ballast hell

[down7ime]

Hey Guys,

Well i got home yesterday all excited because my 2nd grow tent and ballast arrived. Been vegging some beauties for far too long so last night was my chance to prep things for the switch. So i setup my 400w hps ballast (with MH conversion bulb) in my brand new veg tent, and a brand new 600w hps ballast/bulb in my flower room. So i fire up the 600w to test, works perfectly, great i think to myself, i should be able to start the 12/12 when i get back home tomorrow. Go over to the veg tent, smells pretty bad like plastic, so i pull out all the plants and let them sleep in the flower tent for now. Fire up the 400w conversion bulb and switch on the air exhaust to vent the tent over night. Wake up the next morning, power off everything and head off to work.

So today i finally make it home after work, all my plants are quietly asleep, i decide to get the veg room ready for its new cycle, i switch on the ballast, tick tick tick... looking at the lamp there is a tiny flash which i assume is the MH in bulb igniter, damn, piece of crap wont start. Grab my spare 400W HPS lamp and throw it in to test, tick tick tick.. WTF, pull apart all the leads, bend contacts to make sure everything is making contact properly, check the fuse is fine, check contact with lamp and holder, re-connect all cables making sure everything is seated properly, and try again... tick tick tick... AAGRRGRRRHHHHH!!!

So i give up, figure my 400w ballast is dead, ah.. as the dude would put it.. fuck it.. ill take it over to a hydro store to test out, thro everything in the flower tent until then and keep it on a 18hr light schedule, all good.

So there i am, throw all my babies into the flower room, re-adjust my timer and go to power on the new 600w ballast, tick tick tick..... U HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!! FUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!! go through the same checklist as with the 400w except i dont have a spare 600 watter lamp...

Now here i am with a flower room powered by 56Ws of fluro heaven on an 18 hour cycle, happy days... i swear im about to pack it in, first grow, havent smoked in at least three months, my longest break for a good 10 years.. and just when things start to get interesting, this shit happens.

seriously man... what the fuck!

How is it possible that both of my ballasts die over night? these are new magnetic ballasts, i placed them side by side together, on top of a computer (off) case, this wouldnt have anything to do with it, would it?

 

[plantsman]

That sucks man, I got no advice on the technical side of things but I will say this...:
I had so many problems with this, my first grow, that I nearly gave up many times. I could bore you with the details but lets just say everything except bugs (touch wood) I've had troubles with.
But NOW I've got a perpetual crop wacking out some lovely, frosty, dense, dank stinky and sticky buds every week.
So KEEP THE FAITH man, it is worth it if you love to smoke.
Hope your day improves fella

 

[FreezerBoy]

How long is the cord between ballast and lamp? Too long a run may be more than the ignitors can reach.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

This is a historical moment!...I never heard of anybody killing a UL rated magnetic ballast...until now?...two?..no less...

 

[down7ime]

thanks plantsman, hopefully ill have better luck with the next one

freezerboy, cheers for the advice, i have plugged both ballasts directly into various power point without any type of extension or adaptor. Interestingly enough i have a power meter which tells me how many amps, volts and watts are being used, when i test both ballasts they reach 240volts, 3.9?amps and only 1 - 4 watts, if i unplug the lamp/bulb it gives me the same reading. Maybe i somehow managed to kill the lamps/bulbs and the ballasts are fine... but all three (MH/HPS 400w and HPS 600w) in the space of 30 mins, i dont know what to think

Sarcasm noted pinball, i take it you think the bulbs or person are to blame, i hope your right

 

[Pinball Wizard]

was those magnetic ballasts UL rated?

 

[down7ime]

tbh i have no idea what that means, google is being vague, looks like its some kind of standard/certification, no idea if they are

 

[Bush Dr]

If the ignitors fire then the transformers are the trouble

How close were the 2 ....... big magnetic field from them and it sounds like they've got out of phase and damaged the windings

 

[Bush Dr]

tbh i have no idea what that means, google is being vague, looks like its some kind of standard/certification, no idea if they are

What brand name?

 

[down7ime]

If the ignitors fire then the transformers are the trouble

How close were the 2 ....... big magnetic field from them and it sounds like they've got out of phase and damaged the windings

yep, pretty sure thats it, they would of been about 2 inches apart side by side, damn

brand is growlush, aussie supplier

 

[PharmaCan]

UL ~ Underwriters Laboratories ~ is an organization that tests products for safety and basic efficacy of operation. If a product is UL tested & rated it will usually have a little sticker on it somewhere that says "UL Tested/Approved". UL doesn't endorse or guarantee products, they just don't give their approval to pieces of shit.

PC

 

[down7ime]

If the ignitors fire then the transformers are the trouble

How close were the 2 ....... big magnetic field from them and it sounds like they've got out of phase and damaged the windings

I imagine this is unrepairable?

 

[shaunmulok]

is that the black ballast

 

[Bush Dr]

"I imagine this is unrepairable?"

Not worth it .....were these in white metal casings

 

[Bush Dr]

Black ones are Maxibright in the UK

In the 1st post you mention seeing a spark each 'click', so the ignitors are working the ballast is not kicking in to provide the running current

 

[PharmaCan]

This is yamaha1fan's ballast board. I think those are all 1,000 watt ballasts and that they have all been working fine for quite some time. I kinda doubt that proximity was your problem.

PC

 

[Haps]

IS the power switchable and set to the right wattage? If they are switchable I would reset them and try again, can't hurt. Two at once means you have an issue to figure out, not just random failure.
H

 

[vancityj]

Is the ballast wired to the correct voltage for your wall-socket/s? Are the other connections correct? Do you have solid connections inside the lamp-sockets?

 

[down7ime]

is that the black ballast

the 400 has a green cover and the 600 has a dark grey/blackish cover, both are hps, here is a pic of what the 600w looks like

Here are the specs according to the website, they look like solid units, i must have done something to cause this, just too co-incidental that both crapped out at the same time, i did place them together on a computer case which was on its side since my house is all wood and wanted to place them on something metal incase of explosion/fire, not that its likely.. So this is why i was thinking the ballast proximately is plausable.. is this very unlikely? anyone came across this potential issue?


Part No': HPS400WBOXGLDescription: HPS 400 Watt Control UnitPowder Coated Metal Enclosure with Louvers
Low Loss Ballasts
Thermal protection fitted to Ballast
Long Distance Ignitor
Metal Can Capacitors used to avoid possible explosion at the end of capacitors life
External Fuse Protection
Silent Run
Colorful and protective packaging
Fully approved equipment
Australian C-Tick approval N3499Available in 240 volt and 110 Volt Configurations

Part No': HPS600WBOXGLDescription: HPS 600 Watt Control Unit Powder Coated Metal Enclosure with Louvers
Low Loss Ballasts
Thermal protection fitted to Ballast
Long Distance Ignitor
Metal Can Capacitors used to avoid possible explosion at the end of capacitors life
External Fuse Protection
Silent Run
Colorful and protective packaging
Fully approved equipment
Australian C-Tick approval N3499 Available in 240 volt and 110 Volt Configurations

 

[down7ime]

Black ones are Maxibright in the UK

In the 1st post you mention seeing a spark each 'click', so the ignitors are working the ballast is not kicking in to provide the running current

Sorry Bush, just to clarify that spark was in relation to the igniter in my MH lamp/bulb, i dont get any spark from the ballast, just a ticking noise.

But i think you are right about the igniter, HPS and MH bulbs both dont light up, if it was the igniter then the MH bulb should work sinces its integrated with the lamp, that is my understanding anyway, i know very little on the subject.

Btw with the running current as mentioned earlier i have an adaptor that displays current amp/watt/volt usage.

I can confirm the following, the 600w ballast when trying to fire the lamp runs uses the following

~240 volts
~3.95 amp
1-5 watts

Readings are exactly the same with the lamp connected or disconnected.