Flourescent Light/Timer ?

[ohioreef]

Hopefully someone out there is an electrician and can help me out on this one......
I have a NO flourescent light that I am wanting to run through an X-10 timer system. I've got the everything all plugged in and the timer module is OFF. Here's the funny part, every once in a while my flourescent light will flash, not full brightness, but a quick flash. Any ideas what could be causing this? If it's any help, the light is supposed to have a grounded plug, however the previous owner cut off the grounding plug, could this have anything to do with it?
Thanks,
Gary

 

[gregvabch]

cut off? wow. i think that might be part or all of your problem. have you tried running it on a different timer? for troubleshooting purposes with that light you could use a cheap timer from home depot to see if it does the same thing, then take the timer back when you're done. or just to be on the safe side you could splice another three prong plug onto the light, actually, that would be the better way to go for sure. they are very inexpensive as well from home depot, just make sure you get one that can handle the load of your lights, most 3 prong plugs probably will but i'd write down the numbers to make sure, volts, amps, etc.

 

[gregvabch]

there will be 3 wires, positive, ground, and neutral, just match them up, they should be color coded green, white, and black.

 

[ohioreef]

The light does not flash when it is plugged in without the timer, however the switch is turned off rather than turned on like it is when it's plugged into the timer. I was thinking maybe static electricity was building up in the light until it discharged causing the flash. Would the grounding plug discharge that?
It seems to me that unless the timer is switching both the hot and the neutral, the light would do it no matter what timer I used.

 

[gregvabch]

i would replace the plug

 

[ohioreef]

Some more info.....I rigged up a "temporary" ground off the existing plug. :scared: The light still flashed.
Since the plug isn't polarized, I plugged it in "backwards." Guess what?!? The flashing stopped!
Apparently it has something to do with which side of the circuit the timer is switching. I guess what I need to find is a timer that switches both sides?!?
What I can't figure out is where is all the static electricity coming from? Unless my timer is leaking a little juice through.
Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas from anyone else? Any electrical engineers around?!?

 

[ohioreef]

Just FYI, here is the email that I received from X10 regarding my problem:
"Unfortunately, www.x10.com does not currently offer a wall switch or lamp module that works with fluorescent or halogen lights. Many users have success controlling fluorescent and halogen lighting with appliance modules, but the most reliable results are found when using a switch specific to the type of lamp you wish to control. For now, we recommend visiting http://www.x10pro.com or http://smarthome.com/x10wallsw.html for fluorescent and halogen compatible modules.
Sincerely,
Iraine
www.x10.com (USA)
support@x10.com
1-800-442-5138
www.x10.co.uk (UK)
0800-032-1429"
So it looks like I'm just SOL. On a side note, I picked up a cheap mechanical timer from Wally World, and it works fine?!? Go figure.
My brother is an electrician, and his thought is that for some reason the electronic timer is leaking a little bit of current through and when it builds up enough it discharges through the bulb.

 

[masterreef]

X10's wall switch and lamp modules won't handle flourescents because they support a dimmer function which in not compatible with flourescent lights. They DO make a 3 prong appliance module which will work fine with your lights.
If your plug is non-polar it is either extremely old (70's) or has been modified. In addition to being incredible stupid, cutting off the third prong can cause you legal liability. Should it cause a fire you could be responsible. Get a new polar 3 prong plug and replace it. IMO