gar
Senior Member
- Location
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Occupation
- EE
111027-1229 EDT
If the ballasts are electronic, then there is the possibility of a noise filter at the input. Suppose there was an 0.1 ufd capacitor from hot to EGC, then Xc at 60 Hz is about 26,000 ohms and this might trip a GFCI with 120 V across the 26,000 ohms.
Make a test adapter with a 100 ohm 1/4 W resistor in series with the EGC lead. Measure the voltage drop across this resistor. 0.5 V is 5 mA. If there is any large current it will burn the resistor out, but if you use a Fluke 27 or equivalent the voltmeter will be unaffected. However, if you used the Fluke meter in current mode mode and in series with the EGC and there was a large current you would blow the internal fuse. A new fuse is about $ 10 to 20.
.
If the ballasts are electronic, then there is the possibility of a noise filter at the input. Suppose there was an 0.1 ufd capacitor from hot to EGC, then Xc at 60 Hz is about 26,000 ohms and this might trip a GFCI with 120 V across the 26,000 ohms.
Make a test adapter with a 100 ohm 1/4 W resistor in series with the EGC lead. Measure the voltage drop across this resistor. 0.5 V is 5 mA. If there is any large current it will burn the resistor out, but if you use a Fluke 27 or equivalent the voltmeter will be unaffected. However, if you used the Fluke meter in current mode mode and in series with the EGC and there was a large current you would blow the internal fuse. A new fuse is about $ 10 to 20.
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