Issues with Gavita 1700e

Hey guys, wanted to share this issue and see if anyone is experiencing the same. I purchased 160 gavita 1700e brand new from Hawthorne. I am using the EL1 controller and noticed I have lights randomly flashing ON during the night period. Anyone experience this before? The plants directly under the flashing lights are not flowering and it’s week 3. Can’t post videos of it but they turn on for a second and then off. Gavita / Hawthorne said they never seen this before.

Try removing the controller and just using a simple timer. If you’re not doing anything special with the controller no loss. A timer is under $20 at any big box store if you don’t have one. Sounds to me like programming or software errors, so keep it simple.

Hook Daddy said:

Try removing the controller and just using a simple timer. If you’re not doing anything special with the controller no loss. A timer is under $20 at any big box store if you don’t have one. Sounds to me like programming or software errors, so keep it simple.

Click to expand...

That’s exactly what I’m doing next, I also have a trol master controller I’m going to try that as well. Thank you for your input

Or 818 Brands said:

That’s exactly what I’m doing next, I also have a trol master controller I’m going to try that as well. Thank you for your input

Click to expand...

Hook Daddy said:

Try removing the controller and just using a simple timer. If you’re not doing anything special with the controller no loss. A timer is under $20 at any big box store if you don’t have one. Sounds to me like programming or software errors, so keep it simple.

Click to expand...

What timer would you recommend for a panel that size? I’m running anywhere from 100 to 140 in a room. 65Kw - 91Kw

I’m not suggesting you run 160 lights off one timer, but you must already realize the problem is with the controller or your programming. If you need to prove that…

Hook Daddy said:

I’m not suggesting you run 160 lights off one timer, but you must already realize the problem is with the controller or your programming. If you need to prove that…

Click to expand...

I don’t think there is a mechanical timer that can handle 200+ amps. I’ll just buy a few of them and just separate the circuits. Thanks again! Will let you know my findings

Or 818 Brands said:

I don’t think there is a mechanical timer that can handle 200+ amps. I’ll just buy a few of them and just separate the circuits. Thanks again! Will let you know my findings

Click to expand...

Wow ok not good at sarcasm, Call tech support and figure out why your controller or programming is not doing what you expect. You paid for a system, get it working.

Hook Daddy said:

Wow ok not good at sarcasm, Call tech support and figure out why your controller or programming is not doing what you expect. You paid for a system, get it working.

Click to expand...

Lol.. I would but Hawthorne and Gavita say this is the first time they heard of this issue . Hence why I’m trying anything and everything

So only the plants under the malfunctioning lights are having a problem. Is that what you are saying? Just trying to figure this out. Some plants didn’t flip, you are not sure, but you think the lights came on. No video, so you saw it happen, correct.

Hook Daddy said:

So only the plants under the malfunctioning lights are having a problem. Is that what you are saying? Just trying to figure this out. Some plants didn’t flip, you are not sure, but you think the lights came on. No video, so you saw it happen, correct.

Click to expand...

Correct, I saw it on camera, confirmed in the room that the plants directly under the flashing lights are still in Veg, no bud sites . I went to the same room a few days ago and saw the lights kick on / off myself

Or 818 Brands said:

Correct, I saw it on camera, confirmed in the room that the plants directly under the flashing lights are still in Veg, no bud sites . I went to the same room a few days ago and saw the lights kick on / off myself

Click to expand...

So you showed said video to Gavita and they said never heard of the problem, not our concern, or said they will get right on it? My issue is they are usually very customer first and proactive, so I am having a hard time believing them not doing anything with a 160 light brand new system.

Hook Daddy said:

So you showed said video to Gavita and they said never heard of the problem, not our concern, or said they will get right on it? My issue is they are usually very customer first and proactive, so I am having a hard time believing them not doing anything with a 160 light brand new system.

Click to expand...

They are sending us adapters and new controllers but they don’t know what the issue is. Spoke to tech support, sales reps and Hawthorne regional rep. They are trying but not fast enough and it’s process of elimination at this point

Ok, just not fast enough, now I get it. They are top notch and will fly people to your site to fix a problem if it’s a large system and they determine it’s their equipment that’s failing. I was just curious, they are doing what they can and starting with the obvious suspects. I hope you get if figured out, sounds like a pain in the ass honestly. A good reason to test run a room before going live. Good luck!

is the controller only controlling your lights or is it driving your irrigation too? If so, maybe double check your irrigation timers and see if maybe it's coinciding with the lights coming on.

If it is just some of the lights it, then I think that it has to be either the adapters, or the lights, and not the el1 controller. I know its still not much help tho.

And if its all the lights then it probably is the el1 controller.

shambler said:

If it is just some of the lights it, then I think that it has to be either the adapters, or the lights, and not the el1 controller. I know its still not much help tho.

Click to expand...

shambler said:

And if its all the lights then it probably is the el1 controller.

Click to expand...

I agree.

Or 818 Brands said:

I don’t think there is a mechanical timer that can handle 200+ amps. I’ll just buy a few of them and just separate the circuits. Thanks again! Will let you know my findings

Click to expand...

I make relay boxes so I can use something like the EL1 and their relay to trigger a whole line of lights. Usually split into 20A per line because it keeps cable costs down a bit, faster wire and less lights go out of service if there's a problem on one line. And you can trigger all the seperate lines from one Gavita relay. Or in this case I was using Trolmaster but same thing.

Anyway about the lights coming on randomly, are they coming on at full brightness or just 10% of the full brightness? If it's full brightness then I think the fault lies in the programmed timing on the EL1. If the light is only coming on at 10% brightness then it could be that the relay on the driver is not dimming to OFF since many drivers can't run all the way down to zero they stop at around 10% brightness and then shift to OFF using an internal relay to the driver.

another thing that could happen is there's something leaking voltage onto the dimmer lines which could cause them to gain enough energy to send power on the 0-10V dimming circuit which would tell the lights to go on.

The gavita 1700e pro won't fire at 10%. I wanted to dim mine past 50% and gavita said no matter what controller I use they won't come on below 50%.

That's a known issue with the Gavita 1700e

Or 818 Brands said:

Hey guys, wanted to share this issue and see if anyone is experiencing the same. I purchased 160 gavita 1700e brand new from Hawthorne. I am using the EL1 controller and noticed I have lights randomly flashing ON during the night period. Anyone experience this before? The plants directly under the flashing lights are not flowering and it’s week 3. Can’t post videos of it but they turn on for a second and then off. Gavita / Hawthorne said they never seen this before.

Click to expand...

They're full of shit.

You need a light controller that actually flips off using relays where it no longer supplies light to the lights during the lights off period. Something like this


You can continue using the controller for dimming etc, that "controller" I linked has relays in it that will shut off the outlets when your standard timer shuts off.

I know it's a pain in the ass cause depending on your grow size you will need extension cords for your lights (just make sure you buy actual ones and not ones from a hardware store).

Also there are many other size lighting controllers, you don't necessarily need to spend $200 on a 12-outlet. It gets confusing because the little boxes that wire to the lights are called controllers too but you need one that they actually plug into and turn on/off that way.