Ballast turns off and back on lately WHY?

imthemedic

imthemedic

Well-Known Member
I have noticed 3 times today that the 1000w HPS has turned off then powered back up again. Why would this happen, never did it before. No timer on it and its plugged in to the wall socket. Nothing else goes off on the same circuit. Any help here? Ballast or bulb? Bulb has a few grows on it.
 
K

kathleenbilly

Well-Known Member
Sounds like a voltage drop somewhere along the line......could a wiring fault or a ballast fault either way it a problem.
 
frostythesnowthug

frostythesnowthug

Well-Known Member
i had an old external ballast that did that..
It was getting hot and cutting out, i tried new bulbs n went over the wiring to see if it was a screwed or a bad connection, all checked out fine, so i hooked up an extra pc fan to the side of the ballast, where it had a cut-out in the metal casing, and it sorted the problem, its still running fine now.

You need to get it sorted soon or you're gonna end up in hermies-ville.
 
Twistyman

Twistyman

Well-Known Member
I don't use ballasts , but it sounds like a GFI sort of thing..shuts off when overheated ????? is the ballast in the hot area ??
 
frostythesnowthug

frostythesnowthug

Well-Known Member
My old light was a complete unit, with bulb,e40 socket and ballast all built into a box with a reflector on the end, that thing use to get frickin hot...
So i stripped it down, used a batwing reflector and put the ballast outside the growspace, they usually get hot, but as they get older, they get hotter and mine have had problems either cutting out, or just getting very noisy.
since i bolted a 12v fan to it neither gets hot,its barely warm infact, or cut out anymore,and i mounted it on some medium density foam pads, so it doesnt vibrate on the top of the 'drobe.
What light do you have?
 
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Picasso345

Picasso345

Well-Known Member
Twistyman said:
I don't use ballasts , but it sounds like a GFI sort of thing..shuts off when overheated ????? is the ballast in the hot area ??
Click to expand...
GFIs don't reset themselves. I think the problem is definitely the ballast or bulb with a 95% chance of the ballast being funky. Shutting the bulb off and then restarting right away is called a "Hot Strike" and bulb manufacture warn against doing that as it takes a chunk out of the life expectancy. I know you don't have much of an option and you aren't doing it on purpose, but just something to keep in mind.

Do you have a spare bulb you can test in the ballast? If not, maybe now is the time to buy one.
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
I'm leaning towards heat/overheating of the ballast.

How long does it stay off before resetting its self?


Is it a DIY light?
 
jimmyspaz

jimmyspaz

Well-Known Member
If you can give specs on ballast and bulb we can probably help.Right now I'd be guessing. Makers name and any info would be cool.
 
imthemedic

imthemedic

Well-Known Member
Well i confirmed it is kicking off when the central air conditioner is kicking on. The light goes out and refires up. It doesnt do it all the time just 1 out of 5 times? This just started yesterday. They arent on the same breaker and nothing else in the house dims or turns off when this happens. I know the breaker panel should have plenty of space left because i took 6 base board heaters out a few years ago and replaced with the central system. This is the 2nd grow for me on the unit with no trouble and it had a few grows before i statred using it. im kinda lost here on this one. Oh and nothing is hot to touch on the unit or wiring. I dont know the brand because i bought it used and there are no markers on it.
 
Picasso345

Picasso345

Well-Known Member
imthemedic said:
Well i confirmed it is kicking off when the central air conditioner is kicking on. The light goes out and refires up. It doesnt do it all the time just 1 out of 5 times? This just started yesterday. They arent on the same breaker and nothing else in the house dims or turns off when this happens. I know the breaker panel should have plenty of space left because i took 6 base board heaters out a few years ago and replaced with the central system. This is the 2nd grow for me on the unit with no trouble and it had a few grows before i statred using it. im kinda lost here on this one. Oh and nothing is hot to touch on the unit or wiring. I dont know the brand because i bought it used and there are no markers on it.
Click to expand...
Lol, yikes. That sounds a little scary. You have aluminum wiring or something? Sounds like it must be the service going into your house can't handle the draw from both the A/C start-up and your light. No other place the two appliances would meet if they are on separate circuits except coming into the panel, right?
 
imthemedic

imthemedic

Well-Known Member
NO they dont meet anywhere they are on seperate circuits. The wiring in the house is up to date the house was built in the early 80s. Makes no sence to me because im sure that the heat would draw more current than the AC. So it should have been doing it all winter, but it wasnt. Plus the AC has been on here for atleast a month or more and it wasnt doing it then. Im wondering if the ballast has something going bad in it and the very small change in current when the AC comes on triggers something? Still lost on this one.
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Central Air is most likely a 240 system.

Try plugging the ballast into the other phase of the house and see what happens.

The AC compressor can have a nasty start up draw.
 
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