Reef Angel Forum

not too shure how to explain this one..

I have 8 kessil 150's connected to a power strip when i plug it into the wall all 8 come on and whn i unplug it all 8 go off and stay off (as expected)

the problem comes when i plug the lights into the relay box they will all come on no issues and they turn off as expected but what is odd is that the lights will randomly blink on diffrent ligts at diffrent times but they all seem to do it.

looks like a cap charging up and the lamp triggers on for a sec till the cap is discharged, im not sure what to make of it other than maybe a current leak or voltage passing through the open relays but not enough for the power supply for the lamps to turn on. just enough that it charges up blips on then goes out till the next lamp blips on.

This will go on all night untill i unplug the powerstrip from the relay box then it stops..


now i have a solution but it requires making a relay box that is switched on by the RA relay and switches hot and load of the output of the RA off.

Only thin i can think of is maybe a leaky varistor

also this is an older relay box with the power cord hard wired into it

Odd...
There is no varistor.
Did you try a different port in the relay box?

yes i tried a few different ones. From what Jess was saying this is a issue with the 48volt power supply for the kessil and many of the lower end timer relays (timer type power strips). I have the 150 at home and do not see this on my RA relay box. i will try swamping the relay box out with the newer version he has at the shop and see if the problem persists (at least rule out the age of the relay box)

This is truly a strange issue.. I would have though he was crazy had i not seen the issue my self..

were there any major revisions ot the relay boxes and the way the ac is switched off.

I have not looked but i know there are 2 basic ways to switch AC with a relay.

1) disconnect the Line and leave the neutral connected. (like most light switches and fuses) (single pole relay)
2) disconnect both the line and neutral. (like unplugging the device) (double pole relays)

in 2 above the effect truly removes the device from the power source and no blinking occurs

did I mention this is not a RA only issue...

Im more just looking for suggestions on a way around this.. and BTW I did look over the board designs and as expected found noting that stood out to me

oddly it does not do this if on a switched outlet with a light switch (no RA) so it is a relay only thing which makes apsolutly no sence

That's so odd...
The relay switches only hot. It leaves ground and neutral connected.

rimai wrote:That's so odd...
The relay switches only hot. It leaves ground and neutral connected.

ya same as any light switch in any house.... im perplexed by this..

I cant even understand what would cause it to be able to do this. (Cheap power supplies) but as far as my electronics background tells me if the hot is not connected nothing flows...

other wise i would never work on 220vac or 440vac at all

Funny. I had the same thing happening when I used the relay outlet to turn on/off meanwell drivers. Problem went away when I started using the dimmer ports on the relay box to turn my leds on/off but recently I added some UVs to my leds and turn them on/off with the relay outlet and the same problem has started again. It's weird, I can hear a click like a relay is coming in and going out then the leds flash really quickly. If I check the relay activity on the portal there is nothing that would indicate that it happened.