Electrical nightmare

[USAFpj]

What are common issues that would cause a brand new T8 (4) bulb configured fixture to pop, and turn off all bulbs after about 15minutes of operation?

I have (20) HE Williams fixtures, and without rhyme or reason, will start blowing out sporadically around the shop. Within a 20min time frame, I now have 6 fixtures that do not operate.

200a separate service, and the breakers have not tripped.

The only thing I'm concerned with is that the fixtures have a good coat of paint, and the grounding screw may not be fully grounded due to the paint. Would that cause a ballast to overheat?

I come home from overseas to finally get to work in the new shop, and now I get to deal with 20 fixtures at a 14ft height...

 

[mm08822]

Check the supply voltage delivered to each ballast. Also check the fixture internal actual wiring against the wiring diagram.

 

[Aceman]

Check voltage at the fixture connections and verify it against the voltages listed on the ballast.

I've never heard of HE Williams, so I don't know if they use a name brand ballast. You could have a bad batch of ballasts.

Another possibility could be a loose neutral. If the connections were made up poorly and the neutrals are coming apart under load, that's a death sentence for electronics.

 

[BFBOB]

Voltage? Are they 120V fixtures that you have somehow applied 240V to? Is there three-phase in the building?
Or the other way around - you've applied 120V but they're wired for European 240V? I'd expect them not to work at all in that case, but fluorescents are odd critters ...
Good luck, and let us know what you find!

 

[USAFpj]

HE Williams is an American made fixture believe it or not. The reason that I actually went that route.

The good news is that the Mom and Pop shop I bought them from said that they would make it right. The seller is also a Master Electrician, and may come out himself to ensure the wiring was correct- his initial thoughts are 'bad batch of ballasts', as he knows how they were wired, and who did the wiring.

I'll let you guys know the outcome, but it may not be until Tuesday.

 

[USAFpj]

BFBOB- the fixtures are multi-voltage. And no, not only do I have single phase power, but I haven't even constructed my circuits for welders, compressors, etc...

 

[Rookie2]

I would say ballasts also

 

[USAFpj]

Not sure where we went wrong, but removed the Philips 'made in Mexico' ballast from the HE Williams fixture, and re-wired a Chinese GE ballast, and the light fixture fired right up! So of the 20 fixtures, I'll at least be replacing 8 ballasts, and just standing by for others to fail.

Since it's Sunday, I won't get an answer on if the seller himself may come out and replace the ballasts himself, but I'm confident I'll be taken car of.

Gotta admit, I wonder if I had just went with Lowes or HD Lithonia, if I would have even had this issue? Globalization is kicking out ****...

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Bad batch of ballasts?

 

[cybrdyke]

You have a neutral issue. Ballasts are transformers and without a good neutral, any transformer will overheat until it dies. It could be a loose/intermittent connection under a wire nut somewhere or something mis-wired. I have lots of people tell me they are "Master" electricians (is there such a thing?). They screw up, too.

The ground screw is important, too, but that would normally lead to the fixture not coming on at all.
Good luck,
CD

 

[USAFpj]

Yeah, I'd like to see the seller come out and verify with his own eyes what he thinks is wrong. Between the seller and my Uncle, they state that they have never seen an issue like this before. But we've all said something like that ourselves!

CD- the one thing that did make the electrician 'uncomfortable' was that the ballasts use a push plug to connect the ballasts to the sockets- he wanted to cut them and hard wire them in, so maybe the plug pins just aren't getting a solid connection.

I'll report back once we have a verified answer to the problem