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What would cause a topper to keep blowing the fluorescent. I have changed the ballast and the light. It will stay on for awhile then go out. Sometimes an hour sometimes a day..HELP!

Is it just intermittent operation, or are you blowing out a component??

No components blown. if I recycle the power it comes on for awhile again then goes off......power supply?

Still get voltage to the connecter when the topper fades out. Must be a topper issue. I am going to swap out the whole topper and see.
But what else is between the ballast and the power?

IF you have another machine try moving topper and see if problem follows topper

Small Florescents typically use a starter. These generate a large blast of power to initally excite the gases in the florescent tube and then a very small amount of energy is used to keep them going. These looks like a small can If you push down and turn left they pop right out. They have two pins that fit into a keystone type holder.

These toppers dont have starters. They just have a ballast. I replaced it with a known good topper and it does the same thing. Stays on for awhile then fades out. If I unplug the topper it will come back on for a bit before it goes out again.

CHECK THE INCOMING POWER TO THE TOPPER WHEN IT IS WORKING . WHEN IT STARTS TO FAD AWAY CHECK POWER TO TOPPER IS SOUNDS LIKE A POWER SUPPLY PROBLEM

which  type of fluorescent lamp system  are you using?   there are several types  that are used in the toppers.  one is powered by 115vac, a rapid start type using no starter, the second type  is the 25vdc  electronic  ballast type  using the same bulbs as the  starter type.   and lastly  the older type  using the ballast/ starter, also powered by 115vac.

Jim

25 volt ballast.   I am thinking if it were a power supply issue it would effect the other lights as they are also using 25v ballasts?????

If you have a bad/corroded connection somewhere, it may be heating up enough to cause the lamp to go out. As noted above, best bet it to stick a meter on it and watch it.

have you confirmed the power source you are using?  in a S-2000  the power distribution panel in the top box  has both dc voltages present.  make sure that you are not using the +13vdc ( red wire/ black wire with red tracer)   the right one is the orange wire/ black wire with orange tracer. (25vdc)

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=11729.0  (http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=11729.0)   look at the last post of this thread   it has a picture of the power dist. board and what voltages are supplied

Jim

looked at the voltage when it went down. No fluctuation.
here is another wrinkle.....I hooked up another topper at the same time to see if that one would go down to. So both of them going at the same time and....they both stay on now...?
They have been going good for a couple hours.

Are things normally closed up when they go down? Maybe a heat problem?

here is another wrinkle.....I hooked up another topper at the same time to see if that one would go down to. So both of them going at the same time and....they both stay on now...?
They have been going good for a couple hours.
[/quote]                                                          MAYBE ITS A 2 TOPPER MACHINE  (SORRY COULD NOT HELP MYSELF)  LOL  :72- :97-

Yeah that is a good one. :97-

Interesting.
On a switching power supply you need to provide a load to get it to work.
So I can see where more load (ie 2Toppers) would solve your problem.
However it doesn't explain why your voltage doesn't drop when the other goes off.

If this was DC - I would suggest throwing a 1K resistor across it.

Since its AC I don't think you would like the fireworks or smell........