[saltysteve]

Has anyone ever had their VHOs spark when plugging in? i do have alot of watts on the same circut so i dont normally keep them on but when i plug in my 660 with 4 bulbs it sparks near the outlet. does anyone know why?

[Dr. Clyde]

Probably a little moisture on the plug. + Static

[saltysteve]

im not sure it seems to happen all the time and ive cleaned the plug twice.

[bnhaus]

Moisture or static.

Don't get shocked!

[saltysteve]

i dont think thats it. ive replaced the plug and i dont know where the static would be coming from. rubber shoes on concreate floors doesnt really make to much static. the only thing i can think of is the rivots arent in and the heatsink is off

[Lowej82]

is the light in the on position when you plug in and get a spark? you are plugging in something that is drawling a few watts if its on when pluged in will spark.

When the plug hits the wall outlet the power is almost jumping to the plug sorda say, if the lights are all in the OFF position and it does it....... I dunno then it sounds like a fire/shock hazard.

My pc's will spark if there in the ON position when plugged in only when you first plug it in initialy.

[pogodzib]

Ditto. Does it spark when the switch is off? If so, something may more be wired properly or you may have some type of problem with the wiring. If the switch is on, then it wouldn't surprise me at all if it sparked while plugging it in.

Originally Posted by Lowej82

is the light in the on position when you plug in and get a spark? you are plugging in something that is drawling a few watts if its on when pluged in will spark.

When the plug hits the wall outlet the power is almost jumping to the plug sorda say, if the lights are all in the OFF position and it does it....... I dunno then it sounds like a fire/shock hazard.

My pc's will spark if there in the ON position when plugged in only when you first plug it in initialy.

[saltysteve]

ooooooh- maybe thats it. i got it used and the guy had it hooked to a controller. it never came with a on off switch. just a plug. hmmm ill check that out and let you guys know- good idea!

[Lowej82]

might be eaiser to add a timer/controller than wire in a bunch of switches. How many plugs run your system 1 day, 1 night, 1 led for a total of 3? please dont say it all on one plug.

[Lowej82]

constantly on so yea that would be why kinda like when you go to jump start a dead car batery you get that initial spark when the last connection is made. might not be good on lights I dunno.

Originally Posted by saltysteve

ooooooh- maybe thats it. i got it used and the guy had it hooked to a controller. it never came with a on off switch. just a plug. hmmm ill check that out and let you guys know- good idea!

[saltysteve]

well it didnt spark but it keeps blowing the 20 amp gfci- im going to replace the breaker with a new one and see if thats the problem. but at least theres no spark anymore!!! thanks guys

[Lowej82]

if its tripping the gfi its drawing to much power or maybe the gfi aint big enough to handle the light I am not sure. Make sure all the breakers in the box are in place tightly, if there not tight they will trip with a sudden bigger load. If your not sure on this dont bother its not worth being shocked, all I had to do was push them back in place so they was tight.

Originally Posted by saltysteve

well it didnt spark but it keeps blowing the 20 amp gfci- im going to replace the breaker with a new one and see if thats the problem. but at least theres no spark anymore!!! thanks guys

[pogodzib]

What else is connected to the 20 amp GFCI that it keeps blowing? VHO's shouldn't ever blow a GFCI unless that are plenty of other things on the circuit, something is wired wrong or the wiring is bad, or you have a cheap, old, or worn out GFCI outlet/breaker. The first thing I'd check into is how the unit is wired since the person didn't install an on/off switch and the GFCI keeps popping. Maybe the person hooked up the black and white wires backwards. The lights would still fire, but GFCI outlets don't like it when the polarity is switched.

[Taras1]

Ditto on Brian -- Also, check the grounding as well. Salt water is a good conductor and if you have stray electricity, no matter where it's from, you can have arcing.