Hello IC community. Thought I would share my experience in hopes it may help someone else.
I have a very small grow room with a 600watt HPS/MH system with electronic ballast. I noticed my grow light wasn't on when it should have been. I checked the obvious things (obvious to me)and it wasn't any of them i.e bad bulb, no power, cycle power, check timer.
I was worried my ballast had taken a crap so I pulled the whole fixture and ballast out to inspect it. The electronic ballast powered up and I would hear the click that normally indicates the light is coming on but, no light. I knew enough to try and break down the problem into smaller pieces. To me the two obvious choices were the ballast or the fixture, specifically the socket the bulb screws into.
There were no visual indications on anything. My ballast does not have a output or input fuse and it looked like it as was functioning normally.
I looked on the internet to find a troubleshooting guide for my ballast and there was nothing. It was late so I decided to go to bed and look at it with fresh eyes today. The first thing i did was plug in the ballast again. I connected the cord to the fixture. I plugged it into the nearest wall socket I had and it was a GFCI. It popped!!! I knew something was shorted to ground but what.
I decided to take the fixture apart and look at the connections for the lamp socket. There was a metal housing around it so you couldn't see anything. Once removed it was obvious what had happened. The wires were all melted and no power was making it to the socket. WHY? It started to become clear. In this whole lighting system there are only two mechanical devices. The timer and the every time you change the bulb from MH to HPS for flower. I know from experience that a mechanical device/operation is normally the weak link in any system. The fixture is over two years old and I have screwed and unscrewed MH and HPS bulbs many times. The lamp socket had loosened allowing it to move back and forth and the wire insulation had been cut by the sheet metal of the fixture. Eventually it had shorted out.
Now here is the scary safety part. This is an enclosed fixture that I am pulling air thorough to the outside for cooling purposes. This is a very small room and I need to vent the heat. Thats why I never smelt anything burning. It was being exhausted outside. I didn't have my timer plugged into to a GFCI. Big mistake!! I could have started an electrical fire.
In my mind this loose lamp socket must be a common failure point. I wanted everyone to now about it. The safety part is where I failed because I didn't have a GFCI. Hope this helps someone else. Also in my opinion when trouble shooting any system, watering, lighting, exhausting etc. Think about mechanical operations/devices. They are usually the first to fail.
Stay Safe.
I have a very small grow room with a 600watt HPS/MH system with electronic ballast. I noticed my grow light wasn't on when it should have been. I checked the obvious things (obvious to me)and it wasn't any of them i.e bad bulb, no power, cycle power, check timer.
I was worried my ballast had taken a crap so I pulled the whole fixture and ballast out to inspect it. The electronic ballast powered up and I would hear the click that normally indicates the light is coming on but, no light. I knew enough to try and break down the problem into smaller pieces. To me the two obvious choices were the ballast or the fixture, specifically the socket the bulb screws into.
There were no visual indications on anything. My ballast does not have a output or input fuse and it looked like it as was functioning normally.
I looked on the internet to find a troubleshooting guide for my ballast and there was nothing. It was late so I decided to go to bed and look at it with fresh eyes today. The first thing i did was plug in the ballast again. I connected the cord to the fixture. I plugged it into the nearest wall socket I had and it was a GFCI. It popped!!! I knew something was shorted to ground but what.
I decided to take the fixture apart and look at the connections for the lamp socket. There was a metal housing around it so you couldn't see anything. Once removed it was obvious what had happened. The wires were all melted and no power was making it to the socket. WHY? It started to become clear. In this whole lighting system there are only two mechanical devices. The timer and the every time you change the bulb from MH to HPS for flower. I know from experience that a mechanical device/operation is normally the weak link in any system. The fixture is over two years old and I have screwed and unscrewed MH and HPS bulbs many times. The lamp socket had loosened allowing it to move back and forth and the wire insulation had been cut by the sheet metal of the fixture. Eventually it had shorted out.
Now here is the scary safety part. This is an enclosed fixture that I am pulling air thorough to the outside for cooling purposes. This is a very small room and I need to vent the heat. Thats why I never smelt anything burning. It was being exhausted outside. I didn't have my timer plugged into to a GFCI. Big mistake!! I could have started an electrical fire.
In my mind this loose lamp socket must be a common failure point. I wanted everyone to now about it. The safety part is where I failed because I didn't have a GFCI. Hope this helps someone else. Also in my opinion when trouble shooting any system, watering, lighting, exhausting etc. Think about mechanical operations/devices. They are usually the first to fail.
Stay Safe.
