HTG Tek 4 T5 Fluorescent Light Issue

[MYOB]

Bought one of these a few weeks ago. Plugged in the bulbs, hooked it up, hung it, plugged it in and it worked nicely. Bright, no noise...Pretty much what I was looking for.

It sat in hanging in the room, unused, until I decided to run some 18/6 tests on the equipment a few days ago. I ran 2 cycles and went to check everything and shut it down and I noticed that half of the HTG T5 wasn't working. That is, two of four bulbs were out. They are the "front" two. I made sure the connections were tight, shut it off and powered it back up again....nothing.

The light had been hanging securely in a sealed area which housed other electrical equipment with no problems. The lamps were not run more than 48hrs total, more like 24hrs.

Glad it didn't shut down when I had more to lose but still a pain. Now I have to take it down, go back to the store and try to exchange it with no receipt and no box. I am really hoping its the bulbs. Just seems odd that they would both go at the same time, on the same side, after 48hrs.

I know the salesman at the store will remember me. I am in there pretty regularly. Hope he doesn't think being a hard ass and giving me a hard time is worth losing a customer.

MAybe someone else had the same problem? Maybe I am missing something obvious?

Thanks

 

[Slipon]

did you try to switch the bulbs around ? check if its them or the connection`s ?

and did you put it together yourself ? is there a ground wire ? make sure its connected ..

if you have to buy new bulbs anyway maybe get some in different Kelvin, now I don't know if you only use it for germination of Veg or a hole Run but its almost allways a good idea to mix in some red in the blue or vise versa)

 

[justanotherbozo]

...yeah, Slipon took the words right out of my mouth, lol.

basic troubleshooting says if a light isn't working first check that it's plugged in, if it is, check that the bulb isn't dead, ...only then do you KNOW you have a problem with the light.

btw, if the guy gives you a hard time and won't take the fixture back be sure and post that up as repairing a fluoro fixture is fairly straight forward for anyone with a little mechanical aptitude, ...there just aren't that many things that could be wrong, ...probably either bad bulbs or a loose connection inside the fixture.

peace, bozo

 

[EvlMunkee]

Some have a switch for 2 or 4 bulb operation. Maybe you have accidentally flipped it?

 

[MYOB]

I didnt move them around (change positions) but I unplugged the non working bulbs from their sockets and plugged them back in.

Everything is plugged in, tried different outlets that other devices work in.

I was thinking there must be a switch to go from 2-4 bulb. I couldnt find anything. There is no switches on the thing at all. Plus it in and it goes on.

It wasn't a kit. I bought it from HTG supply, opened box, peeled film off reflector, plugged bulbs into sockets and hung it. it worked when I hung it. It came with 4 aftermarket bulbs, maybe the bulbs were defective or returned by a unscrupulous customer.

Weird thing is, NOTHING, happened to the light. No shock, dropping, bumping, water, extreme temps. It just sat there and went on via timer for 18hrs at a time. Twice.

Gonna go to the store tomorrow. I will ask for 2 new bulbs and see it that was it, if not Im going to exchange it. Hopefully.

 

[MYOB]

PS

Thanks for the suggestions. I was happy with the light until today. It did feel a little on the cheap side, it was only like $150 after all.

The light would be for vegetative growth.

I have a 600w HPS for flowering.

 

[justanotherbozo]

I didnt move them around (change positions) but I unplugged the non working bulbs from their sockets and plugged them back in.

Everything is plugged in, tried different outlets that other devices work in.

I was thinking there must be a switch to go from 2-4 bulb. I couldnt find anything. There is no switches on the thing at all. Plus it in and it goes on.

It wasn't a kit. I bought it from HTG supply, opened box, peeled film off reflector, plugged bulbs into sockets and hung it. it worked when I hung it. It came with 4 aftermarket bulbs, maybe the bulbs were defective or returned by a unscrupulous customer.

Weird thing is, NOTHING, happened to the light. No shock, dropping, bumping, water, extreme temps. It just sat there and went on via timer for 18hrs at a time. Twice.

Gonna go to the store tomorrow. I will ask for 2 new bulbs and see it that was it, if not Im going to exchange it. Hopefully.

...it's still possible you could have a couple bad bulbs, not likely maybe but possible.

what you need to do to know is pull one of the non-working bulbs out of it's socket and one of the working bulbs from IT'S socket and switch them, that's the best way to know for sure whether or not you have power to those two non-working sockets or just 2 bad bulbs, and putting the non-working bulb into a working socket will tell you whether or not the bulbs are bad or good.

btw, i'd figured you had bought the fixture pre-assembled and ready to go, ...i was just suggesting that if the store won't take it back because you no longer have the packaging it shouldn't be too difficult to walk you through the repair is all.

...this is a picture of the components of a 150watt Vapor Tight fixture, 2 actually, that i removed from the discarded fixture and reassembled in these common electrical boxes so you can see i know a little bit about the topic.



...here's what the other end looked like, inside and out.



peace, bozo

 

[MYOB]

I pulled a working bulb from side that is working and plugged it into the socket in place of one of the non working bulbs. When I did that, BOTH bulbs lit up on the side that was previously not working. But the other side (2 bulbs) went out.

Seems that the light is made up of two 2 bulb units. If one bulb in either unit is no good, the entire 2 bulb section will not light.

Does that make any sense?

I will got to the store tomorrow and get 4 new bulbs, see if I can solve the problem by replacing all of them. If not, hopefully I can exchange it for a working unit.

 

[justanotherbozo]

I pulled a working bulb from side that is working and plugged it into the socket in place of one of the non working bulbs. When I did that, BOTH bulbs lit up on the side that was previously not working. But the other side (2 bulbs) went out.

Seems that the light is made up of two 2 bulb units. If one bulb in either unit is no good, the entire 2 bulb section will not light.

Does that make any sense?

I will got to the store tomorrow and get 4 new bulbs, see if I can solve the problem by replacing all of them. If not, hopefully I can exchange it for a working unit.

before you go to the store put a small piece of tape on each and mark them a b c and d, then plug them in in different combinations so you figure out which bulbs are bad and which not, in truth you need to be able to do that anyway.

and for sure you can count on my help if and when it comes to rewiring that fixture, ...fluoro's are pretty easy to work on, hell, magnetic ballasts for HPS and MH are cake too as long as you have some basic electrical skills, that's one of the reasons i don't use digital ballasts.

...anyway, here's a link for you to check out and to save as a reference because while some electrical jobs are simple in principle AND in practice, electricity is still dangerous if you do something wrong and nobody cares more about whether or not your house burns down than you do, lol. ...not that that is actually likely or i wouldn't be offering to help you, i'm not an expert and my training is some years past but i wanted to stress that it behooves you to educate yourself to a level of competence that is safe and basic electrical skills are easy to aquire and easy to practice.

Growroom Electricity and Wiring

...btw, if it turns out the fixture is bad and the guy doesn't want to take it back one way to come back at him is to offer to take a new fixture out of the box and leave the old fixture and the packaging for him, that way he can send it back to the factory as a legitimate return.

peace, bozo

 

[MYOB]

Update:

Brought the fixture back to the store and the rep put new bulbs in. That solved it for me. There are 2 ballasts which power 2 bulbs each. If one bulb is out, neither work. The bulbs would flicker when I turned the lamp on and then go out which is indicative of a functioning ballast.

I have found the stock bulbs that come with many lamps as well as "house" brands are not very good. I am looking to upgrade but for now, the problem is solved.

Thanks

 

[Great Brettain]

Sorry to bump this thread but I am having the exact same problem. I bought this off of HTG's site and cant return it since I am in the middle of my grow cycle. Anyone that can walk me through how to fix it?