Metal halides and timers

[bjmycroft]

Hi all,
I ordered my ProfiluxII last week so im looking forward to getting my hands on it.

One thing im not sure of though is whether i can use it to program on/off times for my MH lights. Im running a 250W and a 400W light at the moment. Im guessing that i shouldnt plug them directly into the powerbar - this tends to blow timers and stuff normally so i have them both plugged into a contactor. If I plug the contactor into the plugbar and program a timer for that , is that going to be ok or am i likely to damage the unit?


Looking forward to seeing the API - I have all sorts of ideas for things I would like it to do

Ta lots,
Bob

 

[cstewart79]

I use my profilux powerbars for two 250 watt metal halides and 4x54 watt actinics.

 

[bmwaaron]

I have the same question I belive.
Can the Digital powerbar handle 2 400w MH and 1 250w MH along with the t5's?

Also does the 2 socket expansion unit give you 2 extra sockets making 8 (including the 6 from the digital power bar) individual controllable sockets?

How many watts can the digital powerbar handle? Which sockets are the best to use for MH's and how many watts can those sockets handle?

 

[AQD_ottawa]

The answer to this question is different for the UK and the USA.

In the UK becuase the voltage is higher the power bars can handle a lot higher loads so there is not an issue with placing high loads on the digital bar within reason.

But in North America as the voltage is less than half that of the UK, it is recommended to seperate high loads away from the power bar, hense the reason many aquatic controllers for the North American market have HIGH AMP expansion sockets.

The HA sockets do not extend the amount of socket available but instead take the draw current away from the 6 way power bar.

Assign your lights as normal to one of the 6 way sockets on the power bar.

The "control" line of the HA socket plugs into this assigned socket.

The power line for the HA socket is taken from an inependant wall socket.

When the assigned 6 way socket is switched on, this feeds a control signal to the HA socket assy and switches a relay inside and activating the HA, power being drawn from the wall socket.

This islotates your high loads completely.

The two sockets on the HA socket assy are switched together.

On a side note you can happily run MH lighting directly from the 6way bar which can take up to 15amps loading, but if running a lot of lights (more than 2) I recommend the HA for longevity of your power bar.

As I said earlier this is common practice in North American supplied controllers of good makes due to the low voltage supply over here.

 

[bmwaaron]

Sorry didnt mean to highjack this thread, didnt see he was from UK.

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Not a problem, valid question where ever you live really.

Hope my answer helped you out