CoralVue Ballast

[timoth]

I bought three CoralVue Ballasts retrofit to install in my canopy for use with my CoralVue Reeflux 12k 250W SE bulbs.

One of the ballasts was having difficulty staying on, so I queried Vue Technologies on this and they sent the following troubleshooting guide. Others might find this useful as well.

Make sure the output cable from the ballast to the bulb is no longer than 8 feet which is supplied with the ballast. If it is longer you will need to cut the cord back to less than 8 feet total length.

Check that you do not have the ballast plugged into a surge strip. If you have too many electrical devices on those strips it will cause problems with the ballast.

Also make sure you have enough amperage being supplied to the ballast. The 400 watt ballast draws 6.5 amps on start up. If you have other electrical devices on the same outlet you need to figure out the load amount. The ballast must have constant voltage being supplied to it at all times. If you are close to maxing out your circuit load it will cause the ballast to shut off and then come on again when the lamp cools or it has enough amperage to fire up again.

Another thing to check for is that you do not have more than one electrical device plugged into a timer. Do not put a three way into a single timer and try to switch more than one electrical device.

I did not find the problem, so I sent the ballast back. Of course the ballast works fine for them and now the thought is that my wiring might be the cause. Turns out you should not run all your wiring from ballasts to bulbs together, or RF interference will cause the ballast to shut off.

Just wondering if anyone else has issues with eBallasts and electrical interferance, or if this is a CoralVue issue in particular, or just an issue with my ballast.