Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 248
Default Yard Light dont turn on in Cold weather

I have a mercury vapor (farm) yard light on a pole.
It always works fine in warm weather, but once the temperature gets
below about 40deg., it dont always turn on. However if I flip the
circuit breaker off and back on, the light works. Last winter it
started doing this most irritating thing. I bought a new bulb
thinking the bulb was failing. Before I got the bulb replaced, the
weather warmed up and it has worked non-stop all spring and summer, so
I never replaced the bulb. Now the weather is getting cool and it's
once again not working every night, until I flip the breaker. Last
night we barely had frost and the light would not come on till I
flipped the breaker. What the heck is causing this? I know there are
only 3 parts, the bulb, ballast, and sensor. But which would be
affected by temperature?

  #5   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 248
Default Yard Light dont turn on in Cold weather

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:59:27 GMT, "Pop`"
wrote:

wrote:
I have a mercury vapor (farm) yard light on a pole.
It always works fine in warm weather, but once the temperature gets
below about 40deg., it dont always turn on. However if I flip the
circuit breaker off and back on, the light works. Last winter it
started doing this most irritating thing. I bought a new bulb
thinking the bulb was failing. Before I got the bulb replaced, the
weather warmed up and it has worked non-stop all spring and summer, so
I never replaced the bulb. Now the weather is getting cool and it's
once again not working every night, until I flip the breaker. Last
night we barely had frost and the light would not come on till I
flipped the breaker. What the heck is causing this? I know there are
only 3 parts, the bulb, ballast, and sensor. But which would be
affected by temperature?


It sounds like the cktry isn't completely turning it off, or there is a
ground issue.
Try putting it on a switch; don't use the breaker to turn it off and on.
Either that, or replace it. REgardless of the 7 minute spec, etc., ours
takes about 3 minutes to start its little blue glare, then up to 15 minutes
in the cold before it comes on to full brightness, esp on sub zero days.

This is a farm, where the main shutoff for the whole farm is on a
pole. I have an outdoor box next to that main, where there are
secondary mains for the house, barn, and another shed (all breakers).
In that same box, there is a 15A breaker dedicated to that light. It
does shut off during the day. I doubt it's a ground issue, and
question why a ground would affect anything as far as how it operates.
There is simply a piece of UF cable going up the (same) pole to the
light. Why should I have a switch when the breaker is dedicated to
that light?

These lights seem to be very touchy. If I replace it, I might get a
Sodium Vapor instead. The neighbors have them, and they seem to be
less troublesome. I dont like the yellowish color of their light
though.

Thanks
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
wiring problem- lights dont turn on? [email protected] Home Repair 16 September 10th 07 09:42 PM
Diesels and cold weather RWL Metalworking 33 June 26th 05 10:27 PM
TRV dont seem to turn off.......all of them?! ...thanks for the sds posts too :) Colin UK diy 6 December 5th 04 12:05 PM
CH - most efficient way to run in cold weather? Velvet UK diy 18 February 2nd 04 01:40 AM
railing set-cold weather AndrewV Metalworking 5 January 26th 04 01:40 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:46 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"