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MH Ballast is this possible?

seminolecpa

seminolecpa

Past President
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So one of my MH ballasts starts to fire up (400W Icecap) and while firing, almost simoultaneously my router will freeze up and my controller will reset. I have isolated this to one balast and have tried it on multiple plugs within the controller and still have the same result. Is it possible that when firing up it is sending some sort of electronic interference that is causing the other equipment near it to reset or am I just losing my mind?

Again it is just this one ballast as the same issues do not occur with the other ballast. this is the first time I have had this happen in the near 2 years I have owned it.
 
Have you tried putting the ballast on a surge protector and ground the ballast case?, it maybe surge or radio interferent. I think it's more likely surge or grounding problem.
 
It is on one of the controller power strips which is surge protected. I have also tried it on one of the other strips as well with the same issue. the odd thing to me is the link of it with my router freezing up. Happened multiple times now tonight.
 
MH ballasts give off big time EMF's.
They can screw up all kids of electrical signals.
I was worried myself when I installed my tank so close to the TV.
They can actually effect the picture.
Try putting a magnetic shield around the ballast like a big metal pot or something.
 
Sorry you continue to have so many problems with your controller. One day soon, I'm going to move away from manual timers and set up my RKL controller. How close to the controller are your ballasts?
 
I would say about 6 feet. Strange thing is that nothing has changed from where I had it. this issue just popped out of nowhere. Though now I am wondering if this may be one of the problems I have been having with the controller all along.
 
BTW Bryan I remember reading about icecap very much under-drive 400W Radium & efficiency is much sub-par to M80 (or M85?) driven 400W Radium. So these are kind out-of-date info and the new icecap has changed?
 
I had the same suspension when I read the beginning part, maybe you controller has been innocent.

Just a wild guess maybe the lamp is getting old & ballast has to drive it harder in order to keep the color temp? These days ballast has more & more IC logic.

I remember reading not only ballast, the cord also contribute to the EMI issue. If that is true maybe that is the reason why SLS e-ballast has less EMI issue because SLS ones have better cord isolation.
 
I think that may be with the 250W Radiums (as in they need an HQI ballast for optimal par) and not the 400W Radiums. If I remember correctly all a 400W HQI does is burn them out faster. Just my suspicion though not 100% sure. AFA my current bulb age, they are between 1 and 2 months old and I am not running Radiums this time out but Ushio 20Kplus bulbs.

I had some issues with the RKE when it first came out (you know back when their customer service was still good and they actually answered questions) and the icecaps ballasts interfering with them. Supposedly they were aware of the problem and had done something in the programming to correct the interference issues in about update 1.05 or so (over a year and a half ago). The specifically worked with me on this one. Back then I was having major issues with the controller random shutdowns and lots of other things. The updates seemed to correct all of these problems so I though nothing of it until today when I noticed some issue with my router that is within about 10 feet or so of the ballasts.

Is it possible that as the bllasts have aged that the interference has increased and I have just hit the spot in their life cycle that it is becoming an issue? They are only about 20 months old tops. Should I switch to maybe an e-ballast like a Lumentek? Have always been either an magnetic ballast or an Icecap guy so I will not by any means say I know much about some of the newer ballast technology out there.
 
seminolecpa said:
Is it possible that as the bllasts have aged that the interference has increased and I have just hit the spot in their life cycle that it is becoming an issue?
Click to expand...
Could be. Or could relate to other equipment going on and off in the house and some ground loop voodoo.

There was some guy in Europe with a Ph.D, that tried using ginger for that...

:D
 
My Hamilton magnetic ballasts can trip gfci's about 1/3 - 1/2 the time when they go on/off.

(I actually don't run gfci's because of that. Shhhh.....)

Heavy inductive loads can cause voltage spikes that do strange things to sensitive electronics.
 
Hey Brian.

My 2 cents is that the Icecap ballasts have huge inrush current, that affects anything on the same electrical circuit.
When I say same electrical circuit, I mean all the outlets on the same breaker of your house.
It's much like a vacuum when you turn on and the lights dim.
I understand that it would make it impossible to have controller and ballast on different circuits,but just as a test, have you tried not using the controller and the ballast on a different circuits. Use a long extension cord for the ballast if necessary.
In my experience, only Icecap ballasts have this problem to this extent. I have not had any problems with any other ballasts. It may be coincidence and I don't have PHD and I don't live in Europe.

Roberto
 
Roberto,

I haven't tried that but could very well be. More puzzling would be why would this just surface almost 20 months after running fine?
 
seminolecpa said:
Roberto,

I haven't tried that but could very well be. More puzzling would be why would this just surface almost 20 months after running fine?
Click to expand...

A: The earths magnetic field is ever changing. :D
 
Electronics and other components in your system can change gradually over time. Even your house wiring can have issues with loose connections getting worse or oxidized.

I had a heater that was going bad and if it was on and the lights came on, it would trip the breaker on my DJ box. At first it would do that once every couple months. It eventually would do it 3 or 4 times a week.
 
Weird stuff that can happen in a house...

I saw a nail that had barely poked through the insulation on some poorly routed Romex. Depending on temperature, the circuit could short out.

I saw incandescent lights that would slowly flash on and off. The electrician didn't completely tighten the wiring at the breaker. When the lights drew current, the connection would heat up and lose contact, killing the lights. After the connection cooled off, it would make the circuit again, and the lights would go back on.

You know about aluminum wiring in some houses too.
 
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