GAVITA Pro 1000 DE

[MPL]

I'd be willing to bet money you are just starving your plants. It's the most likely culprit based on the facts you gave. I think offgassing from the PVC and panda, while a possibility, is very remote.

Good luck and definitely let us know how this works out.

Agreed. My issue is I don't have the Daystars or ballasts in my possession to do such a thing. I'd have to pick them all up. Obviously, as an owner, the economics of growing are different for me. However, that's still a fair amount of equipment and it still costs. And if that's not the issue, I've suddenly taken "new" equipment and turned it into "used" equipment.

I am going to go down a list of things, starting with the cheapest and easiest, and moving towards the expensive and invasive.

If upping my nutrients doesn't work, we'll work our way towards putting up Daystars.

 

[HenDokuYaku]

Agreed. My issue is I don't have the Daystars or ballasts in my possession to do such a thing. I'd have to pick them all up. Obviously, as an owner, the economics of growing are different for me. However, that's still a fair amount of equipment and it still costs. And if that's not the issue, I've suddenly taken "new" equipment and turned it into "used" equipment.

I am going to go down a list of things, starting with the cheapest and easiest, and moving towards the expensive and invasive.

If upping my nutrients doesn't work, we'll work our way towards putting up Daystars.

That sounds like a good plan. I think you'll resolve it after that and be onto bountiful harvests. Let us know what happens.

 

[Budsworth]

That sounds like a good plan. I think you'll resolve it after that and be onto bountiful harvests. Let us know what happens.

 

[turbo14]

I've got over 70 Gavita 1000w DE. Average between 2-2.5 per light average off these beauties. Amazing lights!

turbo

 

[Budsworth]

I've got over 70 Gavita 1000w DE. Average between 2-2.5 per light average off these beauties. Amazing lights!

turbo

And you're experience on how hungry your plants get under them? Do the plants eat more, less, or the same as traditional HID's?

 

[Budsworth]

Oh...and how high do you have them hung over your canopy?

 

[BCNeil]

Budsworth

I am trying to see from your pictures. Are you trying to cover 3, 4x4 trays with 4 lights, on each side of your room?

 

[Budsworth]

Budsworth

I am trying to see from your pictures. Are you trying to cover 3, 4x4 trays with 4 lights, on each side of your room?

Those trays are 3x3's. The trellis sections are 53"x53". 3 tray units/side...4 lights/side...2 sides.

 

[gaiusmarius]

you never answered whether you have ever had a normal harvest in there? as a grow shop you should be in a position to change the lights to some old ballasts, to see how the plants react. in the end, i'm thinking you might well have some material in the room that disagrees with hps lighting and plants. do you have an active in take? if the off gassing is a light case just adding an active intake can tip the balance back to normal plant health.

 

[Budsworth]

you never answered whether you have ever had a normal harvest in there? as a grow shop you should be in a position to change the lights to some old ballasts, to see how the plants react. in the end, i'm thinking you might well have some material in the room that disagrees with hps lighting and plants. do you have an active in take? if the off gassing is a light case just adding an active intake can tip the balance back to normal plant health.

No. I have not. I've had two harvests. The first one was disastrous. Second one was better, but chasing health the whole round.

As a shop owner, I indeed have access to old ballasts.

However, and I'll repeat, I'll start with the easiest remedy and work my way up. Changing all the lights is not the easiest remedy. In fact, it would take a fair amount of time....at least enough that I would have to take time off from my shop.

That is how I have always tackled problems and it always seems to work. If I go through the easiest solutions and they don't work, I assure you I will attempt to change out the lights.

Im in to efficiency. Starting with the most intensive solution is inefficient.

 

[BCNeil]

Those trays are 3x3's. The trellis sections are 53"x53". 3 tray units/side...4 lights/side...2 sides.

I think 4 lights are just way too much no matter the setting.
3x3 trays are basically the same as a square meter.
But you are covering more like a 4.5 m2 area on each side.

So you want around 1000 umol/m2 or 4500 umol total.

Wassup had a graph in one of these gavita threads comparing output at the different settings.

1000 was like 2000 umol
825 was like 1580 umol
750 was like 1400 umol
660 was like 1150 umol
600 was like 1050 umol

So even at 660 you are above that. Even with 600. I think by having them 4 feet apart side by side you are just getting too much overlap. These throw out a 4x6 spread. Your plants in the middle are getting so much light.

I run a similar size area 12 x 4 I use 3 set at 660 now, with 2 plasma's in between.

I would consider running less lights. Or since you already have 4 installed and it looks good. Set your lights for 1000. Then run 1 and 3 for say 3 hours, then 2 and 4 for 3 hours, then repeat twice more. Like a rich mans light mover.

 

[noyd666]

well 4 days under 1150 watts at 36 inches, I light no probs,.so far.

 

[max_well]

hey Budsworth
Nice looking room you have there.. hopefully you can get by this hitch and be able to use it to full potential.
I'm curious about these issues. It's possible that humidity is playing a role in the lack of health you're seeing. I've found that things stay happiest in veg and transition with a high humidity. You state a range of 40-55% RH.. and I imagine that this is mostly dictated by the a/c cycling, which is a function of heat load. Maybe throw a humidifier in there and see if bringing RH to 60% helps?
Also curious about the possibility of off-gassing causing issue in the sealed space, which in my experience can be exacerbated by high light intensities. Could you do some burping of the room during the lights on period with all on? should be an easy check if you're already set up to vent.
please keep us posted! and good luck
Max

 

[noyd666]

34 inches from top of plant to gavita light at 1150 WATTS ALL CLEAR SO FAR starting to stretch more though lol wants more.

 

[raphenilweed]

I learned about these a few years ago and finally have been able to upgrade. A ballast keeps turning off and on. It seems to be a heat sensor because it felt warmer than the others. So the gears started spinning and an idea came to mind. Get some 120v cpu style fans and attach them to the cooling fins on the ballast.

Any suggestions on 120v fans or other ways to cool down the light? Would like to get max life out of these babies.

Edit added new info

The ballast is 6 inches which is aprox 150mm . Found this http:// http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005F1MX54?vs=1 . Seems sufficient. The medium speed is 183cfm 41watts and the high speed is 298cfm 50watts with about 10$ difference.

6 light room, will 246w-310w in cooling ballasts be worth it?

 

[McKush]

^^ from what I've read on Gavita ballasts they are similar to my ePap. Those ballasts should *not* need additional cooling as they are very efficient. you may want to replace that ballast on warranty if you can. Does not sound right to have to use external cooling and I would be concerned about a failure.

 

[madmangos]

Anyone have any problems with the LED indicator on their ballast? Connected 8 to an EL-2. LED blinks red 4 times, then a pause. in the manual this indicates that there is no signal from the controller (EL-2). the problem is, the controller(EL-2) functions fine and has control over the lights. When the lights are powered up using the controller, the LED status indicator changes to four green blinks followed by a pause. In the manual this indicates that the ballast is ON and connected to mains and a controller.

to top it off, when i went to do more trouble shooting today, the LED on one of the ballasts burned orange and then blinked green... This code isnt even in the manual. very confusing.

really hope i dont have to warranty these

 

[madmangos]

This is highly dissaponiting
Another member of the forum PMed me informing me that this is a known problem.(thank you) this is the first time I've heard of it. The more frustrating part of all this, I have been in contact with gavitas help desk. They admited to me it was a production problem but they won't fix it. Their excuse is that it doesn't affect the lamp and theres no way for them to tell which fixtures are affected. I'm postings the convo herre. , althought it's still ongoing."

 

[madmangos]

Date: 2014-09-23 21:16:23
Nam
Region: North America
Telephone number (optional): +
Message:

Hello
I just hooked up 8 e series fixtures to my el-2. The LED indicator on the fixtures is flashing red 4 times then pausing, indicating that I'm getting no signal from the el-2. The problem here is that the el-2 is controlling the lights just fine, all functions are working. Am I misinterpreting the error message?


Date: 2014-09-23 21:32:08
Name:

Message:

I just want to add that when the fixtures are powered on(using the el-2) the status indicator LED changes to four green flashes followed by a pause.

Date: 2014-09-24 19:41:37
Name:

Message:

I came to check on the lamps again today. At lights out, 7 are still blinking red 4 times then a pause, but the eighth lamp burns yellow and the binks green... This isn't in the manual as an error or history code? HELP

Date: 2014-09-24 19:48:51
Name:

Message:

Also I don't know if this helps but the fixture that is burning orange and blinking green is the first one in the daisy chain coming from the EL-2

Date: 2014-09-24 20:17:38
Name:

Message:

Another update: I reset the power to my mains(lights off) and now they are all back to 4 red blinks and a pause. But now when I turn them on with the EL-2 the led stays blank/unlit. In the manual this indicates there is no power/off, but the lights ARE on.

Date: 2014-09-25 15:59:18
Name: Yuri Kenter

Message:

Dear ,

Due to a production problem some fixtures will not give the correct stand-by code. This is only affecting the stand-by code, none of the other functions of the fixture are affected and it will not have any negative effect on the output of the fixture nor on any other of the signaling. There is a component installed that senses the stand-by voltage, to help you with installation. Unfortunately that small component is off by tenths of volts to read the accurate input voltage, which is why it gives you the incorrect code.

We apologize for this error, and if we could solve it by switching the fixtures out for correct ones we would do it. However the first batch is affected so we do not know which fixture will actually have the problem. As from end of August all new fixtures will have correct electronics.

It also raised the point though if growers do want led codes on their fixtures. In the dark period green will in our opinion not be a problem, nor will the intensity of the LEDs pose a threat to the photoperiodicity of the plant when displaying another color code (which might be the case if your supply voltage has been too low or high, or in your case, the incorrect stand-by code). However, we do not ignore concerns of our clients so we have made available opaque LED lenses. You can easily just pull out the transparent lens in front of the LED and exchange it with the opaque one. It will not affect the warranty of your fixture and will put your mind at ease.

Best regards, met vriendelijke groet,

**** ******

Gavita Holland bv
Oosteinderweg 127
1432 AH Aalsmeer
The Netherlands
www.gavita-holland.com
Rated as not helpful

Date: 2014-09-28 03:12:18
Name:

Message:

Hello mr. *******
So what your essientally saying is that you're company had a production problem, and you are not going to fix that problem with the coustomers who purchased your lights? This is highly dissaponiting. I do APPRICEATE your company's apology for the problem but that doesn't do anything to help me. I purchased these lights with the intent that they would do exactly what they said that they would do. The LED issues ARE a huge problem for me because they are there to inform me if somthing has gone wrong. It raises questions to me about your quality contro. I don't understand why gavita can't replace my fixtures for ones that do as they say they will. I purchased 8 and all are acting up with this problem you admited your company is having. Why can't I warranty these fixtures? I know I only purchased 8, but I had planned on purchasing more... I'm really not so sure that I should now. For a company who supplies most of the greenhouse lights In holland I would think you could replace the faulty fixtures GAVITA PRODUCED. Espically admiting it's GAVITAS fault in production. Please help me understand what's going on here.

Date: 2014-09-28 03:15:30
Name:

Message:

Also, mr ***** (sorry for the miss spelling last message.)
The problem isn't just with the standby code as you say. What is the solid burning orange with a green blink? On top of that they led just stays blank when the lights are powered on(via el-2)
Can you explain this?
Regards

 

[noyd666]

NOT GOOD AT ALL FOR 800 DOLLAR FIXTURE, PISS POOR RESPONCE, SOME COMPENSATION IS DUE IF CAN'T OR WONT FIX.