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--