Sodium Floodlights

[Dairyspark]

Hi again everyone, I was asked to go look at floodlights at the driving range of the golf club up the road, 6 of 1000w Hp sodium floods, with external control gear. 2 of them are working, 4 aren't, tried a new lamp in each of them but nothing happened, opened up the control gear box and inside is 3 ballast units, 2 capacitors and 1 igniter (I'll upload a photo soon). Measuring with my test lamps ( I'll check with a multi meter later on tonight) I'm getting 12v output from each ballast (230v from the ballast of the lights that are working). Can anyone give advice as to what might be wrong, are the ballast units knackered or is it a new ignitor or capacitor needed?

Thanks you in advance

Bobby

 

[ProDave]

I would suggest the ballast has gone then.

the ballast is just a choke, so measure (with the power off of course) the resistance of a good one and compare with the dud ones.

 

[markc123]

Aye, i would suggest the ballast swell.

It's sometimes easier / cheaper to buy a new fitting than trying source parts depending on age.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Check the correct light bulbs are being used, internal or external ignitor

 

[NozSpark]

IIRC a local driving range have had their MH floods retrofitted with some BFO LED lamps..... might be worth a thought if the fittings are in good enough condition

 

[Andy™]

sounds like dead ballast. you can get replacements, often easier to swap the guts than the entire fitting

 

[kerching]

sounds like dead ballast. you can get replacements, often easier to swap the guts than the entire fitting

I am doing one on monday

Metal fitting

1 MICC in

2 MICCs out

Changing the fitting is not really an option.........fitting new guts and lamp instead

 

[Dairyspark]

So this is me just getting a chance to look at these flood lights again, I checked the resistances of the ballasts and all are the same (working and non working)

so question 1. How do I measure the resistance of the ballast? I went between each connection point on the ballast and got a very low reading of 1.3ohms.

Question 2. Could this problem be igniter related? Tonight when I switched them all on I now have 3 working and 3 not as apposed 2 on 4 off.

Thanks for any assistance guys

 

[Andy™]

test the resistance between termial 1&3 or 1&4 depending on what voltage connection you use. if its OC its dead, or if its shorted to earth. otherwise its probably OK and dead ignitor. if you replace the ignitor, check the wiring diagram on it. there are 2 types both look the same but have different wiring connections

 

[Dairyspark]

I tested it correctly then, tested between 1 (240v) and 3 (com) and got 1.3ohms on every ballast I tested, tested capacitors as well, all good, so only thing I'm left with is the igniter, however couldn't look at that tonight as the ladder I had was too big and couldn't fit behind the light

 

[Essex1]

May seem silly to suggest but are the lamps ok? Sometimes sodium lamps can turn on and off every 5 minutes or so. Look at them at one time they are fine. Look in 5 minutes and one is off.

 

[Dairyspark]

New lamps were fitted as I assumed (I know never assume) that it was just failed lamps lol

 

[Essex1]

Then I would purchase a 1Kw gear tray and change the lot out. Guaranteed to work on your next visit and last for a good while too.

http://www.havells-sylvania.com/product/en-INT/products/9058351

 

[KNB]

A bit late to the party here so might be too late but it is also worth checking the condition of the lamp holder and its contactact. A lot of heat comes of 1000w SONs and if the fittings are any sort of age it could be a factor.

 

[Dairyspark]

Think I may have sourced the problem, tried to open the connection box on the back of the fitting.....aluminium box/steel screws not a great combo lol screws seized in solid, drilled them out, opened the box and found corroded connections on the igniter and the choc block connector. All covered in powdery aluminium, great thing to open on a windy day