it will come on just fine then after a few hrs it will do this some nights its ok and does'nt cut off I've changed the bulb and photo cell and checked wiring and circuit am puzzled?
2006-07-01 06:26:34 · 13 answers · asked by Dan8702usa 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
It has to be a thermal limit switch of some sort.Either in the bulb or the fixture. probably in the fixture. follow the wiring til you find what looks like an in-line fuse holder. Most likely, it dislodged from it's normal resting place due to all the activity going on lately.
It should be found near the top of the bulb, or hottest spot. Just return it to its clip or snap further away from the hot spot. This happened on one job I was called in for. Three electricians couldn't figure it out.
2006-07-09 19:50:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you thought about location? As you know, photocells read the ambient light in the enviornment and, when it falls below a certain level, it activates the fixture. But, if the light is situation in a location where the light itself turning on can flood the photocell with too much light, it will shut off and turn on again after a few minutes, continuing the cycle till daylight. The reason it may only happen on certain days could be that there's more moonlight on those days, adding to the ambient light.
Or, another possibility, is that the capacitor or ballist is heating up to where the thermal relay is shutting off. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to hours and, once it starts to do it, will continue to flip on and off because the relay only cools down enough to restart. Hotter and cooler days would affect this as well, perhaps accounting for the irregularity of the problem.
2006-07-01 13:35:08 · answer #2 · answered by Molecularfallout 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The bulb in it needs replaced. As it gets older the mercury changes composition. The resistance of the electric flow goes up, the bulb gets hotter. The bulb has a built-in circuit that detects that the bulb is getting hot and shuts it down. When the bulb cools it restarts.
2006-07-01 13:40:50 · answer #3 · answered by barnrat 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Change the bulb or it will burn out the starter and Ballast too. It's not the photo cell, did you buy an Exact bulb replacement?
2006-07-15 08:56:44 · answer #4 · answered by pinewhispers1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Another solution may be to replace the heat ballast. When the light is running it heats up, if the ballast is faulty it will cut the light off til it cools down enough to allow the light to burn again, then when it gets too hot, it goes off again.
2006-07-12 16:24:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There may be a Light Source around causing it to go off. All I know.
One more that may sound Weird; BUT, if there are Children playing around, they could be kicking it out for fun. When I was young we did this for fun, just kick the pole hard enough and the light go off and restart. Just mention this, may not really be it.
2006-07-01 13:30:38 · answer #6 · answered by Snaglefritz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mercury Vapor lights use a ballast to operate.
Ballast failure is a common problem, easily corrected, but cheaper to replace.
2006-07-12 09:47:41 · answer #7 · answered by klmpro@verizon.net 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Ballast resistor is failing
2006-07-01 13:49:37 · answer #8 · answered by prsctboy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you have a sensitive photocell, try putting some kind of sheild around it. lightning,brightstars, even streetlights can set them off. And just maybe you have some animal lurking around at night thats doing it.
2006-07-01 13:35:49 · answer #9 · answered by home improvement at its best 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bad transformer
2006-07-10 18:52:43 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋