HPS wont light up... MH runs fine. What's wrong HELP please

D

dbo24242

New Member
this is ridiculously obvious and probably not the problem but if it is switchable, did you hit the switch?

is the ballast electronic or core and coil?

have you tried a 400w hps conversion bulb (to run on mh ballast)?
 
Phrasty

Phrasty

Well-Known Member
OK guys.... took the ballast the the freaking store today and they tested it... of course it works. note** they tested it with 2 spare pieces of wire...say 12"** So I get home and screw in the bulb and hook up the reflector... STILL FUCKING NOTHING!! at this point im pretty damn annoyed! so i get my extra socket **with the 6 inches of connector cable and connect that f^%$r up to the ballast directly... and theres light... WTF IS GOING ON??? Ok so I said to myself...."Self its obviously the wire... I'll just change it!" (the wire from the ballast to the bulb). I had bought a new cable the other day about 10' long. I pull down everything and connect up this cable to the light... moment of truth right?!?! STILL FREAKIN NADA!!!! So at this point I'm pretty fuckin livid!!!... then i thought maybe its the length of the connecting wire.. I go into my toolbox and pull out a 6' piece of 220V wire. Thinking that it might be borderline short to make it to the light I hooked that fucker up anyways... I was desperate! Well ladies and gentlemen I still dont have a clue what the deal was... but we DO have HPS light as of tonight. As I said I have NO clue why the longer leads wouldnt power the light, and I'm only talking say 10' here. It's not a 30' run. But anyways the shorter lead worked. Guys thanks so much for trying to help a brother out.. +REP to all of you...

Cheers
 
Phrasty

Phrasty

Well-Known Member
Finally so happy!! btw the plants have been on 120W T5 light combined with 2 80W CFs i rigged up while trying to figure this out for the past 3 days. Had them on 12/12 cycle.. I have my first 2 girls out of my 13 plants!!!!! YAY!! Looking up again.

Cheers
 
thatdjsnow

thatdjsnow

Well-Known Member
hmm... probably wasnt the leads - but maybe a short elsewhere that you moved while changing the leads, thus making it work again... maybe...
 
nephilthy

nephilthy

Member
ganjman said:
Well done mate getting it worked out!
Click to expand...
if the shorter wire worked where longer wire didn't souns like you have some sort of voltage drop.
I am not a fan of these switchable ballasts as the capacitor in some of the models is inadequate,and couldlead to problems.
electricity is not something to fuck around this whole post I haven't read anything about discharging the capacitor of it's electricity.
the last thing you want to do is monkeyfuck with a ballast if you don't know what your doinG!
please read up on discharging a capacitor there are pictures of how to do it correctly.having a capacitor discharge on you could be potentially life threatining given size of ballast magentic coil types only.
I would recommend k.i.s.s. theory. keep is simple stupid.run your present ballast for mh
get a new ballast for hps bulb.also make sure to ground your reflectors.
 
Ap0c0leS

Ap0c0leS

Active Member
Maybe someone already said this but tighten the bulb more.. HPS bulbs really need to be screwed in to go
 
llLOU

llLOU

Well-Known Member
Phrasty said:
Guys I need help. I have a 400W switchable ballast and I'm in veg now and the MH bulb is working great... But I want to switch over to flowering this week and my 400W HPS bulb wont light up??? WTF is wrong? Took the bulb back to the store and tested it there... it works fine! I switched the socket (just cuz i had a spare one and i thought it might not be making the connection)... still nothing. I dont think it's the ignitor cuz the MH is working... This SUX!!! :( Please anyone have any suggestions? Help a brother out.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I must be missing something here. Why do you need a switchable ballast if you are running 400w HPS and 400wMH.? I have 400w Lumatek and a 400w Nextgen ballast and I run MH and HPS bulbs with no problem ??? Hope you get it figured out, and probably do by now. Happy flowering.
 
Hairy Bob

Hairy Bob

Well-Known Member
A HPS bulb requires an ignitor, which provides a pulse of over 2500v to strike the arc and then cuts out once the bulb is lit. The MH does not require this, and using an ignitor with it could shorten bulb life and reduce lumen output.
 
ganjman

ganjman

New Member
nephilthy said:
if the shorter wire worked where longer wire didn't souns like you have some sort of voltage drop.
I am not a fan of these switchable ballasts as the capacitor in some of the models is inadequate,and couldlead to problems.
electricity is not something to fuck around this whole post I haven't read anything about discharging the capacitor of it's electricity.
the last thing you want to do is monkeyfuck with a ballast if you don't know what your doinG!
please read up on discharging a capacitor there are pictures of how to do it correctly.having a capacitor discharge on you could be potentially life threatining given size of ballast magentic coil types only.
I would recommend k.i.s.s. theory. keep is simple stupid.run your present ballast for mh
get a new ballast for hps bulb.also make sure to ground your reflectors.
Click to expand...
Good point well made. Electrics ARE dodgy and not something to do yourself if your an amature. I've been shocked with the cap off a disposible camera... yeah... thats bad enough, imagine mains voltage.
 
Phrasty

Phrasty

Well-Known Member
nephilthy said:
if the shorter wire worked where longer wire didn't souns like you have some sort of voltage drop.
I am not a fan of these switchable ballasts as the capacitor in some of the models is inadequate,and couldlead to problems.
electricity is not something to fuck around this whole post I haven't read anything about discharging the capacitor of it's electricity.
the last thing you want to do is monkeyfuck with a ballast if you don't know what your doinG!
please read up on discharging a capacitor there are pictures of how to do it correctly.having a capacitor discharge on you could be potentially life threatining given size of ballast magentic coil types only.
I would recommend k.i.s.s. theory. keep is simple stupid.run your present ballast for mh
get a new ballast for hps bulb.also make sure to ground your reflectors.
Click to expand...
Very good point... If I was not confident enough with my electric DIY skills I would not have attempted this, and I dont suggest others do the same unless you know what you are doing. Bottom line I have been monitoring it and it's working fine now. Thanks guys. Good looking out!

Cheers
 
S

syze

Member
madazz said:
my cusin is a electriction he said 3 and a half mins is fine, u can touch the bulb by then. i only wait 3 - 5 mins and i've NEVER had any problems! been doing it 10 yrs +
Click to expand...
Im writing from what ive researched, just because you still grew bud doesnt mean you couldnt have grown more, i didnt say you lose half your lumens or the bulb lasts only 2 weeks, but it does take its tole, and i guarentee that with your 3 min waiting time that after 2 months or even shorter , you are losing some light. Or do you change your bulbs with every grow? I also didnt say that it would totally diminish your grow. Just stating what it does to a bulb. If its enough to effect the grow, who knows? That probly depends on the manufacturer of the bulb!Inform yourself
 
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