Please save me from electrocution !

[cal91666]

Ballast could be a problem yes. Probably not or your lights wouldn't work.
The capacitor is a seperate component with the ballast. Yes each breaker is a circuit. Bathroom may be on same circuit as the receptical your using.

 

[Expos Forever]

Just tripped the breaker on purpose. Lights in kitchen,bathroom,living room and TV all are on the same circuit. One circuit had a cordless phone plugged, that's it ! I will transfer some power to the lesser used circuit for now just to rule out over-loading and it's probably a good idea anyways...

What can I do to see if it's the capacitator. Maybe let it run all day and check it for heat at the cord as you mentioned previously? I forgot to say that when I touched it the other day my ballast was HOT. I just passed it off to forgetting how hot they get but now that I think about it...

 

[cal91666]

Just tripped the breaker on purpose. Lights in kitchen,bathroom,living room and TV all are on the same circuit.

8O WOW. Thats a lot on 1 circuit. What kind of ballast do you have??
Check for heat at the cord where it plugs into wall outlet not ballast ........ ballast will get hot normally.

 

[steve F]

Hi,

I have seen way too many places like yours. Wiring is all tied together from room to room. The electricain in the 50's and 60's must have been smoking to much weed, LOL

When I purchased my house I rewired about 90% of it.

I also just got done putting in a 60amp sub panel just for my 300g in-wall fish room

Steve
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War Risk Insurance (Aviation) Forum

 

[Expos Forever]

Sorry the bathroom is NOT on the same circuit, everything else was though.

My MH's are plugged into a timer which is plugged into a power bar which is obviously plugged into the wall socket. Anyways I'll check all connections for heat after they've run a while tomorrow.

Not sure I can tell you more than dual 175W Hamilton standard (magnetic I guess) ballast. I've checked out Hamilton's site... Since it's a dual does that mean I have 2 ballasts and 2 capacitators inside my "case"? I guess e-ballasts are the same ie need one for each bulb? I can open it up tomorrow if that would help. My ballast looks like the standard ones here:

METAL HALIDE 175 WATT ASSEMBLED BALLAST


http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/ ... 632&cat=6&

I'm glad to see I possibly haven't wrecked the wiring for my whole building

It's been a long stressful day. I haven't felt so completely simple in a long time. I now understand why ignorance is bliss

Thank you all again for your replies.

 

[cal91666]

If I had read back into the earlier posts I would have seen what kind of ballasts you had. sorry. Yes each bulb will have its own ballast & capacitor so you have 2. If you do open up the case look for signs of high heat on any of the components, this will be dark to black places on something where the rest of the component may be another color. I doubt you have damaged any of the building wiring. I would still have the landlord call an electrician to check the GFCI faults in the bathroom especially now that we are finding that it is a seperate ciruit.

 

[goofyreefer]

Steve F is the use of Romex (a.k.a. rope) allowed by code up by you? Just curious.

Tim

 

[Expos Forever]

If you do open up the case look for signs of high heat on any of the components, this will be dark to black places on something where the rest of the component may be another color. I doubt you have damaged any of the building wiring. I would still have the landlord call an electrician to check the GFCI faults in the bathroom especially now that we are finding that it is a seperate ciruit.

Will do Cal. Thanks a lot. Will post findings tomorrow.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep...the "catchy title" caught my attention too. Then I read all the boring posts. So to wake myself up I took my Power Compact into the bathtub with me......my son crabbed about the flickerin TV screen......some people just don't know how to have fun. Know what I mean? :twisted:

 

[Expos Forever]

OK

Opened up my ballast assembly and checked all parts for any signs of discloration. The only thing that was hot inside (3 hours after MH's were turned off) was the watt reducer (the NO's had just shut off). I'll run the MH's tomorrow and check again if something is particulary hot. In the meantime I'll call my landlord.

 

[steve F]

Hi Tim


Yes romex is allowed, as long as it is in the floor joist or as you can see in the pic, thats why I have 2x4's going around the sub panel. I will cover the 12" above the panel when I am done.

I do have to small runs that comes out of the wall at the base of my stand on the inside(of the stand). That is up to code if I cover the whole back of the stand(which Im not). Its not a fire hazard, just not 100% code.

I figure If I ever move out of my house, I will have to remove the stand. I assume 99.9% of the people that would buy my house would not be interested in a 300g in wall set-up, LOL.

Steve[/quote]
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Thai Forum

 

[Anonymous]

The easiest way to trouble shoot a circuit is with a $10 plug in tester. It has a series of lights and can diagnose several problems simply by plugging it in. If there is a loose wire, plug in the tester into an outlet in the circuit in question. Take the fat end of a screwdriver and have someone watch the tester as you gently tap the face of each outlet. A lot of landlords do their own electrical work to save money. I've found several problems using this method.

Regards

 

[Expos Forever]

My landlord just left. He's an engineer and didn't seem too concerned. He will be coming back to check all the wiring and even offered to install my GFCI! Nice guy. He says that the wiring is all copper so it shouldn't be too much of a fire risk.

I am convinced that the capacitors in my MH's is the problem. My hallides were on 4 hours later than usual yesterday and when they came on today nothing happened. (I have yet to transfer power demands elsewhere). Can I test the capacitors to see if they are holding their charge?

My landlord seems to think that if my ballast is drawing too much amperage, that two wires too close together may affect two different circuits.

Thanks again all