A thing with MH lights and timers

[David]

Hi everyone

It apparently seems that when ever I attached a 150watt MH light set directly into the regular Theben timer which we find in LFS, the on/off switch somehow does not work. Well...what i mean is that even though the dial is at 0, the lights are still on.

The only way to get it to work correctly is to have an additional multiplier plug in between...can anyone enlighten me on this?

The next thing is that after using my new MH lights for about a week or so, a very strange thing or rather smell filled the whole living room after I manually turned it off. It has a very strange 'soury' odor..pretty much like sulphur...I thought I blew the light set. But after 15 minutes later, I turn the MH light set on and it seems to be working fine. Any guesses on the odor part?

Thanks[]

[Simon]

go digital david... perharps something was burning

[Nicky]

I have the same problem when attaching PL lights to the same timer (no smell though). I found that the problem started with me taking on and off the timer too often from the socket. What worst is that I was holding to the side where the '1 and 0' are located. I open the timer (very carefully) and saw there were actually a very simple mechanical system that triggers the on/off. I think the 2 small plastic levels (inside the timer) can get displaced easily esp if you handle the side of the timer with the '1 and 0' too often. Just fixed the 2 plastic levels back again and try. Chances are it will work properly like mine again.

[vinz]

I get the timer problem once in a while. When it happens, the trick is to do a half click on the on-off dial. I've opened it and it seems that the contact switch inside gets stuck for some reason. I'm guessing it's not a direct mechanical fault, but indirectly cause by the electrical load and perhaps heat or magnetism.

It only happens to the one which is connected to two 6x36 watt PL sets, solenoid and fans. My other TheBen timer is connected to three 2x36 W PL sets and one solenoid. I've swapped them around before and it's still the first combo that shows the problem.

I've noticed an interesting feature too. Not too sure if its meant to be, but by looking at the mechanism inside, it could be. If you toggle the switch to off and back to on again during the last 15 mins that is on, it will not automatically switch off when the time is up.

[loupgarou]

as for your sulphur smell, check your wires. might be it melted.

when I first bought my mh set, it had a problem: turns out to be defected, returned it and got a new set. the old set had the wires burn out due to some kind of short or bad bulb etc.

[tawauboy]

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I get the timer problem once in a while. When it happens, the trick is to do a half click on the on-off dial. I've opened it and it seems that the contact switch inside gets stuck for some reason. I'm guessing it's not a direct mechanical fault, but indirectly cause by the electrical load and perhaps heat or magnetism.

It only happens to the one which is connected to two 6x36 watt PL sets, solenoid and fans. My other TheBen timer is connected to three 2x36 W PL sets and one solenoid. I've swapped them around before and it's still the first combo that shows the problem.
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Vinz,

do you see the plastic around the contact or the contact itself turned blackish? if so, then it is due to electrical arcing. arcing occurs when you have a high load. just before the 2 contacts touches, electricity will 'fly' across the gap and vapourises some metal. it produces a lot of heat as well. maybe after a while the heat produced is sufficient to 'weld' the 2 contacts together and you 'stuck' contact.

[vinz]

Nope... no signs of that kind of intense heat or any signs of arcing, etc. Overall, the insides look pretty normal.

[David]

Hi everyone

thanks for the replies....anyway brought the MH Lights back to the shop and the capacitor blew...dark yellow oily stuff all over and it really stinks. Got a new capacitor with wider range and everything is fine.

According to the shop owner the reason why it cannot turn off with the timer is because of the inflow current absorbed by the MH lights is too strong that even though the timer clicked into 0, the current is still 'biting' on....with a multipler, it creates a weaker link between the timer and MH light.

Is this true?

[tawauboy]

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According to the shop owner the reason why it cannot turn off with the timer is because of the inflow current absorbed by the MH lights is too strong that even though the timer clicked into 0, the current is still 'biting' on....with a multipler, it creates a weaker link between the timer and MH light.
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if you mh is taking current that is too strong for your timer, the timer would 'kaput' within seconds of switching on you mh.

a switch is a switch. it is mechanical actuated in the timer so when timer has clicked to 0, there is a level to break the contact. so how can current 'bite' to hold on to the electrical contact.

multiplier, i presume you are refer to socket strip. all intended electrical connections has almost zero impedance(shorted) so the is no difference between connecting directly or through light strips.

[David]

Hi Tawauboy

Thanks for the info, but the strange thing is that when the MH light set is connected to the timer direct, confirm when it switches to the 0 mark it does not turn off the light. With a FL or PL this problem does not exist. However with a multiplier plug, the timer works like a gem.

[tawauboy]

David,

that's very very strange. what's the wattage of your mh? if you have sufficient fl or pl lights to match the wattage of you mh, you can connect the fl/pl combination directly to your timer to try if the strange phenomena still exist.

maybe your timer uses some electrical means of making/breaking an electrical contact instead of mechanical means.

[David]

hi Tawauboy

My MH light is 150watts and previously, I used to attach 4x40watts PL light set and this hiccup does not happen...that is why i am totally stumped[:0]

[sherchoo]

Maybe it's got something to do with your round 2 pin plug. When plug it in, there's some forcing involved rite? I'm guessing that if you change the plug to a regular 3 pin plug, it should be fine.

[David]

Hi Sherwin

the 3ft tank MH Light Set in the room is a 3-pin plug and the same situation as well....

[sherchoo]

Strange indeed....

Didn't have any problems with mine.... yet.