Mysterious Ballast Failure

[jbmg]

I have discovered a mysterious ballast failure. There was a small hole in the ballast with burn marks on the light fixture. Surprisingly, the lens was undamaged and remained intact. The main air circuit breaker that feeds the panel powering the light in question tripped.

Please see attached picture.

Any ideas as to what may have caused this??
Has anyone every seen anything like this before??

 

[itsmoked]

An internal failure that resulted in arcing to the metal case from the inside. The case steel promptly melts. Sure I have seen things like that several times. Not specifically on a lighting ballast.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[itsmoked]

Got a metal band saw? Cut the ballast in half 1/4" to the side of the hole.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[waross]

Look around to see if a hot wire grounded out on the outside of the ballast.

Bill
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter