Did my lamp just shit on me?

[TaprootErection]

Ive only used it for one flowering period..last year...fired it up today for 30 secs fine then realized I should clean the bulb so I unplugged, unscrewed then screwed back in when I was done..turned it on and nothing...This has happened to me before but it turned back on in minutes....its almost been 20 minutes now and im starting to chew off the skin around my nails....ill very disapointed if it doesnt turn back on as my warrenty JUST ended and its basically a nice, brand new ballast/bulb...and I will have nothing to flower with. And not a cent in my pocket

Could it have shorted out? There is no on/off switch for the ballast so I was unplugging manually..would it have made a noise if its broken? the ballast is still running, just no light..

 

[TaprootErection]

I just tryed unscrewing the bulb just a tiny bit and it flickered at me for a second...

 

[treble]

^ like JJScropio says it may just be a dirty connnection. When handling your globe/lamp yuo should always use a cloth or wear gloves to handle it..using bare hands can leave oil on the glass which creates a hot spot

other than that they can be difficult to screw into place sometimes.... go carefully though as too much pressure may break your lamp.

Also when it is plugged in an powered up can you hear your ballast ticking about once per second? Thats the ignitor trying to fire up the lamp. If you can't hear that it might be a ballast problem... .then the only way to trouble shoot that is to have a spare lamp or ballast... which few of us do...

I always keep my last lamp for backup...I replace it before it is dead and use it for situations like these or a blowout.... sorry that isn't going to help you...

is your ballasts power leads properly connected? have you tried another socket? have you added anything else electical in your room..... do you have enough amps left on that circuit?

Is the ballast in free air so nothing is obstructing air movement, I know its been off but I had this once before and I thought was overhot...let it cool and presto

I hope its any easy fix for you. Let us know what the fix is... at least you can add to the pool of knowledge
peace
treb

 

[dan K]

If i unplug my lamps i have to wait like 10-15 min. b4 they will fire up. i dunno if they gotta cool down or wat but they never re-light if i try right away i have to wait a bit and they work again every time....scared me the first time it happend tho i hope u have a similar situation and not a fried light.

 

[TaprootErection]

nope, yup everythings how its supposed to be...like I said, it was working just before I decided to clean it. Had it going for about 30 seconds. Accually, you know how the light starts up with a blue color then the yellow fills in after time?...well I turned it off before it could reach its full liminicy (word?)

I just checked to see if the connection was clean and there isnt a single spec of residue or anything...inside of socket looks brand new. Nothing else is on circut...everything is perfect...the only thing I could think of going wrong is somehow screwing up the buffer of current going to the bulb by turning off and on the ballast at random times...if that makes sense.... I dont know anything about electronics to say.

Im gonna give it another shot and if not, im gonna take a huge bus ride across town to this hydro shop and hope they can test out some other bulbs and/or ballasts for me..theyre cool dudes so...even better if they would refund...lugging it in my backpack wont be fun though lol.

Wow this really blows..everything goes wrong for me I tell you! Entire cubensis grow just went to hell. My last/first weed grow was of some really ugly NLxBB that just stretched n stretched and didnt produce what anyone would consider bud..chopped all those...(turns out a few other people got the same seed and had the same probem.)

 

[CheeseNstomata]

dude that is some seriously unlukky sh17

I pulled my plug on around the 3rd day to replace a timer and they wouldn't fire up again for a few mins but did after a while which was a bonus so i stay the feck away now

good luk to ya

 

[Core]

Hps lamps should be allowd to cool off at least 5 or 10 min....otherwise they dont start up again...
and if you do start them to soon they begin poping out and on ....and i can say you that is NOT good for your ballast

ohw and check your connections on the wires

 

[Delta9-THC]

I have had the same problem everyone else has described ....

ANY LUCK YET ...

btw ... sorry to hear about your cubensis / first grow aswell ....

what happened to the mushies ? : O)

Peace

 

[Guest]

This is no help now but always keep spare bulbs and ballasts.I live so far out in the boonies a lampm or ballast will take days to replace.Money cant buy them here.

 

[cadillachydro]

Fuse?

 

[Guest]

I agree with JJ as to what the problem is,but besides making sure the contacte are clean,sometimes the little tab in the screwshell gets bent too far down and the nipple on the lamp wont make contact.Just get a little flathead screwdriver and slightly bend the tab upwards to make sure the nipple makes contact

 

[HeadyPete]

HID lights need to cool for at least 15 minutes before you refire them. If you do not you seriously shorten the life of the bulb (and your ballast). Maybe this is what you have done if you have been refiring without a cool down period. This goes for metal halides as well as HPS. You may have damaged the ignitor.

The sodium in the quartz tube inside the bulb starts as a solid and changes to a vapour when fully lit (the blue to orange you describe) If you kill the power you can not relight the vapour. You must allow it to cool back to a solid before you can relight it. The ignitor stores a large charge of electricity and lets it all out at once to allow electricity to travel the quartz tube and start the process...once it is fired it needs a steady voltage to maintain it.

Metal Halides incorporate the ignitor in the bulb, hence their larger size.

 

[Core]

The arc in an HPS lamp extinguishes each half cycle as the lamp current reverses direction. These cycles occur at a speed that is imperceptible to the human eye. The re-ignition of the arc requires an adequate available sustaining voltage from the ballast. Failure of the arc to re-ignite will result in lamp outage. In the event of lamp outage, the arc tube must cool sufficiently to reduce the vapor pressure to a point at which the arc will restrike. HPS lamps usually restrike in approximately one minute. but its recommended that you at least use 5 min.

Lamp outage can occur if:


There is a power interruption during a major portion of one cycle of the supply voltage. The use of Instant Restrike lamps providing instant relighting is recommended where this is a recurring problem.

Outage can also occur if there is a severe voltage dip lasting one cycle or more. Where this occurs, isolation of the lighting circuit from other circuits is recommended.

If the ballast sustaining voltage is insufficient to re-ignite the lamp, outage will occur. The use of a ballast that meets the ANSI standard for the particular HPS lamp will usually ensure adequate sustaining voltage.
As HPS lamps age, the operating voltage normally increases, making them more susceptible to lamp outage. Performance can be improved by replacing older lamps.

your lamp could be to old...

 

[TaprootErection]

Thanks for all the replys dudes..Alot of info for everyone to see here.

For last resort I tried screwing it in harder even though I was sure I had it in enough before, and ended up popping something in the bulb, making the end loose and wobbly..sorta half broken.....its ALL GOOD now though becuase I took the fixture too a hydro shop for troubleshooting and found that it was the bulb anyway, and not the ballast...phew...got a new one for 25 bucks. Im happy.

Was a close call for me because I found out today that the store I originally bought the fixture from, closed down. Lol, had me sweating. Good thing the guys at this other one were cool enough to help me out. phew.

Still strange, the bulb was working seconds ago, then it just wasnt. Oh well..moral of story is dont turn ballast on and off, even if it didnt even get hot, HID's have too much wattage to be messing with. THanks again for the replys. goodluck with all your grows

 

[HeadyPete]

Yup, that's the way she goes....first it works and then it doesn't.

Glad to hear you are back up and running.

Cheers!