Smokin'

[JeepersReefers]

What remains of the inside of my PFO ballast. There was no water in it or any where around it on the floor, it just blew up on its own while i was away.

 

[seafansar]

That sucks! But at least it didn't burn down your house! Stuff like that always waits for you to leave before messing up. It's like when I came home from the holidays to find the back side of my overflow box on the floor. :cursin:

 

[JeepersReefers]

Yeah, im glad my house is still standing, just stinks of burnt electronics. Im a little concerned that the GFI or breaker didnt trip. Would a failing capacitor usualy trip the circuit, or only if one of the wires grounds to the case?

 

[funkpolice]

the gfci measures the current going out and coming in. If they are different it trips. I would think a capacitor would trip a gfci, but I'm not positive.
bill

 

[DaveK]

Funkpoliece is correct about the GFCI. If nothing is going to ground, nothing trips. From the look of your picture, it looks like the secondary side of the ballast, since that's where you connect the capacitor.

While I don't want anyone to burn their house down, in a way you can consider this something of a blessing. You now have a reason to replace those coil and core ballasts with electronic ballasts.

You ballast box will weigh a lot less, it will produce a lot less heat, and the savings on electricity will pay for the new ballasts in two to three years.

So get yourself a couple of new electronic ballasts, rewire the box, and enjoy your lighing upgrade, and lower electric bill.