Ballast keeps dying and powering itself back up?!?

My auntie is trying her hand at indoor veggie gardening this year but she has run into a few problems maybe you guys can help. She is using an old walk in closet with no power so she is running a heavy duty 50' extension cord to her 1000w magnetic ballast(squirrel cage style) she also has one desk top average size household fan and two small 4" fans moving air all of the power to everything in the house has been turned off except her fridge and one or two lights(all in other rooms) and her ballast keeps shutting off and powering itself back up in 2-3min she wasn't aware that plants have light cycles and thought she could just leave the lights on full 24/7 now that she understands she is running a timer and it is still happening... She thought maybe the bulb or the ballast was starting to go so she swapped in her other bulb and ballast that are basically identical and it is still doing it I could be wrong but the breaker is 15a... Any help???

The breaker isn't tripping btw

Extension cord plus 1k watt HID = recipe for disaster.

The capacitor is shot. What you are describing is called cycling and it happens when your capacitor can't hold a "charge".
Get your auntie to buy a digital ballast instead of running a magnetic one.
Edit: she can also buy a replacement capacitor too.

What if she wasnt running the extension cord? Are you positive about the capacitor as both ballasts were doing the same thing?

Corso312 said:

Extension cord plus 1k watt HID = recipe for disaster.

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I'm outdoor so this is newb too me can you explain why? I mean I'm assuming it gets too hot but what's wrong with running a heavy duty one?

They aren't made to pull that much juice for 12 hours, let alone 18 plus hours.. Swap that ballast out and feel the plugs after it's been on for 5 hours and you will see...magnetic ballast and hoods are cheap on craigslist. I'd look there for used ones and bring a bulb n check that they work.

213 said:

What if she wasnt running the extension cord? Are you positive about the capacitor as both ballasts were doing the same thing?

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Just read that she swapped the bulb and ballast. Sounds like a loose connection, check the socket and receptacle. Plug in a vacuum into the extension cord and see if it the vacuum turns on and off like the lamp.
Process of elimination is ur friend.
Edit: its not the lamp or ballast if the same thing is happening on the other bulb and ballast.

I'm guessing there's a drop in Voltage occurring due to the length of the extension cord. For 50' it would need to be 10 or 12 guage. "heavy duty" may only be 14 gauge. Before doing anything else, attempt to fix the issue with a 10 guage 50' extension cord.

Can you explain "both ballasts", you made it sound like there was just one? Trouble shoot the issue by running the ballasts with no extension cord each on their own into a standard outlet and see if they repeat the problem. If this does not remedy the problem they're indeed cycling and as noted above its the capacitor. If it does remedy the problem the issue is voltage drop and a 10 gauge 50' extension cord should fix it.

Also if you must use an extension cord and 25 feet would work. Get that. As you increase the length of the extension cord, you increase the voltage drop. That drop is intensified as the gauge of the cord is smaller.

It wouldn't be voltage drop, vd on a 1000w hid ballast @240v over 50' with 14awg would only be 2-3 volts max, I'm thinking somebody that knows what they're doing has to go check aunties setup before shit happens because its starting to sound sketchy.

It could be that the voltage drop is high because the extension cord is coiled, due to inductive reactance. Make sure you don't have the extension cord in a coil or on a reel.

U wouldnt notice inductive reactance through a properly insulated grounded cordset. That's one reason why the insulation on wire is rated to a specific voltage.

I agree to with bottletoke. You really need to get someone who knows the properties of lighting and electricity pretty well in there to look at this. If multiple ballasts are showing the same issue it'd be hard to think it's both of them with the same problem, allbeit possible.

bottletoke said:

U wouldnt notice inductive reactance through a properly insulated grounded cordset. That's one reason why the insulation on wire is rated to a specific voltage.

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Grounding or insulation won't inhibit inductive reactance, but shielding does. Ethernet cabling has shielding, but extension cords typically don't.

Ok so I went back over and she had this contraption rigged up LOL one of those Sunblaster t5(4ft) 4 light hoods, 2 single 2ft's and 4 26w coil bulbs she said it's been running good for hours but it shut off at 12:30 when the timer says it should have been off at 11 it's a new woods timer Is the timer fucked it seemed liked it was working fine she said I don't want her to leave it on over night if it really isn't the timer and have her burn her home down. Another question how does the timer know what time it is there aren't any clock to set on it assuming maybe it's running on a different time zone.. Idn haha hellllp

There was only one of the four light hoods if that part was confusing lol