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#1
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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? |
#3
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Yard Light dont turn on in Cold weather
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? You could have a bad or wrong value capacitor. Here's a link to a PDF file on troubleshooting HID fixtures: http://tinyurl.com/29sn2h TDD |
#4
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Yard Light dont turn on in Cold weather
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#5
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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 |
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