She's given us faithful service for nearly six years, and now needs a ballast transplant.

Has it just been arcing at the terminal and melted it or is it more serious? I had one that would disconnect once warm so it would run up at dusk and then switch itself off and repeat every 15 minutes or so. Just needed the terminal sorted and it was fine. Quite surprising a 35W lamp would get the terminal that hot though.

The wire from the terminal block to the ballast coil has completely disconnected, it isn't possible to reconnect it, unfortunately

If stuck, I have a similar Thorn ballast available for a 35w SOX but with push-in wire terminals rather than the terminal block. It's a little bit rusty on the outside but should be working fine. Also have a Philips 35/55w ballast BSX 355L as an alternative, also has push-in wire terminals.

We've asked AH_87 to have a rummage through what he's got,
But we'll certainly keep your offer in mind.
The crucial factor is the size, so that it fits in the lantern.

Not good ! Is there any possibility of disassembling the ballast and replacing the terminal block ??

@ Tim - Can't see an easy way

@ Mark - Possibly, as Sammi said - give us a call sometime.

Sometimes its possible to catch enough of the remaining wire to make a new connection, but it depends if its the inside of the winding or the outer. There is generally no give in the inner wire and it can just disappear into the coil bobbin. Most of these paint dipped ballast are also difficult as the paint is stronger than the copper wire when trying to free a bit of the winding. My concern is why it failed this way. Is the lamp EOL? If the ballast cooked itself then the broken wire isn't the main issue. Sodium lamps can become rectifiers in their last throws and cook ballasts. The clue is the lamp flickers strangely as it flashing at 50 pluses per second instead of 100. This is very noticeable and as the lamp burns up the last of its electrodes it can even start to blink off for a cycle or so. If you can hear the ballast during this it will sound a bit angry and not smooth. If the wire has just been arcing way and burned its self out then the ballast should be ok but the lamp may not be happy as it may have sputtered the electrodes excessively. When we had a 55w SOX out in the street here it went through a lamp every 3 months due to a poor connection in the overhead wires. Just looked at the ballast I have with the push-in connections and its the same number.

It was certainly a very well worn lamp, so that could have been it, although it showed no sign of that in daily use. If the ballast you have is the same physical dimensions, which it should be with the same number, then that will be fine, give us a call and we can arrange something.