Help solve a problem timer / ballast or bulb?

[Fruitilicious]

Any advice on my scenario guys trying to pinpoint whats wrong, so last week i got a new "heavy duty" timer as the cheap b n q one i had was running fast, like 10 mins a day, so lost a couple of hours over the week. any way its only running my 250w hps thru digi ballast but i fort i would get one of these heavy duty ones just incase. any way all seemed fine for a week then...

so its meant to start at 5pm, i came in to check at 8pm and the room was dark... the timer was in rite position at 8pm, i unpluged the ballast, and pluged back into timer and it fired up straight away. it was fine for another week. then when i came in at 7pm tonight it was dark again, again unpluged, pluged back in and it came on straight away.

So does the problem lye with the timer? im thinking this as i never had this problem before. it is a Lumii heavy duty timer and contactor baught from ebay...

or is it a coincidence and it the ballast? it is a maxibright digilight 250w. i have had it once before when testing it when i plugged it into the wall and it didnt ignite, i unplugged it and plugged it back in again and it fired. it says in the manual, if it doesnt fire first time, itll try again every minute for 5 minutes, maybe this doesnt work through a timer tho?

Or could it be the bulb? the bulb has only been used for around 30days of 12/12 but has been in storage from new for about 2 years.

Any help would be great, i dont know if u should be messaging the guy who sold me the timer for a replacement?

thanks!

 

[wantaknow]

this was in a thread a weeopr two ago,it turns out to be the bulb ,hope this helps ,cheaper to buy a different brand timer first

 

[growshopfrank]

I would say that the timer is bad
FWIW lamp life is hours of use storage time isn't an issue

 

[Fruitilicious]

thanks, i bought a new heavy duty timer as i can use the current one in my veg chamber any way, if that doesnt solve problem, il try a new bulb. if not.... guess that leaves the ballast

 

[gmanwho]

most likely the bulb, had brand new bulbs not work right out of package. usually when a digital ballast goes it doesnt work at all, all or nothing.

b-safe

 

[Jhhnn]

From your description, it's probably not the timer. You need an inexpensive meter to test it, or just a lamp. If the light should be on but it's not, unplug the ballast, test the voltage at the timer plug. If there's power, the next easiest thing to check is the bulb, because they're cheap- try another.

I keep spares of everything other than reflectors. Craigslist is your friend.

 

[Fruitilicious]

yup your rite, its not the timer! set new one up last nite, come back from work today, and the light is off again.... unplug it, and plug back into timer and it lights up right away..... very strange, will pick up a new bulb tomorrow.

 

[gmanwho]

You should be all set with a new bulb. go over an check all wire nuts or connections, sometimes a poor connection can not supply enough voltage to the bulb. When the internal metal ( sodium ) Burns off from use the light fails .

heres a quick cut an paste to explain better then i would.

At the end of life, high-pressure sodium lamps exhibit a phenomenon known as cycling, which is caused by a loss of sodium in the arc. Sodium is a highly reactive element and is easily lost by reacting with the arc tube, made of aluminum oxide. The products are sodium oxide and aluminum:

6 Na + Al2O3 → 3 Na2O + 2 Al

As a result, these lamps can be started at a relatively low voltage, but, as they heat up during operation, the internal gas pressure within the arc tube rises, and more and more voltage is required to maintain the arc discharge. As a lamp gets older, the maintaining voltage for the arc eventually rises to exceed the maximum voltage output by the electrical ballast. As the lamp heats to this point, the arc fails, and the lamp goes out. Eventually, with the arc extinguished, the lamp cools down again, the gas pressure in the arc tube is reduced, and the ballast can once again cause the arc to strike. The effect of this is that the lamp glows for a while and then goes out, typically starting at a pure or bluish white then moving to a red-orange before going out.


b-safe

 

[Fruitilicious]

yes im going to try a new bulb next, the thing descirbed above isnt the problem, it just doesnt start sometimes, unless i unplug it and plug back in which makes me think it could possibly be the ballast? it is a digi ballast if that makes a difference,

Basically, the timer is on 12/12. when its on its fine untill the timer turns it off, then when it comes to turn on again 12 hours later, sometimes it just doesnt fire up at all, then it will sit in complete darkness for 12 hours untill the next day when it will try again. if i ever check room and its off, i simply unplug balast from timer and plug back in straight away, it and fires up straight away, its like the ballast is maybe holding a charge that tricks it into thinking its already lit? i have no idea to be honest, im buying a new bulb tomorrow and if that dont work i guess it has to be the ballast!

 

[gmanwho]

yes im going to try a new bulb next, the thing descirbed above isnt the problem, it just doesnt start sometimes, unless i unplug it and plug back in which makes me think it could possibly be the ballast? it is a digi ballast if that makes a difference,

Basically, the timer is on 12/12. when its on its fine untill the timer turns it off, then when it comes to turn on again 12 hours later, sometimes it just doesnt fire up at all, then it will sit in complete darkness for 12 hours untill the next day when it will try again. if i ever check room and its off, i simply unplug balast from timer and plug back in straight away, it and fires up straight away, its like the ballast is maybe holding a charge that tricks it into thinking its already lit? i have no idea to be honest, im buying a new bulb tomorrow and if that dont work i guess it has to be the ballast!

buy a bulb an try it..... if you gonna keep growing you are gonna need it eventually anyways. b-safe

 

[Fruitilicious]

ok, so last night before my lights came on, i unplugged the ballast and un screwed bulb, and re done everything tight, and waited and watched, the light came on straight away as timer came on, so i fort great maybe it was just a dodgy connection, any way. got a new bulb today, come home from work, to find the grow room in complete darkness again.... so unpluged, and put in new bulb, plugged back in and nothing........ so unpluged again, went back to ballast and fidlled with the wires, plugged back in and it fired.

SO conclusion is im pretty sure its some dodgy problem with the ballast, annoying thing its its pretty much brand new, only been used for 37 days 12/12 now, trouble is i bought it about 2 years ago and its been in storage so cant exactly take back for a refund!

Any tech people know if the ballast is repairable or should i just buy a new one?

 

[gmanwho]

ok, so last night before my lights came on, i unplugged the ballast and un screwed bulb, and re done everything tight, and waited and watched, the light came on straight away as timer came on, so i fort great maybe it was just a dodgy connection, any way. got a new bulb today, come home from work, to find the grow room in complete darkness again.... so unpluged, and put in new bulb, plugged back in and nothing........ so unpluged again, went back to ballast and fidlled with the wires, plugged back in and it fired.

SO conclusion is im pretty sure its some dodgy problem with the ballast, annoying thing its its pretty much brand new, only been used for 37 days 12/12 now, trouble is i bought it about 2 years ago and its been in storage so cant exactly take back for a refund!

Any tech people know if the ballast is repairable or should i just buy a new one?

did it cycle off again after that last incident? its a digi an chances are they are not repairable like the magnetic ballasts. you open the digis an the board an transformer etc is sealed in a dark plastic like resin. to be honest after years of growing i dont hesitate to have multiple ballast an bulbs on hand. you never know when things fail. I had a person hit a pole half mile down the road. the lights dimmed an returned to brightness like 3-4 times. smoked 2 600 lumateks. another time i hit the manual on off override on my timer by accident, the timer controls a large 220v relay for up to 60amps, realized what i did an some how thought to hit it again.... 3 consecutive times in a row, stoned an freaked out i guess, smoked 3 ballasts. Had many of bulbs go out an cycle like you speak of . If you go back to where u bought it, there is a serial number on it, they might be able to cross reference the production date thru the serial number. it may still be in warranty depending on the mfg. or they may give you a pro rated warranty. If its smoked , go for a larger watter if your area can handle it. good luck an b-safe

 

[Fruitilicious]

thanks all good info. it only had 1 year warranty and its been in storage for 2

It fired up tonite on time, and fingers crossed, im hoping maybe it was the bulb, and the 1st time i plugged it in was a safety 5 min cooldown from the last bulb maybe? as im noticing its looking alot brighter, and temps are up in room.

However ive got my eyes on the Lumitek 400w adjustable digi ballast as it can run a 250w, 250w super lumen, 400w and 400w super lumen mode. which would be great once i get dialed in with the 250w and want to increase yield i can switch bulb for a 400w.

Plus they come with 5 years warranty so you know its gota be good quality!

 

[gmanwho]

chances are if you become serious about growing you will always be upgrading light an systems etc. Good light penetration is an easy investment to make. one day u may take that 250 or 400 an turn it into a veg light...... lol

B-safe