Half of T5 bulbs out is it the bulbs or ballast?

[TruenoAE86coupe]

I have a Hydrofarm "designer" t5 4' 8 bulb, just went and checked the veg room and half of my bulbs are out!
This unit has seen probably a total of a year of 18 hour a day use. This has been spread across 2.5 years or so.
My question is mainly will one bulb in the unit shut off the remaining bulbs on that ballast? I do have replacement bulbs, but it will be a few hours before i can get in there long enough to change them out and i want to know if i should plan on pulling the whole unit or just switching bulbs.
I am comfortable ripping the whole unit apart if needed, however it is ness to have a light in there at this point, even if its just the 4 bulbs for now.
Thanks for any help!

 

[bigv1976]

That could be either. On my T5 if 1 bulb goes out 2 bulbs wont light.

 

[Lysemith, Lowkey]

I know a bunch of the designer T-5s have selective switches to turn it on/off in 3rds.
so, no, I don't think one light in the series will shut off the others.

 

[SirLancelot]

dude just happened to my quantum t5. 4' 8bulb light. not even 50hrs old. ONe day two of the bulbs went out then the next day two more. Their are two switches controling the front four bulbs and the back four bulbs. My back four bulbs are the ones that went out. I took mine apart and all the fuses and wires looked good but im no electrician. I was thinking maybe the ballast blew somehow. BUt I swapped ALL of the bulbs and it's still the back half. I think it's the ballast because theirs two for each switch and one switch is out unless the switch somehow got disconnected. let me know what happens. Do you have access to a meter to check if current is making it to the lights?

 

[TruenoAE86coupe]

Yeah i plan to tear it down and do a full diagnosis on it, assuming the replacement bulbs don't work. It is a dual switch unit, both switches are on, first place i looked.
I was hoping someone who has used one of these for a while has found out about single bulb causing the whole set to shut off, but if no one knows i guess i will have to find out.
I will for sure let you guys know what i find, it will be this afternoon, i have to have it up and running by 5 so i will update after that.
+rep for answers so far, and for any more coming.

 

[TruenoAE86coupe]

I know a bunch of the designer T-5s have selective switches to turn it on/off in 3rds.
so, no, I don't think one light in the series will shut off the others.

This actually would have no effect on the way the bulbs work, it is just one "switch" set that is out, so one ballast set. It is all dependent on how it is wired inside, in series or parallel.

 

[TruenoAE86coupe]

That could be either. On my T5 if 1 bulb goes out 2 bulbs wont light.

what brand of light is this?

 

[bigv1976]

what brand of light is this?

Slim Star from HTG.

 

[vein5]

I do remodeling and maintenance on some warehouses that use all florescents and I'll bet you its the ballast. Open it up and just replace it. You can get new ballast at home depot. All you need is a wire cutter, splicer, wire connector nuts and screwdriver..

 

[bigv1976]

I do remodeling and maintenance on some warehouses that use all florescents and I'll bet you its the ballast. Open it up and just replace it. You can get new ballast at home depot. All you need is a wire cutter, splicer, wire connector nuts and screwdriver..

Ty for the post but you cant get T5HO ballasts at Home Depot.

 

[SirLancelot]

Im not much of an electrician but have done some. when you say to just cut and splice what if the wire colors don't match just basically follow wire for wire and cut and splice one at a time untill its replaced?

 

[racerboy71]

here's an idea.. can't believe no one mentioned it yet.. take one of the bulbs that is working, take it out, and put it in the place of one of the bulbs that's not working..
if the bulb no works, bammo, you know the problem is the bulb, if not, then you know it's something else..

rather simple really...

 

[TruenoAE86coupe]

here's an idea.. can't believe no one mentioned it yet.. take one of the bulbs that is working, take it out, and put it in the place of one of the bulbs that's not working..
if the bulb no works, bammo, you know the problem is the bulb, if not, then you know it's something else..

rather simple really...

Yeah i realized that as i was going to search for where i hid the other bulbs, sure as shit its the ballast.
Its not rewiring that is the issue, it is pretty straight forward, its the $60 + for the replacement at this point, well and the frustration of going into the veg room "Why is it so dim in here? Shit!"
I tore it apart and traced it out and without a doubt it is the ballast, although racer, as usual, is the correct one here, took less than a minute to do this and i was sure it was the ballast, but i bought that damn meter for i reason, i was going to use it!
Thanks again everyone!

 

[TruenoAE86coupe]

Im not much of an electrician but have done some. when you say to just cut and splice what if the wire colors don't match just basically follow wire for wire and cut and splice one at a time untill its replaced?

These ballasts are pretty easy to put in, 4 wires (in my case) in one direction, 1 in the other, and of course a hot and common coming in. So the 4, red on mine, go to one end, the single, yellow on mine, goes to the other. Not entirely sure how this is parallel and not series, but i didn't pull the rack with the bulb end things and look at that wiring, i have about 3 hours left before it has to be in and in place so i am going to pull those and make sure its not just a wire, but i highly doubt it.

 

[Spaceman_Spliff420]

here's an idea.. can't believe no one mentioned it yet.. take one of the bulbs that is working, take it out, and put it in the place of one of the bulbs that's not working..
if the bulb no works, bammo, you know the problem is the bulb, if not, then you know it's something else..

rather simple really...

Glad I seen this, was just about to start doing checks on my ballast. Thank you

 

[TommyDuhCat]

Along the lines of something someone else said, id take a new, or known to be good, bulb and swap it out with one that is out. If the lights stay out, switch the known to be good bulb out with another that is out (putting the original one back in as well). Basically try a good bulb in each position until you've tried them all, and either had the lights come back on, or conversely, done enough troubleshooting to say its probably a ballast issue. If have a digital volt/amperage meter, you could take the guess work out of the equation pretty easily.

 

[since1991]

I do remodeling and maintenance on some warehouses that use all florescents and I'll bet you its the ballast. Open it up and just replace it. You can get new ballast at home depot. All you need is a wire cutter, splicer, wire connector nuts and screwdriver..

This^^^^ Its the cheap ass ballasts that are in all the t5 fixture brands for hobby hydroponics use. One of my 6 bulb 4 footers just blew...again. My oldest one. Its already got a replacement i did a few years back. Those Fullham Workhorse Ballasts are junk. Supposedly better than the really cheapos but iam starting to think not. This is the second one i will be putting in. 50 bucks at my local electrician store and fortunately they are easy to replace. Any grower with half a brain can do it in a half an hour. But cmon. Iam not the only one either. These t5's no matter the brand..from Hydrofarm to Sunlight Supply and all in between....are notorious for shit ballast that dont last very long. Ive heard stories of one in 4 or even 3 being junk. This is unnacceptable. Many of my grower pals agree.

 

[Dutch Treat]

hey,! Sounds like you have done this before! Any tips? Haven’t looked for a YouTube video yet, but I know I need to replace a ballast on an eight light 54W bulb T5.

This^^^^ Its the cheap ass ballasts that are in all the t5 fixture brands for hobby hydroponics use. One of my 6 bulb 4 footers just blew...again. My oldest one. Its already got a replacement i did a few years back. Those Fullham Workhorse Ballasts are junk. Supposedly better than the really cheapos but iam starting to think not. This is the second one i will be putting in. 50 bucks at my local electrician store and fortunately they are easy to replace. Any grower with half a brain can do it in a half an hour. But cmon. Iam not the only one either. These t5's no matter the brand..from Hydrofarm to Sunlight Supply and all in between....are notorious for shit ballast that dont last very long. Ive heard stories of one in 4 or even 3 being junk. This is unnacceptable. Many of my grower pals agree.