T5 lighting / wiring issue

[fsn77]

I bought one of these ballasts a little while back, but didn't get it hooked up until just recently:
http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID=24&FID=15&level=1

It's wired per the wiring diagram for just two 48" 54w T5 HO bulbs. I have the live wire (black) wired to a normal household wall type light switch for easy on/off when needed. It's plugged into a digital light timer to control the on/off cycle daily which is plugged into a surge protector which is plugged into a portable GFCI.

Now, the problem... it lights the 2 bulbs, they stay on for 2 - 5 minutes, the bulbs go out, and then come back on again in another few minutes, only to go out and repeat the cycle again. Any thoughts as to what the problem is?

[MSU Fan]

ballast overheating?

[fsn77]

If it would run for an actual period of time, I'd agree with it potentially overheating. But, the ballast doesn't even get warm in those few minutes when it first comes on before it starts doing this, at least the exterior of the case doesn't. It's mounted in the open air, too, so there's no confined area to trap any heat from the ballast.

[fsn77]

Wow... onto the 3rd page already... BUMP...

[46bfinGA]

Any chance the timer is acting up on you? The ballast could also be bad, even though they normally will not fire the lamps when they are.Could be a loose connection inside the ballast from the Manuf.
Its kind of hard to diagnose without seeing it in person.

The ballast should be getting warm to the touch if it is working properly.hmmm...........

[BigEivlSquid]

sounds like a bad timer, take it out of the loop and try again. Is the timer rated for the power of the lights and the ballasts combine?

[fsn77]

Ends up it's not the timer... I plugged the other ballast, an IC 660 running 3 T5 HO, into that timer and the IC ballast / bulb combo works just fine.

The timer is rated for 1500w / 15 amps... it's a hefty timer and the ballast / bulbs plugged into it were the only thing plugged into it.

Does that point more towards a problem with the ballast then?

[fsn77]

Ok, just tried the BallastWise ballast / light set-up without the timer all together... still doing the same thing... on a couple minutes, turns off, then back on, then off... :(

[clfla]

I'm a Electrican try it without the GFI that might be the problem and check your wiring you might have a nick in one of the wires causing it to ground out which will cause it to come on then go off

[clfla]

I'm a Electrican try it without the GFI that might be the problem and check your wiring you might have a nick in one of the wires causing it to ground out which will cause it to come on then go off

[fsn77]

Sorry for taking so long to get back to this... busy week.

I tried it without the GFCI and things remained unchanged. I started looking for a nicked wire, shifting some wires around, but didn't locate the problem wire(s). However, it's stopped the on / off behavior. I'm guessing our cat chewed a wire or few and pierced the insulation somewhere... now I just need to figure out exactly where.

Thanks for the help!

[fsn77]

Follow-up...

I checked the wires for nicks and made sure the wires are seated far enough into the endcaps, which a couple may have not been, only to have things be worse. The bulbs would then only flick on, go off, flick on again, and so on. Then, for some reason, I decided to see if the problem was the one bulb that seemed to be the one I needed to play with for things to work right. I switched it out, and now everything works fine.

Can a lower quality bulb / defective bulb cause what I was seeing all along?

The two bulbs on the ballast were 1 Gieseman actinic and 1 Current 460mm actinic (wanted a mix of actinic spectrum and kind of liked the more purple look of the Current bulb). Since switching the Current actinic out for a second Gieseman, everything works fine. Think the Current bulb is bad?

[SlowCobra]

Yes a defective bulb will cause the problem you were having.