Help! Light Issues!

[chatyak]

One of my metal halides is flickering ever so slightly but I really noticed it today. What is the cause of this?

I am running a hamilton 14K bulb on an icecap 250W electronic ballast. Both are only 5 months old. I sure don't feel like buying new equipment!

I also read somewhere that too much power on 1 amp could be the culprit. Any suggestions??

 

[sps1206]

I think you most likely have found the problem. A flickering MH is a sign of abnomally low voltage. Perhaps you have too much equipment on a single circuit and it is overloaded.

 

[MSX-Jeff]

It definitely souds like a voltage issue...do you have a meter that you could check your line voltage with? It could be from overloading a circuit, but could be an issue with your power company having low voltage coming to you on their lines. This is most often an issue in the summer during the day when lots of people are running their Air Conditioning and demand is at its highest.

If it is an issue with the AC coming into the house, you'll need to contact your power company and see if they can do anything about it.

 

[chatyak]

I don't have a meter... the only thing I could try is switching the bulbs/ballasts.. although I don't know what that would do? I do need an extra circuit regardless though - so I will have to call someone to install that and go from there. I know I have a lot of power on the one amp.. almost at the limit I think...

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Have the electrician check the line voltage while they are there....it should be above 110v, but closer to 120v.

 

[chatyak]

No electrician yet... but the light is now flickering and shutting off.. then turning back on... .all day. I also unplugged a bunch of power stuff, so there should be room..

Can a bulb die like this? Do bulbs flicker then die?

 

[chatyak]

I plugged the other lamp into the ballast and now the other bulb is doing it but not the first one... so it could be a faulty ballast....

 

[coral_lagoon]

Re: Help! Light Issues!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15380879#post15380879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chatyak
One of my metal halides is flickering ever so slightly but I really noticed it today. What is the cause of this?

Im in the same predicament right now. It started to happen today.( light system purchased 8/4/09) Heres what I have..

250 watt Ice cap ballast

14K Phoenix DE bulb


Gonna give Hamilton a call tomm..

 

[captainandy]

Interesting. I have a 5 foot, 3X DE 250 with similar problems.
First, a bulb began to go off and then on. Changed the bulbs, switched the ballasts and same thing. Contact Hamilton and replaced socket - big PIA. Continued and got to the point that the same socket would not fire - I had to slide the lens, tap the bulb before it fired - every day. Finally, Hamilton switched the hood out at a $70 shipping cost to me.

After a few days, started happening again with the same socket position. Tried changing out bulbs, switching ballasts, plugging into different circuits with long cords - nothing changed. Called Hamilton late Friday and most people were already gone. Implied that I was doing something wrong