*** IMPORTANT *** ballast blows out 2 bulbs in one day? help!

[chranotik]

Okay now this has me saying wtf? I had just gotten my agrosun red 600w self-reflected bulb running on my brand new 600w lumatek 120v ballast for only a week before i started having problems. The first sign i had was the bulb shut off by itself, i went in there and it was pitch dark. So i turned it off and waited 15 mins and started it back up, and it fired up no problem. So i was thinking maybe a slight power surge might have triggered the circuit breaker inside the ballast to reset it since i didn't have it plugged into a power strip. So i put in a grounded power strip and plugged it in, and about a week later i go up into the room and it was pretty dim, like the bulb was only shining half as much at it usually does. So i tried to reset it again, and this time it just blew it. Luckily i had a back up bulb of the same kind and i turned off the power strip and screwed the bulb in and waited 2-3 minutes and fired that one up. 30 minutes later that bulb was also blown, but in a different spot inside the bulb than the other one. So that's 200$ gone in one night and it left me saying what the fuck? I'm clueless here, can anyone give me some advice? Maybe this ballast is bad?

 

[CaptainKirk]

Hi Chranotic - I'm not an expert but it seems to me that of you put two bulbs in the same brand new system, the ballast has got to be bad. Good luck.

 

[Weedman Herb]

The Lumateks go either way right (HPS and MH)? Maybe you have it on the wrong setting?

 

[chranotik]

There is no setting you just screw the bulb in, and yes they use both MH/HPS. I'm trying to call lumatek to speak to them but i don't think they're open yet, or if they're even open on the weekend.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

This may not answer your question directly, but it is a handy little guide to have for reference. Hope this helps a bit.

Advance Transformer’s HID Troubleshooting Guide
http://www.advancetransformer.com/uploads/resources/hid-troubleshooting-guide.pdf

Namaste, mess

 

[SweetNightmare]

600's won't run both I'm pretty sure... can't remember if there was a problem with the agrosun bulbs... you should do a search... I use hortilux eye super hps as do most of the other people running that ballast.

 

[Skipload]

In Lumetek's history the ballast used to set off the breakers when it was going to allow surging. The newer ones usually blow bulbs instead of snapping the breaker. My theory behind this is, the company is trying to find a balance in digital tech to slow down the massive exchanging they are having to deal with on their 5 year warranty policy. Ive gone through 9+ lumateks. The good ones are great but every now and then you get yours. If it makes it past 3 harvests it should live out its warranty period.

 

[Skipload]

Its common, your hydro guy should swap it out over the counter.

 

[confedrate69]

most digitals run at extermily high ferqs 20,000 hrtz. went through a few brands before we found the sunmasters that run well. as far as mh/hps on a digital im 99% shure that there are only mh conversion bulbs aval and digitals are supposed to auto change for voltage but will implode if the input volts drop below a certian point. had a ground fault that was dragging line volts down to 95vac an a digi imploded

 

[THRIPS AHOY!]

Check the mogul is the connection inside good.You may have a gap there and its arcing.This happened to me recenlty,i was following my buudyy into the room and he pulled the bulb with him and then let it swing into my forehead cracking the bulb.So i asked him to put a new one in and he didnt screw it in well enough so the connection was bunk and it arced and blew the bulb instantly. I put another one in,screwed it tight,no problems.

 

[growshopfrank]

I don't want to state the obvious, but it could be a bad set/batch of lamps, contact the dealer/supplier and see if he's had a lot of returns of that lamp. There shouldn't be any warranty issues on the lamps or the ballast return. Good Luck.