling the shop asking for information on how to do this or that on their sign. But like a good girl I try to answer their questions and always seem to regret answering the phone 2 hours later.
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