600W bulb failure - WTF!

sk'mo · Nov 21, 2010

600W Eye Hortilux Super HPS, running since begining of October in a Lumatek ballast. I went down just after the lights came on and saw this:

It was glowing but not lit. Shut down light, calling hydro shop tomorrow and getting a new lamp.

Not even 2 months, WTF!!!!!!!!! :cuss:

dapio · Nov 21, 2010

damn definently not gonna buy 1 of those

bigv1976 · Nov 21, 2010

That is because the bulb is not made for an electronic ballast and because of this the life span is greatly reduced.

sk'mo · Nov 21, 2010

Care to elaborate Bigv.

I kind of figured I might lose some lifespan, but 2 months? It's one of four. The others seem fine (Although I'll be taking a close look at them tomorrow.).

ninjagaiden · Nov 21, 2010

there has been A LOT of threads on horti bulbs blowing in digi ballasts (mainly lumas). Some people run them just fine without problems, others have bad luck.

It is too bad because horti bulbs are pretty much the best and lumatek ballasts are a great deal for the price.

bigv1976 · Nov 21, 2010

sk'mo said:
Care to elaborate Bigv.

I kind of figured I might lose some lifespan, but 2 months? It's one of four. The others seem fine (Although I'll be taking a close look at them tomorrow.).

The problem is that digi ballasts put out alot more amperage on start up than a magnetic ballast and the bulbs can only take so much. Everyone says electronic ballasts are the way to go but I wouldnt use one if you gave it to me.

sk'mo · Nov 21, 2010

Found >this< on the EYE website. You are right about the diminished life Bigv.

The electronic ballasts as evaluated were not designated with a particular ANSI lamp/ballast designation and did not have UL/CSA labeling. All were clearly marked for supply voltage ratings (120 or 240 volts) and did have power cord hookups for the lamp socket. All lamps tested did start on the various electronic ballasts, but some exhibited a swirling effect of the arc known as acoustic resonance. Because the electronic ballasts operate at very high frequency they can cause unstable conditions inside the lamp that can actually make the electric arc swirl or dance during starting. This may be seen as light coming from the fixture moving or flickering, but if the lamp were to be viewed with welders glass (very dark tinted glass) the electrically charged vapor in the lamp would been seen moving around. Acoustic resonance is hard on lamps and may cause premature failures due to the excessive vibrations. Electronic ballast users may need to replace lamps more frequently over time as this condition will eventually weaken all brands of lamps — some sooner than others depending on the construction of the lamp and the actual level of acoustic resonance generated by the ballast. Ballast designers know about acoustic resonance and can design to eliminate it for a specific lamp; but it may be hard to eliminate in all brands of lamps without careful compatibility evaluations.

Ballast efficiencies for tested electronic ballasts were very close to that of traditional metal ballasts. They consumed about 50 to 70 watts each and ran the lamps at roughly their rated 600 watts. This makes the total power consumed by the electronic 600 watt lamp and ballast system to be about 640-670 watts.

Light outputs from lamps tested on both traditional and electronic 600 watt ballasts tended to be about the same. There was no dramatic increase or decrease in light output from any of the ballasts choices; however, all lamps tested on electronic ballasts had advanced sodium loss and reduced lumens.

I'm praying I just got a dud lamp and that it's not going to be a resonance issue.

sk'mo · Nov 21, 2010

ninjagaiden said:
there has been A LOT of threads on horti bulbs blowing in digi ballasts (mainly lumas). Some people run them just fine without problems, others have bad luck.

It is too bad because horti bulbs are pretty much the best and lumatek ballasts are a great deal for the price.

Good thing I'm still under warranty.

wally nutter · Nov 21, 2010

get a sunpulse bulb. you wont regret it!

karr · Nov 21, 2010

i believe Lumitek has made a bulb designed for the higher frequencies of digi ballasts. i would look into those or look into a low freq digi ballast (AN has one)

sk'mo · Nov 22, 2010

I checked out the lumatek site, but it doesn't show anything. I'll ask my hydro shop.

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll post an update once I get this sorted.

Windex · Nov 22, 2010

I had the same problem with one of my 600 watters (SON T PIA from Philips) but after putting it on a magnetic ballast it worked again. Strange but true...

TheDude0007 · Nov 22, 2010

The bulb would have a life of about 2000 hours. It sounds like it failed before it's time for sure. I would also take it back. Although I would not buy anything other than a normal commercial HPS, they give 20,000 hours and are 1/3 of the price. Sure the spectrum is maybe 99% and not 100% but there are more important things to worry about.

wally nutter · Nov 22, 2010

sunpulse bulbs are designed for electronic ballasts such as lumetek's. they also put out a fuller spectrum than conventional MH or HPS. http://www.sunpulselamps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1

sunpulse plants a tree for every bulb sold too!

TheDude0007 · Nov 22, 2010

wally nutter said:
sunpulse plants a tree for every bulb sold too!

You don't really believe that they plant a tree for EVERY bulb sold. :-)

lol I think it is just more marketing bs.

wally nutter · Nov 22, 2010

TheDude0007 said:
You don't really believe that they plant a tree for EVERY bulb sold. lol I think it is just more marketing bs.

well if you wanna be cynical..

Medi 1 · Nov 22, 2010

been using horti for years in digi and never lost one early...not like that anyways. i usaly replace them before any have blown or worn out totaly

nj10ii · Nov 22, 2010

Your only under warranty if you used them correctly.

sk'mo · Nov 22, 2010

Medi 1 said:
been using horti for years in digi and never lost one early...not like that anyways. i usaly replace them before any have blown or worn out totaly

Would love to do that, but I haven't had the lights long enough to warrant it.

nj10ii said:
Your only under warranty if you used them correctly.

What? You mean like screw it into the socket and plug it in?

wally nutter said:
sunpulse bulbs are designed for electronic ballasts such as lumetek's. they also put out a fuller spectrum than conventional MH or HPS. http://www.sunpulselamps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1

sunpulse plants a tree for every bulb sold too!

Thanks, I'll look into it.

TheDude0007 said:
The bulb would have a life of about 2000 hours. It sounds like it failed before it's time for sure. I would also take it back. Although I would not buy anything other than a normal commercial HPS, they give 20,000 hours and are 1/3 of the price. Sure the spectrum is maybe 99% and not 100% but there are more important things to worry about.

The lamps were part of a kit. I was actually surprised to see what kind they were when I got them.

bird mcbride · Nov 22, 2010

Superace 1000/w/hps have been used and proven in the pot growing industry. All major growers use superace bulbs. They're a lot more expensive than other hps bulbs but you'll find superace lighting in every commercial grow. Superace bulbs have built in ignitors and can be operated with any mh or standard ballast. Try your bulb in another ballast, you may have an ignitor or CAP problem with the ballast.

600W bulb failure - WTF!

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