Equipment problems and I don't even have water yet

[Nanook]

I have two dual 175w pulse start ballasts that are tripping the GFCI's, one of them I tried on a regular outlet to make sure it was not the GFCI being finnicky, it ended up smoking the ballast on the side that was plugged in and Ann found it smoking downstairs thankfully.

I sent that one it and fired up the other brand new dual 175w SLS ballast, it tripped the GFCIs as well, sometimes within 10-15 minutes and sometimes a day or two later. I ruled out the pendant by buying a new one....I ruled out bulbs by trying different ones. The first ballast they repaired and sent back to me, then it continued to do the same thing.

So, I fired up the dual 400w ballast, same problems. I tried different GFCI 20amp receptacles...I have three of them down in the basement on the old side where the stock tank used to be....no luck. So, I fired up the other dual 400w ballast...one of the ballast will not even fire the bulb.

I emailed Sunlight Supply and let them know of my issues...they sent me three labels to send the ballasts in to be checked out. I am going to send them off today...I hope they can fix them because this is the light I plan on using for the new tanks....I really need for these ballasts to work.

I also hope that the pumps, heaters, controllers, and Tunze equipment that has been sitting around for a long while is all in working order if/when I ever get water in my tanks. This has been frustrating to say the least.

 

[sirreal63]

I would check out the electrical side and make sure it is correct. It is kind of unusual that all of them are bad.

 

[Nanook]

I have three separate 20amp GFCI circuits down there...I also tried a normal receptacle with no load on it and that is when the ballast fried itself. The ballasts tripped the GFCIs on all three circuits at some point. Also, these are not tripping on startup of the bulb from high amp draw...they trip randomly.

 

[sirreal63]

I would check the connection on the recepticle end and make sure they are seated properly, it sounds like an electrical issue to me. Get a 12 pack and have crazy dave come check it.

 

[Markk96]

Dave I can bring my 250W ballast over and we can see if it trips it right away.

 

[Nanook]

That would work. My ballasts never tripped the GFCI right away, usually took some time...wierd.

 

[StupidsReef]

I might be talking out of my behind, but it sounds to me like there might be something wrong with the recepticle/wall outlet or plug. Did you try to plug it in a different area of the house??

Then again we ARE talking about nook here, are you sure you didn't have double dipped fried chicken wing grease or pizza grease on your fingers and touch the prongs of the plug before plugging it in?? You weren't drinking during these attempts were you?? Just a few thoughts here. Hope I helped.

 

[Nanook]

I have tried them on three different GFCIs and the one time I tried it on a regular outlet it fried the ballast and could have caused a house fire if the circuit hadn't tripped.

As it is now, I have sent 3 of the 4 ballasts into SLS for testing. The one dual 400w ballast had one outlet that would not even fire the bulb, so hopefully that will get fixed.

If this wasn't happening on three different 20amp GFCIs, then I would be inclined to think it was a problem on my end too. At this point I will wait and see how they test out and let you know what happens.

Thanks to everyone for your help and ideas.

 

[ReeferRon]

Dave are all the GFCIs you tried it on connected to the same sub-panel ?

Just a thought.