Lights going off and on....Thoughts?

[kday25]

Hello everyone,

I have a Current Sunpod 2 x 150 watt HQI. One of the lights, the same light every time, is going out and re-firing after a few minutes. I was home all day yesterday so I got to pay attention to the whole cycle. The lights come on around noon and go off at 9pm. I noticed after about 30 minutes of being on that the right light bulb goes out, then tries to come back on again, comes on, then repeats later in the day. This happens maybe two or three times daily, but the light comes back on every time. The fixture is not losing power.

My bulbs are Radium 20K. They have been in use for about six months. The bulb in question is the newest of the two. I did not handle them with bare skin.

Could this be a bulb problem? Or a fixture/ballast/wiring problem?
Anyone have this problem? Solutions? Suggestions?

Thanks,

 

[jennm]

Try swapping the lamps around and see if the problem moves with the lamp, or stays with the ballast.

 

[jennm]

My suggestion was to help determine where the problem lies. Sometimes it's the lamp, sometimes the ballast. Doing a switcheroo will help determine which.

But you're right Ares...

Jenn

 

[kday25]

JennM;485531 wrote: My suggestion was to help determine where the problem lies. Sometimes it's the lamp, sometimes the ballast. Doing a switcheroo will help determine which.Jenn

Your suggestion is a good one, Jenn. As usual.:up: I will try that.

@Ares This is what I was afraid of.... It seems like its heating up during the day and automatically shutting off to preserve the life of...the ballast or bulb...or...something. When you say connection, do you mean internally? or the physical chord coming from the fixture? I haven't opened it up yet. Electrical Surgery is not my forte.

 

[chicagoman_35]

If you find it is the ballast, it is usually the ballast over heating and cycling on a temp protector. you see it happen frequently with street lights. Jenn's suggestion will eliminate the bulb question.

 

[ichthyoid]

JennM;485531 wrote: My suggestion was to help determine where the problem lies. Sometimes it's the lamp, sometimes the ballast. Doing a switcheroo will help determine which.

But you're right Ares...

Jenn

Good call Jenn (as usual/voice of experience).

I could use a good engineer...

 

[kayakatl]

If it is an over heating problem there are a few things you can do. One is replace the fans in the unit. I replaced mine with whisper silent higher flow fans. There are also 2 spots in the end of the fixture you can add fans for a total of 4 fans. I have not done this second mod... yet. I still need to make a write up of fan replacement, but first, switch lamps and chase the lamp vs. ballast question first.

 

[ichthyoid]

kayakATL;485716 wrote: If it is an over heating problem there are a few things you can do. One is replace the fans in the unit. I replaced mine with whisper silent higher flow fans. There are also 2 spots in the end of the fixture you can add fans for a ktotal of 4 fans. I have not done this second mod... yet. I still need to mae a write up of fan replacement, but first, switch lamps and chase the lamp vs. ballast question first.

Great idea (write up/mod)!

 

[kayakatl]

http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40240&highlight=honeyb&page=2">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40240&highlight=honeyb&page=2</a>

Got a few of the pix from replacing the 120v fans w/ 12V fans around post 60-61. You would not believe how much quieter it is now. Only problem is now I hear the buzz of the ballast... :doh:

 

[ichthyoid]

I took a look, pretty cool. How did you power the 12vDC fans? Was that a 120VAC to 12VDC converter module I saw in there? If so, where did you find that? I usually have to scare up a 12VDC power brick somewhere. Thx

 

[kayakatl]

That was a basterdized wall to car adapter. It was $7 at frys. I just ran the 120 that powers the fans into that after removing the prongs that go in the wall and used the 12v side to power the fans.

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There are the basics!

 

[ichthyoid]

Cool! Thx. I guess just clip the 120 and 12 volt leads and hardwire via solder with some heat shrink. In-line 120VAC to 12VDC converter for $7!

BTW- How many Amps will that thing handle?

 

[kayakatl]

I think it is .5 amps. Plenty when the fans draw less than a fifth of that. Those SilenX fans are AWESOME for $10 a pop. I wanted the non led version but frys was out of them. I just just used cap crimps for the wire connections, I usually use male/ female spade connectors so I can remove or change something out easily. It cost less than $30 including the fans. Not bad for some seriously quiet fans. I have more pictures. I will make a point to do my DIY write up this week with all the pix.

 

[ichthyoid]

I should check around, maybe Radio Crap has something similar.

I used to build a small 12VDC power supply. They had a kit, or sometimes I would just buy a 10:1 transformer coil, and put a choke in series and a cap in parallel, voila! It got to be too expensive/too much work, when I could just use an old printer brick.

If I happened to have a 24VDC brick, I would just build a voltage divider with some resisitors to get the 12VDC (necessity IS the mother of invention.

I hope that you put up some more DIY plans/ideas. I think a lot of people would really like that. I just work ridiculous amounts of hours, or I would post some too.

I see you are an Electromechanical Tech. Lots of use for those skills here at the ARC. I hope you are generous, a LOT of people could use the help.

 

[kayakatl]

The advantage of spending $8 is that I do not need a 4th power cord going to the unit and that little tiny enclosure fits in the space provided in the fixture with room to spare. There are a good many DIY guys around here with great ideas.