Doing some maintenance on 1500 W MH fixtures at a local football field. 4 bulbs on 1 bank were noticeably dimmer than the other 4 so we decided to change bulbs first. Turned them on and it was the same thing. I knew it was a 1% chance that the bulbs were the problem so I ordered the ballasts anyway. Went up to switch the ballasts and now are having some real problems with them fixtures. 2 fixtures are coming on and short cycling 1 fixture is the same way and 1 is out completely. Ballasts we ordered we same voltage (480v) and came with capacitors that matched what was there. I think we figured out the problem with the 1 fixture that is off but what could be the problem with the other 3???? New bulb (1500W Metal Halide) same exact bulb we took out of fixture, new ballast (480V 1500W MH ballast) and same capacitor. I am honestly stumped and I do not do too much work on HID fixtures so I really don't even know the ins and outs of them so I am basically just able to check for voltage (present and correct) and light output (not there lol)
Metal Halide Fixture Problems
- Thread starter Dansos
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mopowr steve
Senior Member
- Location
- NW Ohio
- Occupation
- Electrical contractor
The condition your describing mimics a condition that I had not to long ago.
Quite possibly one of the feed wires may be pinched (especially at the bullhorn to fixture slipfitter or elsewhere) and one line (from fixture side) may be shorting to pole casing and other half of that line may have burnt clear of shorting.
So in all check to see if you have full voltage at the fixture first, otherwise it could be only seeing 277 of the 480 hence why the lights ,although work, are at a reduced light output.
Quite possibly one of the feed wires may be pinched (especially at the bullhorn to fixture slipfitter or elsewhere) and one line (from fixture side) may be shorting to pole casing and other half of that line may have burnt clear of shorting.
So in all check to see if you have full voltage at the fixture first, otherwise it could be only seeing 277 of the 480 hence why the lights ,although work, are at a reduced light output.
mopowr steve
Senior Member
- Location
- NW Ohio
- Occupation
- Electrical contractor
Good, so what blew the fuse and did you find the faulting wire?
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