250w DE MH tripping GFCI Outlet

[MattTVI]

I recently purchased a unit, an EVC 250w electronic ballast w/ PFO DE pendant and 10k EVC bulb. I decided to test it in my kitchen (I'm not quite ready to install it in my tank) as the kitchen had GFCI outlets.

The bulb fires and charges up for about 5 seconds before cutting off (tried this about 4 times, about 5 secs each time). What are the implications here? The ballast and pendant seem to work fine on standard outlets. Is there faulty wiring or is the outlet overloaded? As far as I can tell, nothing other than the clocks on a few appliances are running off the kitchen which has its own 20 amp breaker (dishwasher is not on shared w/ the GFCI outlets as far as i know).

If anybody can enlighten me as to what's going on here, I'd appreciate it.

thanks,

Matt

[Blorton]

Some GFCI's have issues dealing with large consumers of current. Now, a 250w light doesn't seem like it would use all that much, but there is a kind of initial "fillup" that happens in the ballast that may be causing this.

Does the light work normally on a regular outlet?

Also - older gfci's will pass less current than newer ones. If the light works fine on a regular outlet, you will need to replace the gfci - preferrably with a specialized high current model. (read - more $$$)

Hth,
Dan

[MattTVI]

Dan,

wow, quick reply! Thanks.

yes, the light seems to work just fine on a regular outlet. I have no qualms about replacing the GFCI outlet that my tank uses (though it's only a year old, it cost about 12bucks from HD, does that qualify for the more expensive, high-current ones... ;-) ?!?

Anyway, given that the unit works fine on a regular outlet, can I be pretty sure the issue is w/ the GFCI (i tested 2 of them and it tripped on both, at 5 secs) units I tested?

again, thanks for the quick response.

Matt

[Blorton]

Yea - $12 is cheap for a gfci.

Flag down one of the fellars in the electrical dept and tell them what you want. Worst case, you'll have to go to Lowes or a specialty supply house.

Dan

[MattTVI]

Okay,

Good, I'm glad it doesn't appear to be the MH setup. What can I expect (price), and what do I look for in GFCI outlets?

Is there a certain specification on the outlet that would tell me it can handle a higher current?

Anyhow, thanks again!

Matt

[robsmith32]

STOP!!!!
This was happening with my blueline 250w, when i First wired it in.
there was a misswiring in the plug between ballast and bulb....
undid, verified wiring, rewired, fires up every time , and on the normal gfci with the rest of the kitchen.

[MattTVI]

Did your blueline work fine on a regular outlet before you got it to work on the GFCI's in the kitchen?

[robsmith32]

yeah it fired on the reg
don't remember exactly, but the wiring was what caused it to trip.
but wouldnt' trip the regular breakers.

[dme330i]

Matt,

I used that set up for months without problems. Make sure the bulb has a solid connection in the bulb holder. Also, I'll check the specs to see how much current the unit is pulling. It's possible that your GFCI's might be rated too low.

[bcromwell]

GFCI for house hold use only come in 15 and 20 amp versions, I would not use this light bar until you solve the problem, there is no way you are pulling 15 amps even at startup. Remember GFCI are there to protect you! Don't use a regular socket just to make it work. Could be the ballast has a internal short or voltage leak.

[MattTVI]

Did a couple of tests tonight. I plugged the ballast into the GFCI outlet and let it set, it didn't trip the outlet, but would that be because it wasn't trying to fire a bulb?

I also tried the GFCI outlet in the basement, this lasted a lot longer before tripping, probably 20 secs as opposed to five.

I also tried the system on a surge protector for my wife's computer. It worked fine for a couple of minutes on that before I unplugged it.

Jon,

How do I adjust the bulb or make sure there is a good connection? I can't even get it out of the pendant... :-( (i'm an MH virgin)

anyway, thanks for the responses!

let me know,

Matt

[Schwaggs]

First of all, GFCIs do not trip when overloaded, it trips when it senses a difference in the current flowing "out" the HOT side compared to the current flowing "in" the Neutral side. In this case the current found an alternate path to ground, which it considers a fault and it cuts power.

The circuit breaker in your pannel will trip when you overload the circuit.

Some GFCIs can be fooled into tripping by the inductive load of the magnetic ballast, which may be what you are seeing. Of course, you may have a wiring fault or a faulty ballast as well.

The fact that it trips after a few seconds would indicate the GFCI is being fooled by the inductance of the ballast or that there is current leakage when trying to fire the bulb. I would try a new/different brand GFCI seeing as the ballast/light was operating normally on a different GFCI in the past.

[MattTVI]

Hey Schwaggs!

Thanks for replying...

I've tried the unit on 5 GFCI units in my house... 2 in the kitchen, 1 in the basement, 1 in the half bath, and 1 in the upstairs full bath...

results: trip, trip, trip, trip, trip

Again, the longest time before a trip on any of them was around 20secs.

I still haven't heard back from the original owner if the unit was used on a GFCI, though I suspect he was using it on one. I've been thinking about asking a neighbor or an LFS if I could bring it by and test it on one of their outlets...

ps - would an electronic noise filter help the situation if it is indeed the GFCI's that are being dupped?

[bcromwell]

IMO, The GCFI can not be fooled, It is looking for a difference of amperage between the hot leg and the neutral leg, the only way to not have the same amperage is if some of it is leaving the ground lug or getting to earth ground (I.E., though water or human body etc)

[MattTVI]

So would that indicate an issue w/ the wiring and/or the ballast? Or is this a common problem w/ electronic ballasts?

I should add... the ballast indicates it has a 5 - 10 min. restart time, but I'm able to plug it in right after it trips the GFCI outlet and it tries to fire again. Any significance to that?

thanks,

Matt