Ballasts on automatic timers

[Luke.Fraizer]

So I have been fiddling with my lights which have 2 250w mh 4 t5ho and 12 led's for moon lighting and my question is, one of the ballasts are magnetic and the other is electric. The one on the electric ballast is coming on with the timer and the one on the magnetic is staying off. I can turn it on manually but I don't think the ballast will just stay on. Like it has a mechanism that will not let it come on when power goes to it. Anyone have any experience with this or know of a fix?

Luke

 

[aztecdreams]

I haven't had any problems. I have 3 250w on a cheapo HD timer and they come on fine

 

[Luke.Fraizer]

Does your ballast have a push button on/off switch or is it a switch?

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

I have the two 250W MH with magnetic ballasts on my tank on timers as well as the 150W MH with electronic ballast for my sump that go on when the main lights shut off, and my GF has a 250W MH with an electronic ballast on a timer on her tank. We leave our switches in the on position. They are not push button types. We haven't had any issues except one of the night time outlets quit working for some reason. Nothing will power on if in that outlet.

 

[aztecdreams]

I have a toggle switch on mine

 

[DyM]

I've never seen this, and suspect if you leave it maually on then set the timer to go off and on, it should work. I use to have the magnetic, then swaped one to electronic, and now both elctronic ballasts, all cases on the same manual timers with no problems.

 

[09bumblebee]

Your timer may be bad?

 

[Cake_Boss]

Do your ballasts work when plugged into the wall?

Sent using Forum Runner

 

[Luke.Fraizer]

Your timer may be bad?

That was my thought as well. However I tried the t5's on the timer and they worked perfectly. I am thinking it has more to do with the switch on the ballast than the timer. I may take it apart and wire a different switch in line and see if that works.

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

Luke, I used the ballast with a timer and had no problems with it. I would try a new timer first. Also the magnetic ballast can take a little longer to start up. You can leave it for a little while and see if it lights, say 30 minutes. If after that it still doesn't work I would move on to the switch. I just don't think it is the switch based off of my experience with the light.

 

[mortimersnerd]

I'll second (third?) the suggestion to try a new timer before you take apart any wiring. The load from your T5s is likely quite a bit lower than the startup demand from your MH ballast. The timer may not be able to supply enough power to make the lamp light, while being able to flow enough to power the T5s.

 

[Luke.Fraizer]

I think it was a start up issue. The second kicks on about 15 min after the first one. No big deal. A follow up though. I made a stand for the light and it ended up being about 24 in off the surface of the water. It was heating the water up to about 84 being on top of it. But will the amount of light getting to the tank be enough now? and how can I tell if it is?

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

The best way to know if you are getting enough light is with a PAR meter. I have one that you can borrow one of these days. Maybe at the MASC garage sale, if we are both there.

I can tell you that I had that light about 20" above my 90 and it was great. I would imagine that 24" above your tank will be enough light.

 

[09bumblebee]

24" is along ways. You have basically added another tank inbetween your lights and your tank. I do not think they will penetrate that far. Only real way to tell is get a par meter.

 

[Luke.Fraizer]

I will be at the garage sale for sure if I could use it. I could chop the legs down another 5 in or even more! I just would like to get tbe most out of it I can though!

 

[ReefCheif]

Make sure the timer can handle the load the light is trying to pull when it fires. If the timer cannot handle this it will not turn the light on. This would be me theory since youve been able to fire the T5s but not the MH.

I use a cheapy GE powerstrip timer I got from Home Depot, one of the ones youd buy as a quick replacement but end up keeping it becuase it works so well. It has 4 times outlets and 4 continuous outlets. I have 2 250 watt MH, a 400 watt MH and 2 96watt VHOs that all run on that one itmer and it works just fine. My 250 watt ballast is magnetic and the 400 watt is electronic, no issues.