Ballast interference and heat

[Rod Hanks <rhanks at benchbuilt_com>]

From time to time people have reported problems with electronic ballasts

(it often seems to be IceCap) causing TV interference.  I think I
discovered
something interesting.

I have an IceCap ballast driving 4 110 watt VHO flourescents.  There is
also
a RadioShack 4 inch AC cooling fan in this hood.  Our TVs are on cable.
There is a fair amount of coax within 15 feet of the hood, but nothing
really
close to it.

Lately I have been noticing two things, (1) I am getting some
interference
on the television (scrolling lines that move slowly upward) and (2) the
cooling fan is failing.

And the two seem to be related!  If I can coax the cooling fan to work
the
hood will cool down and the amount of television interference goes down
dramatically.  This may partially explain why some people have problems
with this ballast and some don't.

I'm replacing the fan, the ballast, and the lights this weekend.  I hope
my
new setup is better.

Thanks,
Rod

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