Do all halide ballasts trip GFCI's?

[ernordstrom]

I just bought a used Hamilton fixture and the Magnetic Ballasts trip my GFCI everytime I plug it in. Is this to be expected with all Magnetic Ballasts and GFCI's? Or is something wrong with the ballas. It does have old bulbs in it but it fires them just fine after I reset the GFCI. I also noticed that the Electronic Coralvue ballasts are not recommended with GFCI's.

Are their any ballasts that can be used with GFCI's? Thanks/

 

[SirToppemHat]

i use my icecap eballast on GFI, with no problems. I keep all of my lights on the GFI for safety. I run my pumps and skimmer on the regular outlet.

 

[Rysam]

If it pops the gfi you have an issue. My ballasts have never popped the gfi, I have both hamilton magnetic 250w and lumatek 250w E-ballasts.

 

[125G Reefer]

Depends on the GFCI. Is it a plug in? (like does it actually plug into a wall socket?) or is it a wall socket GFCI with 2 plugs? If its the plug in type, then yes, they have been known to have issues popping out. If its the wall socket, how old is it, and how many volts and amps is it for?

 

[AcroporAddict]

I run three 400 watt CV e-ballasts on a GFCI and it does not trip them. As a matter of fact, e-ballasts are less likely to trip a GFCI because they have a lower amperage spike when they start and a lower amperage draw when they run vompared to magnetic ballasts.

You may want to look at what else you have plugged into the circuit. With other things on the same circuit, the initial amperage spike of the fixture may be tripping your GFCI if your light puts that near the limit of the circuit amperage.

If not that, then I would guess that you have a short inyour light fixture.

And never, ever run any aquarium equipment on anything but a GFCI.

 

[ernordstrom]

Yeah I had all of my equipment plugged into the same circuit so the initial amperage spike is what I think was popping it. It is in wall and with in walls the entire circuit( not just the plug) is now a GFCI circuit. I got the entire 175w Hamilton setup with older bulbs for $75 so if the ballasts need to be replaced I won't have any heartache with that...

 

[AcroporAddict]

My three 400 watt CV ballasts are on a single, dedicated GFCI circuit. Sounds like you found the problem.
Dave