50 Amp Timer Box Not Working!?!?!?!?!

[BowlPacks]

Trying to set up an 8k grow. Everything is in place but I cant get this box to work. It's the Sun Systems 50amp timer box with 1 10amp 120v circuit and 2 20amp 240v circuits. The 120v seems to work fine and my tester says its getting juice all the way to the 240v ballast cord. The problem is that my ballasts wont fire. They don't even buzz. I cant figure this out and my well-being is going down the toilet. Anyone have similar problems? Any Ideas?

 

[VenturaHwy]

Sounds like you have plugged something into the 120v outlet and it works fine, but you only have ballasts or a voltage tester to try the 240 volt circuit. Has the ballast ever worked? Need more info to go on.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

Are the ballasts 240? have you ever used them before?

 

[FirstTracks]

you might be overdrawing and your ballasts just can't get enough power.

A 20 amp circuit at 240 shouldn't be used for more than 16A continuous. a 1k at 240v pulls approx 4.6 during use and more during firing (startup).

You're trying to pull 4.6x4=18.4A continuous on 20A which is more than the 80% 'safe' load. my guess is your ballasts are trying to pull maybe 10% more power, so about 5.1A each-20.4A total off a 20A breaker.

You might be able to make this work by staggering the startup on your lights at 5 minute intervals. However, this still doesn't bring you back within safe operating limits of the breaker.

Try 3 lights per circuit and see what happens.

 

[growshopfrank]

I'd have to guess you put the breaker in wrong, you have two legs of the same phase if this confuses you... get an electrician for your own safety, please.

 

[PharmaCan]

The 120v seems to work fine and my tester says its getting juice all the way to the 240v ballast cord.

This statement doesn't make much sense - you need to phrase this in a way that a simple-minded person can understand it. I assume your box has receptacles and that the 120v circuit has no problems. Take your tester and see what the voltage output from the 240v receptacles measures. You should also make sure you have the box plugged into an adequate power supply.

If you're trying to troubleshoot something, you need to systematically eliminate things that could be the problem until you find the thing that is the problem. If you want to do this by remote, it takes precise communication. I'm not trying to rag on you; just trying to help you get your problem solved.

PC

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Are all the breakers on the box flipped ON? I have the 30amp version and the breakers were set to OFF from the factory. Just a thought.