HPS light problems

hiway

New Member
hello i have a problem with my 600 watt electronic ballast grow light. it seams that when the timer clicks to on the light dos not start .but when i manually turn the timer off and then back on the light starts . the ballast is about 3 years old . I hope someone can tell me where to start looking for the problem. is it the bulb or the ballast?
 
It definitely could be your bulb. Esp if it's as old as the ballast.
 
I'd suspect the timer first though and replace that to be sure- because I don't see how an old bulb would cause what you're describing (?) So if you spin the timer wheel through it's cycle into the 'on' time- go past the start point by an hour or so to be sure- the light doesn't come on, after a little warmup? Keep in mind that it needs time to get restarted again if it's been on and running. Up to ten minutes sometimes.
If it's a ballast problem with firing up- you could at least run it 24 hours for veg/or for auto strains. If you get a new bulb and timer they won't be wasted if you have to replace/fix the ballast
 
I see it happen to metal halides all the time. With the really old MH's I have to flip the ballast from MH to HPS and then back to get the light to turn on. I usually don't let my hps's get to that stage, but if it was the starter, it wouldn't turn on at all. And i would think the same thing about the timer too. If it was a short in the timer, it wouldn't be so easy to just flip it off then back on for it to work. I guess it could be something mechanical with the timer (like if it's not clicking on when it's supposed to for some reason).
 
I hope that was sarcasm WC! :Namaste:

I wasn't trying to prove anyone wrong. Just my thoughts on the topic. I realized my original response was pretty vague so I figured I would clarify what I meant. It could definitely be any of the three things. Since I can't physically look at what's going on, I could absolutely be wrong.

It's looking alot like ski season outside today! I'm in the best mood!
 
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