I have a 150-watt high pressure sodium security light that mysteriously began cycling on and off about a month ago, after about three years of faithful operation.
Thought the photoelectric cell might have gone bad, so I replaced that.
No improvement.
I suppose my next move will be to try a new bulb, but these things are supposed to last much longer than this one's been in service.
Do these things have some kind of ballast or starter that might have gone bad?
Any ideas on what's causing this on/off cycling?
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Yes, these lights have both a ballast and an ignitor (or starter). And this sounds to me like a bad ignitor. If you open up the fixture, the ignitor is probably a black cylinder a little larger than a 35mm film container, with three wire leads (if memory serves correctly, it's been a while).
Good luck!
Jarrod
Good luck!
Jarrod
One of the tattletale signs of a bad lamp in an HPS fixture is the cycling of the lamp.
Average life of the 150W hps lamp is 24,000 hrs. This is an average! Some last longer, some don't.
If the ignitor goes bad the lamp will not light at all. Same with the ballast. Some of the "cheaper" fixtures have the ignitor as part of the ballast. I have found that sometimes it is more economical to replace the fixture than to do the repairs after replacing a bulb.
Average life of the 150W hps lamp is 24,000 hrs. This is an average! Some last longer, some don't.
If the ignitor goes bad the lamp will not light at all. Same with the ballast. Some of the "cheaper" fixtures have the ignitor as part of the ballast. I have found that sometimes it is more economical to replace the fixture than to do the repairs after replacing a bulb.
