Metal Halide help

[gibson981]

I just bought two new Reeflux 250 watt, 20000k from you guys. It was time to change the old bulbs because they were about 9 months old. Also, the bulb on the right side of the tank broke because water splashed up on it. Anyway, I put the new bulbs in yesterday. Now, my GFCI outlet keeps tripping until I unplug the bulb on the right side. I reset the GFCI, plugged that bulb into a strip on another outlet and everything stays on. I figured it was a fluke so I put it back on the strip that was plugged into the GFCI. It tripped again. Now I know something is wrong on that side. I just don't know what. I took the bulb out and looked at the base, it was clean and looked good. I looked at the mogul socket and it looked clean, dry and intact. Is my problem in the socket? Or the ballast? The bulb is new, so I know it's not that. Do you think the water splashing on the old bulb has caused this current issue? Please help.

 

[plantguy]

I would probably disassemble the problem side, and clean everything well with some electronics cleaner to make sure all the salt is gone. Sometimes it looks clean, but leftover salt from the spray causes things to ground out. The stuff I use is made for RC Car motors. Good luck!

 

[Jeremy B.]

Gerald,

Are you still having the issues? Make sure the tab inside the mogul socket is bent out far enough to make contact with the lamp base. If it's a close, but not direct contact it could be creating an arc, which is causing the GFCI to blow.

Thanks,
Jeremy