Problem with new ballast or bulb

So I have been setting up my new tent and new light. I bought a 600w lumatek ballast off ebay and a euro reflector and a cord to plug into the ballast from htg supply. I got thier 600w 95000 lumen hps bulb for digital ballasts. Well I have had the light hanging for a good week and I decided to fire it up to see what 95000 lumens looks like. It didnt turn on. So I grabbed my killawatt meter and when I plug it in the ballast does try and fire the bulb. One of the time the bulb fired but failed to fully illuminate. The killawatt meter jumped to 40watts then falls back to around 4w. Problem with the bulb or ballast? This is really the first problem I have encountered with any hid lighting. Thanks in advance for any help. I am going to try again to fire it once more. Then maybe start with ordering a new bulb???

I also have a 400w currently on. So there is that and 2 fans pulling about 30-40w each and an inline fan pulling 120w so I should be able to add the 600w light no problem.

Sounds like the bulb, try to borrow 1 to test it. If it works I'd suggest you buy 2 and always keep 1 spare.

Edit you said you also have a 400w why don't you dim the 600w and test the 400w bulb in it.

auswolf said:

Sounds like the bulb, try to borrow 1 to test it. If it works I'd suggest you buI 2 and always keep 1 spare.

Edit you said you also have a 400w why don't you dim the 600w and test the 400w bulb in it.

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I am likely to get another bulb to try. I started with a 400w setup and have a couple spare bulbs hps and mh that have had zero issues. I havnt tried the 400w bulb on the 600w ballast since it has always been recommended to match a bulb directly to an hid fixture or it will likely not work or could catch fire. I unfortunately dont have easy access to a spare600w bulb since I wanted to test out htg's digital bulb vs getting the more expensive digilux. Sent an email to htg and going to try there house brand hps bulbs. Kind of hope it might be a common problem. I bought this lumatek ballast new from an ebay seller that was recommended onthe site and it really doesnt seem to be the ballast, hope I dont have to follow up with the ballast. It is definitely trying to ignite the bulb.

You're saying its a lumatek ballast, is it dimmable/adjust a watt?
If you can select wattage, just set to 400w and test it with a 400w bulb.
If its adjustable by percent then select 50% and try to strike a 400w bulb.

Lumatek ballasts a very versatile. I run 430w hps bulbs in my 400w ballast
running on superlumens.i also run 400w 250w mh hps bulbs.

auswolf said:

You're saining its a lumatek ballast, is it dimmable/adjust a watt?
If you can select wattage, just set to 400w and test it with a 400w bulb.
If its adjustable by percent then select 50% and try to strike a 400w bulb.

Lumatek ballasts a very versatile. I run 430w hps bulbs in my 400w ballast
running on superlumens.i also run 400w 250w mh hps bulbs.

Click to expand...

Thank you. It was the bulb. Just struck an old 400w hps in the 600w ballast.

Is it safe to run a 400w bulb like this?

Banana444 said:

Is it safe to run a 400w bulb like this?

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If your ballast is a select a watt and is set to 400w you're good to roll.
If your ballast is dimmable by % then 50% would = 300w
75% would = 450w
Yes it would be safe, but I wouldn't drive a 400w bulb with 75% on a dimmable ballast.
And if it is a dimmable 50% will only drive a 400w bulb with 300w of power.

Select a watt ballast work a lot better, select your wattage and use the same wattage bulb.

So if your ballast has 250w, 400w and 600w settings, you're all good to use any of those bulbs.

Thanks again, the ballast I got was a 600w lumatek for 130$ shipped. It has 360w, 400w,600w, and super lumens settings. My 400 watt has 250w 250w superlumens 400w and 400w super lumens. I wonder if I try and strike it on super lumens.

i'm personally not a fan of that super lumen setting and never use on my chumpy..
but imo, it just seems that it'd push the bulbs too hard, and burn them out prematurely, and pretty much noting pisses me off more than blown bulbs..

I've had mix results with superlumens, at the moment I'm using superlumens with
430w bulbs and its a perfect match, ballast is pulling 450w from the wall.

I tried superlumens with 400w growlush bulbs and cooked em on the first day.
I will try growlush bulbs again and burn them in at 400w for a day, then try hitting em
with superlumens, but that won't be for awhile since my 430's are new.

I see you guys are wondering about super lumens on LUMATEKS.

I fucking love LUMATEKS and I've spoken with a rep at my hydro shop.

The super lumen feature (from the rep) is for use when your bulb is on, for example, flower run number 3.

Switch it to super lumens to grab a small % back from lamp diminishing over time.

NOT FOR USE ON NEW LAMPS.



J

I just got an email back from htg, they are replacing the bulb at no cost to me. So thank god it was not my new ballast