Do I need a new ballast?

[ChrisP]

First of all, I know absolutely nothing about electricity. I had an old 175 watt magnetic ballast DIY-wired to a mogul socket and a 10K Ushio bulb. I put it on my 34 gallon a couple weeks ago and it worked until today. It didn't work some other times until I jiggled the wires a bit. Now it doesn't seem to work at all. Should I assume that the ballast is shot? I really need to get it working again. Do I need a new ballast? Should I spend the extra money on an electronic ballast? What other parts do I need to order to get it up and running?

Thanks!
Chris

[charlie]

I know enuf about electricity, that if you wiggle wires and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, you have a problem!!!!!! Can you open the ballast up and replace the wire? If not, my suggestion would be to get rid of it, we are talking about a hazard here, and electricity isn't anything to mess around with!!!! HTH

[scooterman]

Jiggling wires & it working & then not isn't good, this could lead to Arcing, eventually a possible fire. This sounds like a loose or bad connection somewhere, unplug the unit & fully inspect each wire & where it is connected, DIY can be improperly connected wires which isn't safe either. If you no nothing about electrical things best you get help or replace the DIY for something you know will work safely, leave electrical DIY to those who know enough about that to be safe.