Can you use a MH on a timer???
- Thread starter one4gatr
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spamreefnew
New member
i use an outdoor heavy duty timer its rated at 1600 watts. the cheapos rated around 500w still ok but for the extra 10 bucks you get the heavy duty one,remember its part of your home
A 250W fixture will only pull something like 300W (if you have a magnetic ballast) which at 120Vrms is approximately 2.5Arms... so well within that 15A rating of that timer.
The convient thing about something more advanced (such as an aquarium controller) is that you can program it not to turn back on immediately after a power failure having it wait 15 minutes for the lamp to cool instead of letting the ballast handle the restrike.
Disclosure: I can't keep those egg timer like ones living for the life of me. I think the power quality here sucks badly and kills the timers, regardless of the load, even with a surge suppressor.
The convient thing about something more advanced (such as an aquarium controller) is that you can program it not to turn back on immediately after a power failure having it wait 15 minutes for the lamp to cool instead of letting the ballast handle the restrike.
Disclosure: I can't keep those egg timer like ones living for the life of me. I think the power quality here sucks badly and kills the timers, regardless of the load, even with a surge suppressor.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15701415#post15701415 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jpkboca
I have two 250watt MH on a reguar outdoor timer. 15A is way over what your lights are goign to use, if your lights alone used 15A, you'd need your electrcity rewired anyways
Yeah I was sure the one I had could handle the amperage... just dont have a meter to measure the initial surge.... so want to avoid major swings so I dont toast the bulb. Light bulbs are funny things... when I built this house 16 years ago an electrician I know told me to go out and buy 130v bulbs which I did.... and I have almost all of them still working today... I had switched a few to 120v when I blew one in a multi bulb fixture so the colors would match and I keep blowing those every year or so... I have swapped alot of the up high fixtures to floro's and dont seem to have quite the burnout rate of the 120v incandescents but time will tell... but a19 incandescent and retro floro's are a HECK of alot cheaper than MH's... Oh and forgot to mention the two 48" floro's in the kitchen have been in and running about 12 hours a day for 16 years
:eek1: :eek1:
Thanks all!
power boat jim
Well-known member
The regular lamp type timers dont have a ground prong. You will need at the least an appliance timer. They are a couple bucks more but work well.
nope... i purchased a "decent" model on clearance from Home Depot... 2 - 3 prong outlets with dual on/off settings so I can run two cycles if I wanted to... But good advice for those who wouldnt otherwise would have known... oh... and also has a cool +/- 15 minute function that randomly fluctuates (for security purposes)...
I've had my 250 watt Giesemann MH pendant on a cheap three-prong hardware store timer for years with no problems.
Its a bit weird that your voltage out there is so far out of spec (remember 120 is rms meaning peak is 169 volts! so a 120v bulb should handle a lot). Now the metal halide and flourescent have ballasts that control the parameters. Brief voltage spikes aren't going to have a big effect. The metal halide strike voltage is well ove 500volts normally.
I dont think its out of spec...Not sure of your location as its not on your sig but I live just north of the lightening capitol of the US... I honestly dont get alot of surges from lightening though... most comes from the local utility co... Its been 15 years since I had that convesation but I can tell you that my 130v bulbs have a 10x lifespan over 120v so for the nominal price difference I wouldnt hesitate to buy them again... as of late I am running "mostly" screw in floro's trying to save a few bucks but use the 130v's on my dock lighting...
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