lumatek misfiring

[FAT MAT]

i have a 600w lumatek ballast and i just watched it go out after about 10 minutes on. i checked all the plugs for tight fits and all is well. i checked the fuse and again all is well. i replugged and after a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, it happened again. i just went to 12 and 12 for the time. i wouldnt think that would be an issue. this is my first time with a true in door grow. i have used flouro in the past to get an early start for spring outdoors. does anyone have any advise or similar issues reguarding the 600w lumatek?

 

[JollyGreen]

Try rewiring the socket to these colors blue>black and red>white. Has there been any flicking from the light bulb? Your socket could have been wired wrong.

 

[PharmaCan]

I had something similar happen with a new Lumatek 600w a few weeks ago. It blew the fuse so I took it back to the store and had them exchange it for a different one.

PC

 

[HEADDS]

So whats the deal with these things are they garbage or what? Supposedly the 1000 watters are even worse than the 600's. I was about to order 2 600's but I'm not sure anymore... whats another good electronic ballast?

 

[toofat]

So whats the deal with these things are they garbage or what? Supposedly the 1000 watters are even worse than the 600's. I was about to order 2 600's but I'm not sure anymore... whats another good electronic ballast?

I have been running 4 600 watters(Lumatek) for over a year with no problems.

 

[lawnboy123]

Seems like it's just luck of the draw from what I have seen/heard. Just do your homework on these things, they can either turn out to be a great investment or just really piss you off. I've used my 1000W Sun SYstem 6 Conversion for a good 2 years now and have not had any problems, the New Wave T5's (fluorescent) are good too. I would take it back and let them deal with it. The last thing you would want is to rewire it and then end up taking it back anyways and have them tell you because you tampered with it there is nothing they can do. Good Luck!

 

[FAT MAT]

ok well i have contacted the place i got the 600 watt and they are going to replace it for free. its just stressful when i just cut clones and they are now sitting in the spare room with sun light in stead of my flouros. i had to put the flouros in the closet to keep the 12 hour schedule. i just changed to the 12 and 12 when the ballast kicked the bucket. i definitly wouldnt say the lumatek ballasts are crap. i think its like lawnboy said, just bad luck on my part.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

It seems like alot of people have problems with them. Maybe they arent crap but then there sure are alot of unlucky people out there.

 

[FAT MAT]

yeah. im going to give it one more shot with the replacement ballast. i mean i opened it up and checked it and it was melted a little on the inside. i will probably put a fan on this one and try to have it free floating. i was even thinking about building a box and putting an exhaust on it. im not sure yet. i should be getting the replacemne tomorrow so i have a day to figure it out.

 

[Texas Kid]

if it is a brand new one the possible problem is in the power cord...the copper reciever tynes are making intermitten contact with the plug interface. If you bend those little tabs out a little on the ballast end of the power socket, this makes them stay in constant contact with the reciving end on the power cord plugs.....I just had it happen on a few and that is waht was wrong...if you go get another brand new one you might have the exact same problem, especially if your retailer is pulling from recently recieved inventory..

Relatively simple fix but it is a pain in the ass..

Tex

 

[FAT MAT]

hmmmm. i didnt think of that at all. i did unplug and check all the conections but i didnt think to bend the tabs out for better contact. i will definitly keep that in mind when i recieve the new one. your right though it is a pain in the ass to have to trouble shoot a new ballast.

 

[SmokeyTheDuck]

What bulb are you using? Lumatek ballasts require high quality bulbs. I have 4 600W Lumateks (the new purple ones, bought a month ago). I tried Phillips and a couple other inexpensive off-brand bulbs. Sometimes they would ignite, sometimes they wouldn't. The guys at my local hydro store and I did some experiments with bulbs and found the higher quality bulbs worked flawlessly while cheap bulbs caused problems. I use EYE Hortilux bulbs exclusively now and I'm very happy.

It is worth noting that my Digital Greenhouse 600w ballast will run any bulb without complaining. I will still buy off-brand ballasts to run MH bulbs; I will only by Lumatek to run dedicated HPS lights.

 

[Texas Kid]

Eye Hortilux bulbs are not rated for digital/electronic ballast either but they do cost more. None of the big three(GE, Sylvania, and Philips) make bulbs that are specifically rated for digital ballast.

Sun Pulse E-Lamps are about the only ones that are available that were specifically designed to operate at the correct frequency for digital or electronic ballast.

Love the Global Greenhouse ballast as well STD the intellivolt circut deal is pretty cool....hehe STD..that makes me giggle...

Tex

 

[Guest]

Sun Pulse E-Lamps are about the only ones that are available that were specifically designed to operate at the correct frequency for digital or electronic ballast.

Cool, I'll check those bulbs out...I used GE Lucolux and are pretty low end quality by some people's standards. They worked frikkin fantastic. I logged about 6,500 hours with GE's and never had a problem. Yield and quality were fantastic. Since they're significantly cheaper than Hortilux, I got the GE's for about $65, I just stuck with the GE's. I really like the Lumatek 600's, mine were the old blue version without the fuse and never had a problem, if you wanna use GE for flower, and only MH I found that works well is the Solarmax, then I recommend people buy a Lumatek. I was told a few years back that Lumateks were initially designed to burn GE bulbs (European Arc II standards supposedly). Anyway...the GE's rock.

 

[Texas Kid]

From what I understand on the bulbs, the standard bulbs that are traditionally run in coil on coil magnetic ballast are designed for a completely different and much lower firing and operating frequency.

When you run the super high firing as well as high running frequency of digital/electronic at the bulb they go into a super high frequency resenant vibration which in essence shakes the bulb, filiment, and base apart from the inside(I have actually seen this happen up close and personal). Digi's fire from 22,000 to 35,000hz and standard old school bulbs are not able to handle the jolt repeatably in service.

None of the major players will GUARRANTEE their bulbs to work effectivley in digital/electronic ballast....the guarrantee part seems to be the one they stay away from...call'm

Tex

 

[Guest]

When you run the super high firing as well as high running frequency of digital/electronic at the bulb they go into a super high frequency resenant vibration which in essence shakes the bulb, filiment, and base apart from the inside(I have actually seen this happen up close and personal). Digi's fire from 22,000 to 35,000hz and standard old school bulbs are not able to handle the jolt repeatably in service.

That makes sense man. When I bought the Lumis almost 2 years ago I was told GE Lucalox or Sylvania Grolux. Fortunately my first choice was the GE's and had 6 ballasts and changed bulbs every 3-4 months. Not one bulb even came close to hiccuping. Yield and quality was consistently better than other friends running the same strain and nute program. Only dif was I ran 600 Lumis with GE's and they ran all kinds of other stuff in coils. I tried a few Grolux and almost immediately they started kicking out a high pitched whine which became worse as they burned. Within a few days I yanked em and put em in the coils I had left and they were fine. I tried a Sunmaster 600 MH based on BG Hydros recommendation and no whine but visually flickered....badly.

600 Lumateks with GE Lucalox bulbs simply rock. The Solarmax MH only had a few weeks of burn time in veg but very happy with it. I had a friend buy a newer version of the 600 Lumi, put in a GE bulb and right next to a 1000 coil with a Hortilux and watt for watt the 600 put the 1000 to shame.

EDIT...oh yeah...wouldn't touch a 1000 Lumi with a 10' pole.

 

[Texas Kid]

I use the Lucolux and Cermalux bulbs as well but we go through alot of them so it is hard for me to say which is better...we run bulbs for two flips, three at the most and then change them out.

Tex

 

[Guest]

and changed bulbs every 3-4 months

LOL...what a frikkin stoner. I read and type too fast. Bulbs were changed every 4-6 months, 2-3 cycles...doh! I did run em 3 cycles the first go round and the third was the best and attribute that most to getting the setup dialed in but still impressed as the third cycle yielded just a hair under a lb per 600 in an open system.

So I'm with ya Kid...2 flips and 3 at most . I was impressed with the performance on the third round though.

 

[FAT MAT]

im running a hortilux 600 bulb. im sure it is not the best bulb but i will have to see how the yield is when all is said and done. i have the new ballast plugged in and im sure it is not what it was when i first put the closet together. i have temps of the mid to high 80s before all the troubles. the temps are mid 70s to low 80 now. good for the fact that im not struggling with temps but i think i may have some how lost lumens also. the closet is nice and bright but it definitly feels different. i guess ill just have to see how things work out.

 

[Guest]

If the Horti is firing fine then all should be good. I loved my GE's though. Here's what I got...