Problem with my 430 watt hps Son Agro light bulb.

I have a floralux 400 watt hps lamp. It has the old 400 watt bulb in it that it had in it when I bought it off ebay. He said the light had about 1/2 life left but I know it's bs and I need a new bulb. This one works but it's just old. So I bought a 430 watt Son Agro bulb and it didn't work so I sent it back and got a replacement of the same kind. This bulb does the same thing. I can see the blue streak of electricity going through the inner tube but the lamp is not firing off. Could this be an indication that I need to replace a piece on this lamp? I know there is some type of igniter in these things but I'm not very good with electricity. I hope somebody knows a little about these lamps and can help. Thanks in advance.

Try the old bulb out and if it still dosent work than maybe its a problem with your ballast box .

you are getting pulse so i suspect the ignitor is going bad or maybe the compacitor unless its a digital

i have a 400w Hps and it only works when i plug it directly into the wall. i tried plugging it into an electricity divider (5 outlets) so i could plug a fun in as well and it did that pulse thing. is it that perhaps?

the old bulb works, it is an old 400 watt bulb. I suspect the igniter but I hope it isnt the ballast. That would suck. Im going to order the igniter, its only $20 so we will see i guess. Thanks for the help.

Toking Tide said:

the old bulb works, it is an old 400 watt bulb. I suspect the igniter but I hope it isnt the ballast. That would suck. Im going to order the igniter, its only $20 so we will see i guess. Thanks for the help.

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if you put the old bulb in and it fires up just fine, then it's not the igniter, that means the ballast is working properly..are you sure the son agro can work with your ballast? what size capacitor is in your 400 watt ballast? because I have a 430 system and 2 400 watt and I know they use completely different capacitors . A 430 watt uses a 48uf capacitor and a L1501 igniter, also there are other things to take into account to, always make sure the bulb you buy is completely compatible with your ballast, buy a bulb that has similar specs to the one that fires up in it.....

i have been told that the 430 watt bulb would work in a 400 watt lamp. The lamp is a floralux so I believe they are higher quality but I could be wrong. If you suspect the capacitor do you think I could put in a 48uf?

I have a 400 watt ballast, and I am using a 430 watt son agro bulb. This bulb usually takes 5-10 minutes to reach full ingnition. Check your power settings on your balast.. some balasts use 240 volts, and some use 120 volts. Mine only works when I set it to 120 (my ballast is switchable from MH to HPS and from 120 V to 240 V). Sun Systems 400 watt type S51 is my ballast type.

Maybe your type of ballast dosn't support this much extra wattage..? Check with the manufacturer of your ballast and ask them if this bulb type is supported. This is wall I can suggest for now Toking Tide.

i think 000420 might be on to something.... i have a 400 ballast and a 430 both from diamond lights and the guts are different

do you know what the original cap is? Chances are its ok. It would be with a tv. I work on them.