fluorescent tube blows main breaker on turn-off

[charrid]

Every once in a hundred turn-offs my 40w fluorescent tube fixture
recently bought and installed in my hallway blows the apartment main
breaker. Couple of times it even caused the safety door switch on the
front load washing machine (operating at the time) to stick/weld
contacts to the point I couldn't open the door thus necessitating a
major washer disassembly job.

Seeing a choke in the fixture brought to mind a possible voltage spike
if the tube is turned off at the AC peak. It 's just that I have never
experienced such problem. Maybe it's a special balast design (made in
Hungary and very cheap). I have some MOV's in the junk box. Any ideas
if they would solve the spike problem? These were acquired some 30
years ago when GE brought them out (which I hope is not a problem) but
they are rated 130V AC. Now I live in a 240V country - can I place
them in series ( with a couple of say 50k equalizing resistors
across)?

Tnx for ideas ( I know i should junk the thing but I like problems I
can solve with stuff I hoard and never use).

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Every once in a hundred turn-offs my 40w fluorescent tube fixture
recently bought and installed in my hallway blows the apartment main
breaker. Couple of times it even caused the safety door switch on the
front load washing machine (operating at the time) to stick/weld
contacts to the point I couldn't open the door thus necessitating a
major washer disassembly job.

Replace it. Seriously. Soon.

 

[mpm]

Every once in a hundred turn-offs my 40w fluorescent tube fixture
recently bought and installed in my hallway blows the apartment main
breaker.

I don't think we have enough here to really help you much....
Some points to ponder:

Why is the branch circuit breaker not tripping?
Are you using the branch breaker as an on/off switch?
Is this the same branch as the washer? (probably not?.)
What size is the main breaker? Branch? What brand panel? (Some are
not worth owning...)
Is the 40W fixture grounded? (And if not, is the washer clearing the
fault?)
If 120/240 1-ph service, is your neutral bonded to ground past the
panel? (Should not be!!)
Is there any metal connection between the washer and the light
fixture?

This sounds like a fire waiting to happen.
I too recommend you hunt this problem down and fix is ASAP.
mpm

 

[Phil Allison]

** Groper Alert !

Every once in a hundred turn-offs my 40w fluorescent tube fixture
recently bought and installed in my hallway blows the apartment main
breaker.

** Errr - is that a combined breaker and ELCB unit ?

Bet it is.

Couple of times it even caused the safety door switch on the
front load washing machine (operating at the time) to stick/weld
contacts to the point I couldn't open the door thus necessitating a
major washer disassembly job.

** Pure coincidence.

Seeing a choke in the fixture brought to mind a possible voltage spike
if the tube is turned off at the AC peak. It 's just that I have never
experienced such problem. Maybe it's a special balast design (made in
Hungary and very cheap). I have some MOV's in the junk box. Any ideas
if they would solve the spike problem? These were acquired some 30
years ago when GE brought them out (which I hope is not a problem) but
they are rated 130V AC. Now I live in a 240V country - can I place
them in series ( with a couple of say 50k equalizing resistors
across)?

Tnx for ideas ( I know i should junk the thing but I like problems I
can solve with stuff I hoard and never use).

** Just fit a capacitor of say 1uF ( must be 250 volt AC rated or class
X2 ) across the fluoro power input.



......... Phil

 

[default]

Every once in a hundred turn-offs my 40w fluorescent tube fixture
recently bought and installed in my hallway blows the apartment main
breaker. Couple of times it even caused the safety door switch on the
front load washing machine (operating at the time) to stick/weld
contacts to the point I couldn't open the door thus necessitating a
major washer disassembly job.

Seeing a choke in the fixture brought to mind a possible voltage spike
if the tube is turned off at the AC peak. It 's just that I have never
experienced such problem. Maybe it's a special balast design (made in
Hungary and very cheap). I have some MOV's in the junk box. Any ideas
if they would solve the spike problem? These were acquired some 30
years ago when GE brought them out (which I hope is not a problem) but
they are rated 130V AC. Now I live in a 240V country - can I place
them in series ( with a couple of say 50k equalizing resistors
across)?

Tnx for ideas ( I know i should junk the thing but I like problems I
can solve with stuff I hoard and never use).

Probably a GFI breaker (required for the wash machine) and something
hinky in the grounding of the fluorescent fixture (like an instant on
that didn't have a convenient ground for the reflector).

But there should be a lot more useful data to arrive at a conclusion.

MOV's probably won't help - the best they can do is short the line
when a spike comes along. They can be used in series, not that it
will fix anything.