2 Phantom 1000w randomly not kicking on , anyone else have this problem?

i have two brand new Phantom digital dimmable ballasts plugged into a lighting controller which is wired straight to the box on its own breaker with a 240 line. there is a 120 volt trigger coming from the lighting controller which i plug into a Hydrofarm timer. also the 120 volt line the trigger plugs into is the only thing on the circuit. This setup worked fine for years with my old magnetic ballast but upgraded this year to these new Phantom digigtal ballast and now on random days never two in a row but usually about once a week wont turn on . Its a brand new timer and new Hortilux bulbs. anyone else have this problem or know whats going on????????

I own 8 phantom ballasts and i've never had a problem. All of mine are wired at 220 as well. Call the manufacture see what they have to say.

Also , there is a thread some where on this site entitled "Experienced electrician here to answer your questions." He might be able to help you out . !

here is how mine are wired.

thanks bro i already brought them back to the store where i got them cause they started my last grow and we found one which was faulty and they gave me a new one worked fine for three weeks then bam pulling this shit again....they go right on when i un plu then plug it in its weird

Read the manual. There is a 15 min warm up period. If the power is shut off at all, you need to wait at least 5 after. Now, it seems to me, like your timer is faulty, or it is slow when it turns on. If for instance you plug the 120v trigger cable in quickly, then remove it by accident. You need to wait at least 5 min to turn on again. Now, If you have it setup wrong, it would trigger on, shut off quickly and when it tries to turn on again, its within the 5 min period, so It will give you a double blinking light error.

Shit happens.At least you got it fixed. One good thing about Phantom , check out there warranty. They offer a 4 or 5 year warranty on there ballasts. I thought that was pretty cool .

LSDreamer said:

Read the manual. There is a 15 min warm up period. If the power is shut off at all, you need to wait at least 5 after. Now, it seems to me, like your timer is faulty, or it is slow when it turns on. If for instance you plug the 120v trigger cable in quickly, then remove it by accident. You need to wait at least 5 min to turn on again. Now, If you have it setup wrong, it would trigger on, shut off quickly and when it tries to turn on again, its within the 5 min period, so It will give you a double blinking light error.

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i was thinking along the same lines thats is why i bought a new timer before this grow do u think its the type of timer? is there a high quality timer for bigger ballasts?

get a "mechanical timer" when you get a chance. their like 70 bucks but they won't shit on you. I use this one timer for all my lights. Its near the top of the picture

Its mounted on the wall near the fan on the left hand side. Also there is a high temp. shut down attached to the timer. This way my AC gos out and the temp rises too much that high temp shutdown will turn the lights off.

thanks bro really appreciate the help. I also love the Phantom and my guy at my local store was using one for atleast a year in his shop before i got mine and he really liked it also. Their warrenty is banging and they definately are brighter then the magnetic ballasts i had before. i will keep u posted. sick set up by the way.

jpill said:

Its mounted on the wall near the fan on the left hand side. Also there is a high temp. shut down attached to the timer. This way my AC gos out and the temp rises too much that high temp shutdown will turn the lights off.

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Yea that is sick as shit

Thanks guys ! If you need any help just let me know.

jpill you were right on with what was causing the problem. i am nuts about some things and i swore that using a push down peg type timer would be the safest bet because it had the least amount of things to fail. luckily i always have extras of everything so i switched that type timer with a digital timer i had that i was convinced COULD fail although it never did so i went to the peg type. needlessly to say everything worked fine with the room and i started messing with the timer they were plugged into and i found on occasion it would kinda go back first then forward which would make sense that it was sometimes hitting a quick jolt on then off then on again which would explain why i randomly was having the problem because the timer wasnt always doing it. You were right on again man really appreciate it

i actually have another question for you since you seem to know your shit. i recently got a temp and humidity monitor that saves the high and low temp and humidity each day and i never realized that when the lights were off which meant the intake fans were off the humidity is rising to inbetween 40 and 50 percent. i do hydro and i keep a 480 CFM with a big carbon filter running 24/7. for years i have never had any issues do to humidity so i never thought about it. do you think i should worry about it and go get a dehumidifier or since its never been a problem before dont worry about it.

Vegging - 50% - 60%ish.

Flower - 40%ish.

Those are just ball park figures. My veg room is just under 60% now but when flower comes i will def. drop it to under 50%

Alright cool thanks again man

I am having the same problem with my Phantom... ran it for 3 days than bam won't come on...

Only the New Eye bulbs are made to be used in a digital. A digital will damage the older eye bulbs.