GFCI and Metal Halides

[HumanIMDB]

I've heard that Metal Halides should not be plugged into a GFCI but have not found the reason why. I would think that you would want all of your equipment on a GFCI.

The only reason I've been able to find is that when the metal halide fires, it may cause the GFCI to pop because of the initial load.

I plugged our new light (Coralvue 250w Electronic Dimmable Ballast) into our Coralife Digital Power Center which is plugged into a GFCI and it fired normally.

Just wondering why some people recommend that metal halides should not be plugged into GFCIs.

Please let me know.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[firebirdcrzy]

I have never heard of not plugging halides into a GFCI. My owne personal experiece with this is, when I first set up my 2x250 watt retro to a GFCI it kept popping. Could not fire both bulbs at the same time. After about 4 days I could start firing both bulbs at the same time, and have been now for quite awhile. Maybe the GFCI was just sensative at first.

 

[jbird69]

coralvue actually states not to use their ballasts on GFCI circuits. I spoke to my friend about it who is a journeyman electrician and while not familiar with aquarium lighting, he suggested there have probably been some isolated reports of some problems with gfi's tripping, so they felt obligated to include this in their product information to avoid returned ballasts.

 

[HumanIMDB]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1619299