Osmolator alarm goes off when ballast comes on......

[rovster]

I know I've read about this in the past but can't seem to find anything via search. I've had my osmolator running flawlessly for 2 years. I recently switched my LEDs for a metal halide. Specifically the ballast is an m80 reeflex cube. I remembered reading about interferences with ballasts and drivers so I tried to keep the controller and ballast as far apart as possible. Even doing that, every time the ballast goes on, the osmolator gives off an alarm. Is there anything that could be done about this? What should I look out for? I would really like to keep both in my stand. Thanks!

 

[rovster]

After some more searching, I'm pretty certain it's the ballast. It only happens when the ballast comes on. After that, if I unplug and restart the osmolator, it works fine with the halide running. I can't plug them into seperate circuits. I have them plugged into different surge devices originating from the same socket. Also, the sensor cable runs close to the cable from the ballast to the light. Is that enough to cause this? I will move some cables tomorrow to seperate them further and see what happens.

 

[rovster]

Darn, still did it after re-routing all the cables? Thinking of putting the osmolator on a timer and turning it off just before the halide comes on and turn back on afterwards. We'll see if that works? Getting a bit frustrated, LOL!

 

[rovster]

FWIW, the high and low lights blink at the same time when it happens.

 

[rvitko]

It is an electomagnetic interference issue. In most cases, keeping all osmo wiring and the controller away from the ballast will solve it. In some extreme cases, the osmolator may need to be on a seperate circuit from the ballast.

 

[rovster]

Tried rerouting, no luck. Ive resorted to putting the osmolator on a simple timer to turn off 30 min before the ballast comes on and turn one 30 min after. Seems to work fine for now.

 

[rvitko]

Their may be something I could do if you send it in, sometimes a wire for a sensor routes over the processor and can carry the interference as an antennae, we can also sometimes solve this with a magnet looped around a sensor or the pump wire as needed.

 

[rovster]

Is it something you can walk me through? I'm no expert but pretty handy. Built my own led setup so comfortable around wires, lol. I would love to just be able to set it and forget it without the current walk around I did with the timer. Let me know. Thanks!

 

[rvitko]

The main thing to check is the grey float wire, it should not pass over the processor which is a chip about 1/2" square in the top right corner. Besides that, keeping the osmolator pump wire and all wires away from the float and optic sensor wire and placing a ferrite isolating core on the pump wire can help.