I bought my ballast in 2010, so it's out of warranty, but I was hoping someone here might be able to give me an idea of what the problem might be. I have a 400 W switchable HPS/MH ballast, NOT digital. I've always left the switch in the HPS position and used an MH conversion bulb (because I already had some from my previous ballast). It's been in constant use about 9-10 months of the year since I bought it, never failed to start bulbs.
After being not used for about 2 months, my MH conversion bulb will not start up consistently, mostly not at all. I tried a 2nd MH conversion bulb, same thing. I see the spark in the bulb, so it appears to be getting power, but it never finishes starting up, just that little glow in the middle until I turn it off. My HPS bulb seems to be work better, but I haven’t tried it too many times yet, so I still don’t know if I can depend on the HPS bulb to fire up every time. Does this sound like the ballast is bad? Might it work better if I used a regular MH bulb and flipped the switch? I was thinking, it might take more power to start up the conversion bulb.
One other thought, I wonder if it might be the socket, like something's not making contact or loose. Though if I'm seeing the spark, I guess that's not likely. It's kind of a PITA to check all these things since I have to wait at least 15-20 minutes after it's turned off before I can start it up again. And I have some new seedlings that I'm trying not to upset too much.
Any advice would be appreciated.
John
After being not used for about 2 months, my MH conversion bulb will not start up consistently, mostly not at all. I tried a 2nd MH conversion bulb, same thing. I see the spark in the bulb, so it appears to be getting power, but it never finishes starting up, just that little glow in the middle until I turn it off. My HPS bulb seems to be work better, but I haven’t tried it too many times yet, so I still don’t know if I can depend on the HPS bulb to fire up every time. Does this sound like the ballast is bad? Might it work better if I used a regular MH bulb and flipped the switch? I was thinking, it might take more power to start up the conversion bulb.
One other thought, I wonder if it might be the socket, like something's not making contact or loose. Though if I'm seeing the spark, I guess that's not likely. It's kind of a PITA to check all these things since I have to wait at least 15-20 minutes after it's turned off before I can start it up again. And I have some new seedlings that I'm trying not to upset too much.
Any advice would be appreciated.
John