Problem with AccuScan 250

Hi gld and welcome to the forums.

A couple of things to try. First, check the menu, go into TIME and then LAMP. That should tell you the number of hours the lamp has been on. You can also reset this when the lamp is changed to keep track. Next thing, take the lamp out of one of the units not working and put it in a unit that is working. Try to turn it on and see what happens. Make sure you don't touch the lamp with your fingers as well, because the oil will cause the lamp to die prematurely. If the lamp strikes in the 'good' fixture, then the ballast is probably bad on the unit. Try it with the other one as well. Again, if the lamp strikes in a 'good' unit, then the ballast is probably bad.

If swapping the lamps over to a 'good' fixture doesn't get them to strike, then the lamps are bad and need to be replaced. Make sure channel 6 is up to full on all fixtures as well. This is what gets them to strike.

Bad ballast means the units have to go in for service. Your best bet would be call AMDJ service and then go from there.

Thanks so much, I'll be trying your suggestions later this afternoon. Do you have any idea what causes the ballast to go bad? These units are not very old.

Ballasts are funny. They use capacitors to do what they do to strike lamps. If they don't build up enough voltage to complete the arc, the lamp doesn't strike. So it could be something like a bad capacitor/s, bad cable, even bad solder joints can cause enough of a drop in voltage for a fixture to not strike. Ballasts throw a big power surge down the line to strike a lamp. So a lot of things can go wrong. Everyone has surge protectors on something at home to stop lightning strikes from causing a power surge from frying electronics, so you get the idea.

I had a fixture that was brand new and at 50 hours on the lamp, it wouldn't strike. It was just before a show, so I put a lamp in it and it struck no problem. Once I got it back to the shop, I put the lamp I took out of it into a sister fixture and it struck no problem. So, I sent it back to the factory and had them replace the ballast under warranty. No problems with the fixture since. But just 50 hours on a lamp burn enough of the leads away to cause it to not strike.

Which reminds me of something else, all the lamps aren't striking/trying to strike at the time, correct? If they are plugged into the same outlet, you should space about about 30 seconds to a minute between strikes. When a lamp strikes, it can cause a voltage drop on the line it is plugged into. More then one lamp striking at once, bigger voltage drop and you might get some fixtures that don't strike because of it.

Well, I didn't even get to checking any of it before the weekend, and it was Labor Day weekend, so we were too busy for me to mess with it. I am just now recovering from that crap. So, I have one more retarded question. Pulling the bulb is not so easy, do you have any pointers or suggestions on the easiest way to get them out? The lights are in the ceiling and I can take them down if I have to, but it will be a royal pain in the buttocks. I tried to pull one already and it seemed hard to pop out, and I didn't want to force it without asking for suggestions first. Thanks so much for any help you can give.

Yea, they are not easy to get out like double ended lamps are. Get a pair of latex gloves that are not lubricated and/or powdered. That will allow you to touch the lamp safely then without causing adverse effects to lamp life.

If you do touch the lamp, get some alcohol wipes and wipe the lamp off thoroughly to get any oil off. I personally have a few pairs of Setwear Hot Hands, which also let you touch the lamps safely as well as touch hot objects without your skin burning (I often use them for grabbing things out of the oven ). They are very costly however at around $55 dollars a pair. The latex gloves would be much cheaper.