Was trying to figure out why my dusk to dawn light quit. Jumped the light
sensor and I could hear a slight buzz coming from the fixture. Unscrewed the
70 Watt lamp and put my DVM across the socket. Found out there is a heck of
a lot of voltage there. The DVM made an arcing sound and quit. Display still
comes on but no readings. Opened it and found the fuse blown. Thought that
was it, but the meter is shot. How much voltage is in that socket anyway?

Al

from buffalo ny: sometimes when the starter circuit fails in a 110v hps
35 watt light we can screw in a 110v regular incandescent bulb and it
lights. subject to your socket size may need a mogul to standard
adapter. an hps bulb will not light up in a standard socket.

Big Al wrote:
Was trying to figure out why my dusk to dawn light quit. Jumped the light
sensor and I could hear a slight buzz coming from the fixture. Unscrewed the
70 Watt lamp and put my DVM across the socket. Found out there is a heck of
a lot of voltage there. The DVM made an arcing sound and quit. Display still
comes on but no readings. Opened it and found the fuse blown. Thought that
was it, but the meter is shot. How much voltage is in that socket anyway?

Al

if you screw a regular 110 incandescent (it's a 110 fixture ?) bulb in and
it lights, then the ballast is at fault
"Big Al" wrote in message
...
Was trying to figure out why my dusk to dawn light quit. Jumped the light
sensor and I could hear a slight buzz coming from the fixture. Unscrewed
the
70 Watt lamp and put my DVM across the socket. Found out there is a heck
of
a lot of voltage there. The DVM made an arcing sound and quit. Display
still
comes on but no readings. Opened it and found the fuse blown. Thought that
was it, but the meter is shot. How much voltage is in that socket anyway?

Al

So you need a new ballast, bulb, and meter

Your probably better off buying a whole new fixture, and meter with
auto volt detect.

it sets the meter to the range needed, no more blown meters

Big Al wrote:
Was trying to figure out why my dusk to dawn light quit. Jumped the
light sensor and I could hear a slight buzz coming from the fixture.
Unscrewed the 70 Watt lamp and put my DVM across the socket. Found
out there is a heck of a lot of voltage there. The DVM made an arcing
sound and quit. Display still comes on but no readings. Opened it and
found the fuse blown. Thought that was it, but the meter is shot. How
much voltage is in that socket anyway?

Al

Peek voltage necessary for starting
High pressure sodium 35-100 watts: 2500 volts!
High pressure sodium 150-1000 watts: 4000 volts!


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
. ..
Big Al wrote:
Was trying to figure out why my dusk to dawn light quit. Jumped the
light sensor and I could hear a slight buzz coming from the fixture.
Unscrewed the 70 Watt lamp and put my DVM across the socket. Found
out there is a heck of a lot of voltage there. The DVM made an arcing
sound and quit. Display still comes on but no readings. Opened it and
found the fuse blown. Thought that was it, but the meter is shot. How
much voltage is in that socket anyway?

Al

Peek voltage necessary for starting
High pressure sodium 35-100 watts: 2500 volts!
High pressure sodium 150-1000 watts: 4000 volts!


--
Joseph Meehan


Then I better follow the other poster's advice and get an auto ranging
meter (And a 100 to 1 divider probe.)

Thanks,

Al

Big Al wrote:

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
. ..

Big Al wrote:

Was trying to figure out why my dusk to dawn light quit. Jumped the
light sensor and I could hear a slight buzz coming from the fixture.
Unscrewed the 70 Watt lamp and put my DVM across the socket. Found
out there is a heck of a lot of voltage there. The DVM made an arcing
sound and quit. Display still comes on but no readings. Opened it and
found the fuse blown. Thought that was it, but the meter is shot. How
much voltage is in that socket anyway?

Al

Peek voltage necessary for starting
High pressure sodium 35-100 watts: 2500 volts!
High pressure sodium 150-1000 watts: 4000 volts!


--
Joseph Meehan



Then I better follow the other poster's advice and get an auto ranging
meter (And a 100 to 1 divider probe.)

Thanks,

Al


HPS has a starter to provide a narrow high voltage spike to initiate the
arc. I don't think you want to measure it.

bud--