Digital ballast not sparking hps?

My buddy has a digital ballast that seems to spark his mh fine but he claims that the hps doesnt spark right he said he got it going but now it doesnt work?

he says the hps flickers then diesim gunna chekc it out today any thoughts? im thinking he doesnt let it warm up but anything else it could be

is he using a hortilux bulb? I've heard that people have had troubles with them in digital ballast I'm not sure however i stick to my mag ballast tried n true!

yea its a hort so most likely hes gunna have to get another ballast u think?

bigb1987 said:

My buddy has a digital ballast that seems to spark his mh fine but he claims that the hps doesnt spark right he said he got it going but now it doesnt work?

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Ohh... the Hortilux won't work on a digital ballast, Thanks Cowboy

do you people even read other post its been said a hundred times on this site and others hurtilux bulbs do NOT work in a digital ballast go to their web site it says in english that their bulbs do not work in most digital ballast ...so go with sunmaster their bulbs are better anyway.

yeah what he said. (I don't know why he's so mad though) but yup they do not work in most dig ballast and rather than replacing the ballast I'd just get a new bulb lol.

If he is using a hortilux bulb and his electronic does not have 'soft start' then the bulb is probaly toast. I use Hortilux with my lumatek. But it has soft start and I have had no issues at all.

tinagrowgood said:

do you people even read other post its been said a hundred times on this site and others hurtilux bulbs do NOT work in a digital ballast go to their web site it says in english that their bulbs do not work in most digital ballast ...so go with sunmaster their bulbs are better anyway.

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Sunmaster bulbs are not better than Hortilux enhanced spectrum bulbs. Yes Sunmaster advertises more lumen output. Lumens mean little. Its the PAR rating of a bulb that counts. And Hortilux beats Sunmaster hands down in PAR rating. Dont get me wrong. Sunmaster bulbs are solid performers. Just not quite on the level as Hortilux though.

golddog said:

Ohh... the Hortilux won't work on a digital ballast, Thanks Cowboy

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No worries. But you can use the Hortilux hps bulb in a electronic ballast. But only if it has 'soft start'. The new Lumatek switchable ballasts have soft start. I use Hortilux bulbs in my 600 with no issues. You can tell if your has soft start our not. When the light first comes on. It will start quite dim. Then blink and get a bit brighter. Blink again yet getting brighter. It should do this 3 or 4 times before finally coming to full power.