Do digital ballast age and become inefficient?

[JOJO420]

Im feeling that my lights are just not as bright as they once were. I have brand new out of the box, HPS Eye Hortiluxes, and they just seem dimmer... Like the room is not as bright as it can be or something??
Plus the growth I'm getting is the same or similar as under my flouro's??
Is it me? Has anyone had a ballast fade with age?
These are about 2 yrs old and have been in almost constant use for at least 3/4 of that time. I'm also wondering if a ballast can somehow be checked to make sure I'm not crazy

 

[standsideways]

ill let someone more educated chyme in, but i think youd need a PAR meter or a candle/lux meter.. measure how much light the bulb puts out and then reference what the bulb manufacturer says it should put out.

like i said, someone more educated on the subject will have to chyme in.

 

[JOJO420]

Good idea, we found an app for our smartphone that does just this

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Too bad it's not a mag... you would just change the capacitor and be on your full-lighting way.

Good question though...

Stay Safe!

 

[Mr.Fastcast]

Too bad it's not a mag... you would just change the capacitor and be on your full-lighting way.

The ignitor needs to be changed also.

 

[mack 10]

Whats the App do? mesure the light? mack.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

The ignitor needs to be changed also.

The time to change the ignitor is when it takes longer than a second to 'fire up'... other than that I wouldn't worry about it.

Stay Safe!

 

[dragunn]

you using new bulbs? the same brand of bulb?

 

[JOJO420]

Whats the App do? mesure the light? mack.

We looked it up on google. Look for candlewatts per square ft app. we run android.

The time to change the ignitor is when it takes longer than a second to 'fire up'... other than that I wouldn't worry about it.

Ok it does take a minute to fire up.... But this is a cheapy digital ballast, not a mag..

you using new bulbs? the same brand of bulb?

Yes, brand new bulbs, same brand. Da thing is, I have 2 OLD ballasts and 2 bulbs,1 old 1 new they both look equally as bright/dim. This leads me to believe its the ballasts or my mind is just fucking with me

 

[JOJO420]

Guy at the local hydro store told my homie to check the output end of the ballast with a meter. If it says its cranking 400w to the bulb, then I'm good.
What king of tool would I use to do that without killing myself?

 

[Ohmless]

We looked it up on google. Look for candlewatts per square ft app. we run android.

Ok it does take a minute to fire up.... But this is a cheapy digital ballast, not a mag..

Yes, brand new bulbs, same brand. Da thing is, I have 2 OLD ballasts and 2 bulbs,1 old 1 new they both look equally as bright/dim. This leads me to believe its the ballasts or my mind is just fucking with me

I didn't see the candlewatts one, but I found one simply named light meter in the google play store for android. measures in lux

 

[JOJO420]

Ohmless, that must be the one. Are you gonna try it?

As to the tool, Its a voltorometer.. the one to test ballasts on the lamp end.

 

[rives]

You can pick up a Kill-a-Watt at Home Depot to see how much wattage it is pulling. I think they run about $25-30, or at least that is what they cost when I bought mine. I've always kind of liked the idea of measuring and recording the specs on new gear to see if it falls off over time - as long as you use the same light meter, it wouldn't matter if you were measuring lux, lumens, or whatever.