lumatek misfiring

[FAT MAT]

well i just died when i saw total darkness in my cabinet again. there must be something with the wires. i have a new set that im going to plug up and now once again ill have to see what happens. im slowly getting disappointed here. i hate to get this far and have the flower cycle messed up like this with these intermitting eclipses. well here i go to change the cords. and by the way nondual that is an impressive pic you have there....

 

[Guest]

by the way nondual that is an impressive pic you have there

Thanx man but bummed you got this electrical issue goin on

 

[FAT MAT]

my next question is, if my bulb is the problem, will the ballast shut itself off? when the issues happen the ballast cools off and im wondering is there some kind of break in the circut if the bulb is the problem. i mean will it shut the whole system down?

 

[Guayaki]

I dont think it would but im not really sure. I just recieved my 600 watt lumatek in the mail today but still searching for a bulb out there that will work for them. Might go with the GE's like dual is using. Are you still having problems with your ballast Mat? Hope everything got squared away for ya!

 

[Texas Kid]

Any power fluctuation will shut a digi down completely, it is a protective curcuit built in to keep it from frying itself..

Tex

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

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?

ive been running galaxies for 2-3 years...no problems.

the green ones
they work well.
my hydro guy keeps pushing lumateks on me, i keep telling him "no", he tells me he has nothing but problems with galaxies.... my 3 are awsome units. i live going from 120v to 240v with just a change fo cord.

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

scientificly it sounds soild, but in real life its bogus.



same 3 bulbs ive had since i got the ballasts 2-3 years ago....
sunmaster 600W hps->mh conversion and 1 hps hortilux, although ive got 3, none had issues.

it seams to be my Sylvia bulb and my C&C/mag 1k ballast that has the most problems. had it serviced twice for not firing.

all this stuff is made in china though so EVERYONE is 'at-odds' with LUCK chinese made stuff sucks IMHO. wash your hands the cords sometimes are cladded with lead.

 

[FAT MAT]

well i found that the problem was the bulb. the lumatek worked fine i guess. it was a little melted when i opened it up to have a look but maybe thats just the way it was from the protectant being put on. space has become a problem as the plants grew very quickly while under the flouros. ill try to get some pics up soon.