Haggardass
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It's on a 20 amp breaker with 15 amp sockets and the only other thing on the circuit is the ceiling fan that is in the room, a 6 inch inline fan, a small oscillating fan and the ballast. The only thing i have plugged into that socket is the light, the fans and stuff are on another.
My guess is no to tripping the breaker. And being that it's a localized heating, I'd be willing to bet that either the receptacle is worn out or it has poor connections. The heat is most likely due to a poor connection somewhere, or it would be at the load and not some random point along the circuit.
- Are you tripping the breaker?
- How far is the lamp from the ballast?
- How long is it taking the lamp to fire?
There are different ignitors for different circumstances. If you have a remote located lamp and not the proper ignitor, it's going to cause problems. Whether your fault or the manufacturer's. This can also cause the 2500-5000 volt source from the ignitor to back feed on ballast and local wiring.
When your ignitor is firing, you are drawing full current. Any time you have power to your ballast and your lamp is not lit, your ignitor is firing. Leaving a ballast plugged in while the lamp is not working will cause it to fail prematurely. It's only designed to run a few seconds every day. Because of this, it's easy for them to
The breaker isn't tripping it's not even dimming the bedroom light when it comes on and the ballast is outside then tent maybe five feet away it fires instantly.
That's perfectly legal and fine. This was most likely due to poor connections or backstabbed receptacles. The configuration of the receptacle will only allow plugs that won't overdraw. Assuming we're talking about listed and legal equipment and not shit that some dumbass homeowner built because they were under the misconception that they were smart enough to "figure it out" themselves.I had 15 amp sockets on a 20 amp breaker, and they melted. be careful
I actually bought a whole new ballast it will be here Thursday I'm gonna see if it gets hot as well.I read this and it sounded like the OP's cord from ballast to wall was too hot to touch? If so, replace it and see if that helps. 20 amps will serve your stated load, but it's close.
Best practice? Put all your big ballasts on 240v circuits. MUCH safer that way.
I actually thought about doing that tooYou may want to try and switch the plug out to a 20amp?
I couldn't just throw a240 volt socket in a 120 hole could i? I'm thinking no but don't want to assume lolI read this and it sounded like the OP's cord from ballast to wall was too hot to touch? If so, replace it and see if that helps. 20 amps will serve your stated load, but it's close.
Best practice? Put all your big ballasts on 240v circuits. MUCH safer that way.
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