hamilton ballasts are not bad thats what im using on my HQIs .. they can last up to 5 years or longer .. but it really depends on how much stress your putting on them .. mine fire at noon and are off at 5 pm ...
I have never heard of them losing pop personally... I mean not much that can change but maybe the coils start to deteriorate??? This is new to me... Anyone running a pfo like I was is using a very old ballast they were taken out of production years ago and there still the best ballast today.... Sucks they need to bring a m80 hqi ballast back to the market....