Need an electrician's help

[gdbud]

Light not coming on
I have a small cabinet grow that uses a 400 electronic ballest. Some mornings my light will not come on and I'm trying to find the problem.

When the light timer is off the cabinet draws 1.84 amps.

When the light timer is on and when the light does not come on the amp draw drops to 1.79 amps.

Why would the amps drop when the timer turns on but the light stays off?

My cabinet when running draws a total of 5.07 amps.

 

[fonzee]

1. Plug your ballast to the power supply without the timer.
Wait 15 minutes for the bulb to heat up
Uplug the ballast for the power supply
Wait 15 minutes for the bulb to cool
Repeat 5-10 times to see if the problem persists.
If the lights goes on each time - change your timer.

2. Change a bulb and see if the problem is solved.
Most bulbs work well for 2-4 cycles (Philips bulbs I use for 2 cycles, Sylvania bulbs for 4) and then need replacing.

3. Change your ballast and see if the problem is solved.
Digital ballast are much more prone to defects than analog ballasts. Digis usually last for 3-5 years of use.


Good luck
-Fonzee

 

[GreenGreenie]

1. Plug your ballast to the power supply without the timer.
Wait 15 minutes for the bulb to heat up
Uplug the ballast for the power supply
Wait 15 minutes for the bulb to cool
Repeat 5-10 times to see if the problem persists.
If the lights goes on each time - change your timer.

2. Change a bulb and see if the problem is solved.
Most bulbs work well for 2-4 cycles (Philips bulbs I use for 2 cycles, Sylvania bulbs for 4) and then need replacing.

3. Change your ballast and see if the problem is solved.
Digital ballast are much more prone to defects than analog ballasts. Digis usually last for 3-5 years of use.


Good luck
-Fonzee

Do you change out lamps solely due to spectrum loss?
Is that just an automatic change out every third cycle?
I am a sparky also, and understand the dynamics of HID.
The reason I'm asking is because of the huge cost spread between the cost of replacement lamps.
If I'm going to be tossing them out after two grows I'm thinking of just getting the cheapest possible lamps with acceptable output.
Thanks

 

[fonzee]

Do you change out lamps solely due to spectrum loss?
Is that just an automatic change out every third cycle?
I am a sparky also, and understand the dynamics of HID.
The reason I'm asking is because of the huge cost spread between the cost of replacement lamps.
If I'm going to be tossing them out after two grows I'm thinking of just getting the cheapest possible lamps with acceptable output.
Thanks

The output of the bulb decrease as the bulb running time passes. In some manufactures it is faster than with others.
I use Sylvania GroLux and change every 3-4 cycles. I would not run it further. With a Philips I wouldn't do over 2 cycles.
Don't know about which "huge" cost you are talking about, a bulb runs for about 30 euros, and that's not much compared to the cost of the electricity it uses.
You can check it yourself too with a lux meter, check the light brand new at a certain distance and angle and check again after each cycle and you can choose the threshold yourself, be it 10% loss, 15% loss or how much you want it.

 

[Jhhnn]

A simple variation of fonzee's method is to use a power cord splitter temporarily on the timer output. Plug the ballast into one receptacle, a small incandescent lamp into the other & let it run in the normal cycle. Lets you know if it's the timer or the ballast/lamp.

If the timer is OK but the system is still wonky, try a new lamp, the cheaper of the two remaining suspect components. If that doesn't work, it's likely the ballast.

 

[gdbud]

I came to the conclusion that its a combination of the ballast and bulb.
The MH bulbs needs a started in order for the bub to fire. My electronic ballast when it starts to come on either does not start with enough amps or the time duration is not long enough to start my MH bulb.
My fix: once the light is on leave it on 24/7
manufacturer fix: Buy the same brand bulb as the ballast

 

[exploziv]

Odd. I was under the impression that electronic ballasts have the igniter incorporated already. Must be their way to make you to buy their bulb, otherwise has no sense.
At least you figured it out. But your sure that's the case, do they write something about that in the ballasts manual? maybe the ballast should start your bulb but has some kind of problem that will not provide enaugh juice to start and they just tell you it's because of the bulb?

 

[Jhhnn]

Odd. I was under the impression that electronic ballasts have the igniter incorporated already. Must be their way to make you to buy their bulb, otherwise has no sense.
At least you figured it out. But your sure that's the case, do they write something about that in the ballasts manual? maybe the ballast should start your bulb but has some kind of problem that will not provide enaugh juice to start and they just tell you it's because of the bulb?

Gdbud didn't tell us the whole story about using a MH rather than a HPS lamp. Pulse start vs probe start MH lamps are harder to start & the ballast may not be up to it. Or something. Just leaving the light on won't be a solution for flowering unless he's doing autoflowers.

In any event, he now has the means to troubleshoot effectively when he needs to do it.

 

[GreenGreenie]

The output of the bulb decrease as the bulb running time passes. In some manufactures it is faster than with others.
I use Sylvania GroLux and change every 3-4 cycles. I would not run it further. With a Philips I wouldn't do over 2 cycles.
Don't know about which "huge" cost you are talking about, a bulb runs for about 30 euros, and that's not much compared to the cost of the electricity it uses.
You can check it yourself too with a lux meter, check the light brand new at a certain distance and angle and check again after each cycle and you can choose the threshold yourself, be it 10% loss, 15% loss or how much you want it.

Absolutely agree.
I won a contract to swap out all the street lights at the main local post office parking lots by demonstrating how they are paying full current on fixtures that have lost 90% spectrum vs almost new lamps. Was a nice summer project.
I'm still pretty new to growing, but have seen lamps going for over $100, vs $29, with identical specs.
I just calculated 2.5k burn hours and swapped, using the cheapest 1k lamps with proper spectrum available.
Even during flower I burn a single, bare MH for spectrum placed in the middle of the greenhouse up high.

I like the electronic dimmable ballasts, which I can adjust for heat issues when I don't want to run the AC.