Ballast or Bulb?

timeout

Well-Known Member
Say, what's the symptom of a bad conversion bulb? I have a 400w hps ballast (from HTG), a mh conversion bulb, and a hps bulb. I used the conversion bulb for a couple grows, switching to hps when I flipped the lights to 12-12. This last grow, however, using the conversion bulb resulted in the ballast buzzing louder than normal and the light popping out then returning after a few minutes. The hps bulb continued to work fine.

Is the problem the bulb or something to do with the ballast. If it's the bulb, I'd like to buy a new one; I liked what the mh did during veg. But I don't want to waste my money. If it's the ballast, I'll just have to suck it up and replace.

Any ideas? Thanks.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Magnetics can be repaired. The igniter or capacitor might be wonky and can be changed out.
Unfortunately, i don't know enough about'm to tell you from the symptoms which of those two is more likely to fail. Maybe some old hand with electrics will chime in? ~hint~
Conversely, if it misbehaves with the MH but not the HPS, I'd lean toward the bulb starting to fail.
 

kwilli

Active Member
Well, normally when your trying to diagnose a problem you start with the cheapest solution. In your case, replace the bulb first, if that doesn't fix it then you know it's the ballast, problem solved, and you have a spare bulb.
 
Top