M80 Ballast melts plug

[saltydog1]

Hi everyone. Last week I smelled something burning. Come to find out, the plug from my Aquamedic Reeflex Cube 250 was melted where it plugs into my fixture plug. It tripped the GFCI. Thank God I was home. I'm kind of afraid to repair it. I don't know if I can trust it anymore. The plugs were outside the cabinet. No salt creep. Anyone have any idea if it has something to do with the ballast drawing too much current? Any comments or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[alton]

You will the service of a electrical contractor or friend who has an amp meter to see if the ballast has gone bad?

[saltydog1]

Could a bad ballast cause this? Thanks

[saltydog1]

No one else?

[PaulErik]

Is this on the ballast output side? If yes, the ballast is most likely fine. This is a common problem if the plug is not making full contact with the socket. M80 ballasts are equipped with a high voltage (4000-5000V) lamp ignitor. If you have a loose connection it will arc, melt and/or burn the connection.

[saltydog1]

Is this on the ballast output side? If yes, the ballast is most likely fine. This is a common problem if the plug is not making full contact with the socket. M80 ballasts are equipped with a high voltage (4000-5000V) lamp ignitor. If you have a loose connection it will arc, melt and/or burn the connection.

Thank you. Yes, it's on the output side. I had to change the plug on the fixture to work with this ballast a couple of years ago. Can't tell if it loosened or not, because of the melting. Almost tempted to go back with the Icecap ballast. Thanks again for your reply !!