Got a question or a riddle for you shop guys. I have 18 total cyber cx's, 8 of them from one source and the others from various places. We have been fiddling with the set of 8 that were all out of the same club install and have had a problem with excessive current draw. The book says they should draw about 6-7 amps per leg of 240 and the other lights we have draw about 6-7 amps per leg. However after noticing the cables getting hot, we put an amp clamp on the lights I got from the guy with the set of 8 and they are pulling about 15-18 amps per leg. Between 2-3 times what they should be drawing. So I assumed they had the jumper for the voltage in the wrong position and I looked at the jumper for the wiring to the power transformer and it is on 60 hz and 208 volts. Now it seam to me it should be on the 240 volt jumper with single phase however all the lights we have bought are on the 208 jumper so I didn't change it until I get some advice. In other words the set of 8 are wired just like all the others but they are pulling 3 times the current. I ruled out a fluke problem with just one fixture if all 8 of them are having the identical symptoms. Got any idea's?
First fix the voltage, The power board should be tapped for whatever voltage you are running. Note: There is not a 240volt 60 hz tap according to the manual, You probably should be running the 230volt 60hz tap. When you are retapping, if you have the old style blade connections, make absolutely sure the terminals are tight, if they are not, it will burn a hole through the board, and you will have to buy a new one.
As for your amperage, Sounds like your fixtures have the power factor capacitor going bad. It is somewhat unlikely that they all would be failing at the same time, but perhaps in concert with being tapped at the wrong voltage, it has caused them to fail?
The power factor cap is the huge capacitor next to the power board. I would swap 1 out and see if that fixes your problem. If it does, you can just swap them all and be good to go.
my bets are on the PFC or power factor cap going bad. I have seen them smoke boards and power switches (and create a few minor fires inside of the light) due to the extra current draw. If my memory serves correctly you can meter the amperage draw on the PFC and you should see around 7 amps. You can call highend for the specifics or lightparts and ask for don.
Larry, had the same problem last year. Like Joshua said, swap one out as a test.
We tested it by parking a good Cyber next to a bad one (pointing the other way) and temporarily jumpering (with heavy duty clip leads) the "good" cap to the bad fixture.
We also have a fluke that when clipped onto the power leads directly measures Power Factor, so I was immediately able to see the difference. Bad fixture was about 30-40%, Good (used) fixture was about 89%.
Many thanks to all of you that responded so quickly. I put a different Power Correction Cap in on test leads and all is working correct. The amp draw on this fixture went from 20.5 amps per leg down to 6.7 amps per leg. Bingo!!!! Thanks again, I'll likely have a few more questions as we get all these lights up and running but you guys nailed this one right on the money!
