As the title says, I need to get the slipfitter clamp to stop wiggling around cause it makes a lot of noise. What torque wrench should I buy?

A small addition from the waste paper on this subject:


Source: W. Elenbaas and other, HIGH PRESSURE MERCURY VAPOUR LAMPS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS, PHILIPS TECHNICAL LIBRARY, 1965

Dear Viewers,
I am talking about an important topic in relation to Electronic ballasts manufactured by Tridonic in the 1990s and 2000s.

While I was taking apart a Tridonic ballast from around this era I unfortunately noticed that it contained a RIFA PME series capacitor which unfortunately do not have the best reputation at all. Those who constantly work on old Electronics from around the 80s and 90s would especially know this. The RIFA in the ballast I took apart was completely cracked.

This is a Tridonic PC 1x38-35 DD COMBO ballast from 2006.

RIFA capacitors are notorious for cracking very quickly and eventually fizzling potentially causing a fire risk. A quick Google search about RIFA capacitors will tell you all about them.

Unfortunately I also took apart another Tridonic ballast, this time a PC PRO 26/32/42 FSM b101 and I also spotted a RIFA PME capacitor also cracked.

Now I do not know if this topic has been covered on this website before and I have no idea if Tridonic have spoken out about this and I do not want to scare anyone but if you have these ballasts, please check if the capacitor is intact.

I have also taken apart a Tridonic PCA 1/40 T5c ECO ballast from 2011 and luckily it did not have a RIFA capacitor in it.

Thank you for reading.

After I have been learning that some Japanese mercury vapor reactor ballasts consist of an oversized power factor correction capacitor potted within the ballast’s casing in order to have a lower startup current than typical high power factor reactor ballasts with a normally sized power factor correction capacitor potted inside the casing, I am beginning to wonder if there is a practice involving the installation of oversized power factor correction capacitors in European HID fixtures using reactor ballasts in order to keep startup current minimized.

Some of the reasons that I have read in some Japanese HID ballast documentation say that having an oversized power factor correction capacitor wired in parallel with the mains is good for installations where the startup current of ballasts with normally sized power factor correction capacitors affects the operation of other electrical appliances and good for installations where the wiring size is limited.

Here is a translated excerpt that I got from a Japanese HID ballast document regarding applications of oversized power factor correction capacitors in HID reactor ballasts:

“ Low starting current ballast:

The power factor improvement capacitor of the choke coil type ballast is enlarged, and the capacitor leading current is increased. This reduces the input current at start-up and reduces wiring capacity.

This is suitable when the power supply voltage fluctuates little (within ±6%) and the power supply wiring capacity is fixed.

This is suitable when there are problems with the operation of other equipment when starting a lamp.”

Here is the documentation where I found this information:

https://www.seiwa.co.jp/support/pdf/101N-8_%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E5%AE%89%E5%AE%9A%E5%99%A8.pdf

The information can be found on page 366 of the above document.

Lights here are often either forgotten and left functioning forever or disconnected.


There is lots of examples of lights burning in the middle of fields for no reason around here. I assume the rental light book was lost at some point lol.

 In the U.S. , ambulance specs/laws vary from state to state and city to city . 

I have never seen an ambulance flash its siren-flash with the headlights, it's always been a separate unit (beacon+siren combined unit or separate strobe units)

I can imagine driving with the headlights flickering all the time between high and low beam would be a major distraction to everyone, and blinding to other drivers on the road..

So i assumed it is some sort of manual "give way" signal (similar to the "quack" sound of the siren) that only sees short use

 Apparently . Depending on how the customer has us program their particular ambulance , I have seen some where the headlight flasher will function not only in "Primary" ( Vehicle in gear , engine running ) but also in "Secondary" (vehicle in park , engine running )  During a major incident , the truck may be sitting on scene for hours with the lights on .

Is the headlight flashing for long enough for this to be an issue ?

 There is/was a kit available for General Motors trucks which allowed for both low beams and high beams to be on at the same time . I've also seen that cars with Xenon headlights don't turn off the low beam when the highs are turned on  .

 Awhile ago , Ford sent us a mandate that we weren't allowed to operate the headlight flasher function on our ambulances when the headlights are on . We just programmed our system to cancel the headlight flasher when the headlights are on . Apparently , Ford was having issues with emergency vehicles melting both the wiring and the headlight housings because of this .