Cool Lights problem-and solution

sunporchmedia

sunporchmedia

Well-known member
Had an interesting experience recently with my Cool Lights 4x55 portable (non-dimming) fixture. I was working on location with my 4x55 and 2x55. Plugged in the 2x55 and worked flawlessly. Plugged in the 4x55 and it immediately tripped the GFI outlet (didn't even have to turn on the fixture). Plugged it in later to a non-GFI outlet and it operated normally. Another GFI outlet, same problem.

So I disassembled the fixture and found the source of the problem-a design/assembly issue. It turns out that the spade-lug connectors on the backside of the on-off switches are uninsulated and sit just fractions of an inch from the back of the reflector panel. In my case, the reflector was resting against the switch connectors and causing a ground fault.

Solution was simple: run a couple of strips of electrical tape around the switch contacts to insulate the connections and isolate it from the reflector surface.

I have an early version of this light and perhaps the problem has been addressed in more recent manufacturing runs. Richard may be able to weigh in on this.

My suggestions:
1. Plug your light into a GFI outlet and see if it trips the outlet.
2. If under warrantly I would suggest contact Cool Lights
3. If not under warranty, it's fairly easy to disassemble and reassemble if you are handy
4. If you have lights not displaying the symptom, you may want to wrap the contacts as a precaution. I did this with my other 2x55 light.
 
I don't know where you live, but here in Western Washington, I can trip a GFI on a winter day when I sneeze. Literally, I have had boxed outdoor mounted units trip all by themselves with nothing plugged in.

Grant
 
Mark,

As Grant says lots of things can make a GFI trip including many Kino Flo models so it is not a reliable test of anything and therefore not a test to use to see if you have an issue. Please see the last post in this thread for what Kino Flo and others say about using fluorescent ballasts on a GFCI plug:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20163&highlight=gfci

Operating on well grounded circuits is what is the real safety for any such lighting use. And normally, an issue like you suggested would trip a regular breaker. If anyone that has a first generation fixture is concerned they can contact us at info@coollights.biz. This would only be 1st generation portable flo units sold up through March 2008 which is what Mark has. Not affecting any studio flo model or later generation portable. I do believe this to be a defect in that one unit though based on the good experience we've had with the portables reliability and safety over the last 3 years since they first came out.
 
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I had a similar issue with my (I believe) 1st gen model. I solved it by throwing a grounding adapter on the end of the cable - just bypassing the ground all-together. It's worked like a dream. Does anyone suggest I perform the fix mentioned above or am I fine the way it is?

Thanks.

~~Dave
 
I suggest you contact Cool Lights at the address I mentioned above to find out. As I said the GFCI test is not an effective test for if you have a problem and normally you would be popping regular breakers if the reflectors were touching your power switch.

This is not an efficient place to determine that since we aren't on real names here, have no idea when you bought, etc. And no one should be directing / helping you with this other than Cool Lights USA if there is an issue. Send in the email with who you are, when you bought, what model, etc.; and we can go from there.
 
I was working the red carpet at CMA Awards, and each of the dozens of video crews were given one 20 amp GFCI outlet box in our "booth." (The red carpet was set up under a long outdoor tent, outside of the venue...so GFCI was definitely appropriate). I've probably never plugged it into a GFCI outlet before, so had never experienced the problem. When I got home I tested it in on a couple of GFCI outlets at home, with the same results.

Regardless of any other reasons to try to avoid GFCI outlets with fluorescents when possible (I hadn't heard of this before so this is good information), in my case the GFCI's were doing exactly what they were designed to do: trip in the event of a ground fault in the fixture. Upon disassembly I was able to pretty quickly confirm that there was a fault, and determine the source of the fault, as I described above. Quick fix with electrical tape and I'm good to go.

I stand by my recommendation to test your portable Coollights fixture in a GFCI outlet. It may not tell you what your problem is, but it will tell you that you have a problem. If you rely on your gear for your livelyhood, like I do, you don't want to learn that your fixture is going to trip a GFCI circuit on a job for a national broadcaster, when that's the only power that is available to you.

This is a potential safety issue as well as an operational one. Never mess around with a safety issue.

I like my Cool Lights fixtures. They deliver good value. They are not perfect and I don't expect them to be. However, I really wish that this problem, if it was known, had been communicated to owners of the fixtures.

Mark Schlicher
Sunporch Media
Nashville, TN USA
www.sunporchmedia.com
 
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Davdo,

With all respect, that's not a solution, that's a workaround. You could still have a potential safety issue. Best check it out with Richard. IF you have the same problem as I did (big disclaimer here--IF), then it is not a difficult fixture to disassemble and repair yourself, but since Richard has requested that people contact him for advice and resolution, that is my suggestion.

Testing in a GFCI outlet is, in my opinion, a useful troubleshooting tool, though obviously it is only an indication of trouble; it doesn't diagnose the source.

I don't understand why people often seem to assume, when a safety device activates, that the problem is with the safety device. Better to start with the assumption that the safety device is doing its job properly and then do further testing from there.
 
Mark,

Nobody is assuming that the fault is with the GFCI. I don't know about others, but I definitely put serious time and effort into trying to figure this out last fall. I am not an electrician and I did not feel comfortable opening up my fixture myself, so first, I checked with Richard. He directed me to the link linked above and I took it from there. I discovered that many fluorescent ballasts discharge a small amount of current through the ground, which is what trips the GFCI. My unit performs normally in standard outlets, so I felt that bypassing the ground was an adequate and safe fix.

~~Dave
 
Stop for a second please. Without getting into the issue of the light itself (I do own a couple of them), GFIs come in various types. If yours is sensitive, or it is damp, or if the moon is in some strange phase, a GFI can trip. I'm not saying that is all bad, but it can be a royal pain when there is no real issue. Two terminals with a engineered spark gap can easily trip a GFI on a humid day. A good ground and dry socks are just as good, the GFI just shuts you down prematurely. Ask any electrician you know, and you will find they are universally unloved. Now if you like to use the hair dryer in the bathtub, a GFI has real merit.

Grant
 
GFCI outlets were mainly meant for everyday household appliances operating around water. It was not meant for use with professional and sometimes higher wattage equipment like lighting and most especially fluorescent. I'm sure people may end up using them a lot in some situations but that doesn't mean its good practice and you'll probably end up bypassing it somehow anyway.

Nobody should direct someone to open up their Cool Lights fixture and perform any mods on it but Cool Lights. The normal protocol that any company would want to follow would be you inform us you think there is an issue and what if anything you did about it, then we would look at it and see if its just a defect in one or possibly more fixtures, formulate a fix if more are affected, disburse any instructions about what to do next to the population that would be affected which could be very limited.

I can just see it now, people opening these things up without any supervision, with no idea what they are looking for, wires unhooking, possibly creating new issues where there were none before, not sure where to put the wires back correctly. That's not how it should be done.
 
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What is really crazy for us in the PNW is that GFIs are code for outdoor recepticles. This is simply insane; require a GFI outdoors in the rain forrest.....oh ya, that little spring loaded cover helps a lot...

Grant
 
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