Metal Halide light problems

[James Aiello]

I have outdoor Halide light 2 stories high. It does not come on when it gets dark anymore. I changed the capacitor last year and that did not work. My
neighbor got me a new capacitor rated for -40 C and it still did not work. When
I installed the last one I covered the light sensor and the light came on. It was 75 degrees out when I tested it. Later that night it did not come on.
Could it be the bulb? Is there a temp range for them?

It did work a couple times this summer when it was about 85 degrees at night.

Like I said earlier it is mounted on the side of my house 2 stories hight and I have to hang over the edge on my roof to access it. Not fun, would like another
solution for mounting to the house.... cheap.

thanks
James

 

[Aceman]

You need a meter to check your light properly. Anything else is a guess and replace method, which doesn't go along with "cheap".

 

[DoyleDee]

I would replace the photocell and the bulb. We have hundreds of metal halide lamps around my work... If it isn't coming on, it is mostly a bad bulb, cap (most will swell and leak- plastic type spews a "plastic snake") and photocell. Of course we use 277v power and we test them at our shop before we put them back out. (Some of ours have a "pull out carcass")....we can bench test.