Doosan Light Tower....2 lights work 2 dont

[Parts]

Hi all. We have this late model Doosan light tower (I think about 2011-2012?) and 2 of the lights don't fire up. Before I start digging in with test lights I wanted to see if anyone could point me in the best direction to start. We put a new capacitor in it to make 60Hz and 120 volts (approximately). So I know the power is good. One set of lights just need love. Where is the best place to start testing? Thank you

 

[The Peej]

It depends on your budget. The cheapest is to start with bulb and ballast. If you use it a lot you should consider upgrading to LED lamps

 

[Parts]

Thanks @The Peej ...I dont think they're gonna do the LED upgrade but maybe in the future. Its a nice unit but the part that stinks is nobody can tell me if they saw 1 light go out and then the second go out of if they both went out at once. Do you see any reason I couldn't swap bulbs first to see what happens?

 

[kiilowatt bender]

Do you have proper voltage at the light fixture itself? What type of bulb is used?

 

[Parts]

Heres where I am at on this tower:
All 4 bulbs work. I switched the ballast/capacitor combos around and got the other bulbs on. I then moved the wires around for the switches and confirmed both switches work. Right now the top two bulbs come on and that cooresponds to the correct switch (I put everything back after diagnostics). I checked the capacitance of the capacitors at the ballasts and they were all correct. I am thinking I need a new set of ballasts and capacitors. My ballasts have 3 wires coming off of them. I called 1000bulbs and they said this would be my replacement but I would like to confirm with someone that knows better - seemed a little iffy. He asked if I have 120V, 277V, or 480V going into the ballasts and I had not checked that but I know I have 120V at the plug outlet. I suspect I have 120V. Can anyone tell me if these ballasts can be wired with 3 wires? See link: https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/89418/PLUSRITE-7243.html#

On that page theres a PDF with specs too if that helps.

 

[kiilowatt bender]

I do not know what wattage your bulbs are but as a master electrician I expect they are the large Mogul base screw in type. By the time you buy the capacitors and ballasts I suspect you are spending more than you would if you just eliminate the capacitors and ballasts and wired directly to a Mogul base LED "Corn light" with 5000 Kelvin brightness or above. You can buy these Led "Corn lights on-line for less than than you would pay for the capacitors and ballast. The LED bulbs are direct wired to your power source and usually they come with 120-208-240and277 volt input range . Less heat, instant on, better illumination and very long life. Keep life simple and yoor wiring connection simple! I think that is your win-Win solution. Operating cost is about 1/4th of HID lights.

 

[Parts]

Yes mogul base BT37 bulb! I didn't realize LED conversion was just about getting line voltage to the sockets. I can do that. The machine makes 120V at the regular plug. Where would you suggest I check for voltage before ordering LED bulbs? When you do these upgrades do you just cut out the ballasts and reconnect the wires to take generator voltage up to the sockets? I could also leave all that in the belly and rewire off the circuit breaker to new switches that control the lights. I don't want to mess up anything with the electrical generation so maybe makes sense to put in new toggle switches feeding the lights?

 

[Camshawn]

We just changed the lamp to LED and bypassed the ballast/capacitor on streetlights and area lights. The high wattage LEDs were just becoming available when I retired. Cam

 

[Parts]

So just got to this tower because we need it running soon.

I purchased a GE brand ballast and capacitor came with it. The new ballast has a number of wires - I believe called a 5 tap.

The ballast I removed had 3 wires. 1 wire that said COM, 1 wire that said 110V, and 1 that went to the capacitor.

Installing the new ballast I did exactly what the wires told me to do. I connected COM to COM, 110V to 110V, and the capacitor to the 1 capacitor side. The rest of the wires were left off and capped. I added a ground wire to the ballast metal case at one of the mounting bolt holes and ran that to the battery.

NO LIGHT out of the light that correlates with that ballast still. The other 2 lights work fine and the 110V outlet works fine.

Did I wire that ballast wrong?

 

[kiilowatt bender]

As long as you have 120 volts at the Mogul socket and if you are using 120 volt KED corn light rated for 500Kbrightness and designed to replace the HID lamp you should do just fine and get more lumen than the HID lamp with longer life. ( just eliminate the ballast and capacitor junk. If you time is not worth much then keep spending it a lot on the old generation lamps. (P.S. I have never had a customer express any complaint with the LED replacements. All I hear is WOW!)

 

[Parts]

It wasn't my choice to get this ballast but I think you are right so I am going to have them go LED i think. So how do I bypass the ballast and cap? I have the three wires I mentioned above...if I want to get regular 110V to the mogul bases what do I do at the ballast to get rid of that junk?

 

[djhutt]

Lamp lead to 120 line. Lamp com to Neutral

 

[Camshawn]

I can’t pull a picture of the wiring diagram out of my head just now. You replaced the ballast and cap and wired it according to the diagram (?) so the other question is: is the bulb good? You could prove the bulb by swapping it into a working fixture. I have experienced a new bad bulb more than once. Cam

 

[Parts]

I can’t pull a picture of the wiring diagram out of my head just now. You replaced the ballast and cap and wired it according to the diagram (?) so the other question is: is the bulb good? You could prove the bulb by swapping it into a working fixture. I have experienced a new bad bulb more than once. Cam

I rewired the new one in like the old one I pulled. Except my new one has more taps for different voltages. Yes bulb is definitely good as I swapped it around.

 

[Camshawn]

But does the picture on the new ballast match the old one? My memory is saying 3 wires spliced together for the commons. it’s been a few yrs since I changed an HID ballast. That may be because of a photo cell which also needs the common (if you have one)…….just not clear any more.

 

[Parts]

But does the picture on the new ballast match the old one? My memory is saying 3 wires spliced together for the commons. it’s been a few yrs since I changed an HID ballast. That may be because of a photo cell which also needs the common (if you have one)…….just not clear any more.

The old ballast is largely illegible - the new one is a universal so I am told. Right now I think I have the OK to rewire for LED. So I have a 110V, common, and ballast wire for each light (at the ballast connections). I need to make the sockets run straight 110V now. Assuming I need to find the other side of the harness that is coming to the ballasts and connect everything to where ever I can find switched 110V?