Bulb Won't Start (HPS 600 on Magnetic)

I have a dual 600 (2 x 600 hps at one time) magnetic. (Sun Systems Gro Pro Dual 600)

After moving the ballast, it stopped working, hummed, but nothing happened with the bulbs. After replacing the ignitor, the bulbs now try to start ( you can see the spark across the entire sodium element like its gonna start) but after about 30-45 seconds the ballast gives up and the bulbs won't start. Ballast still hums, but I am scratching my head. (I had someone from Sun Systems on the phone to make sure I wired everything correctly.)

Bulbs were tested in a separate 600 magnetic, they all worked (2 Hortilux and a Eiko 600).

The ballast has 1 ignitor (4 wires not your average unit) but 2 capacitors. I have a hard time believing both capacitors went bad at once, but I can't really put my finger on any other possibilities?

The ballast runs 120/240, but I have it set now to 120 , new igniter runs off the 240 line off the transformer (SunSystems Tech specifically had me grab that wire) but where is 240 coming from if I'm supplying the thing with 120? Should I switch to supplying 240 even though the ballast is supposed to be switchable? :help:

Thanks.

How did you unplug the ballast? It sounds to me like its the ballast thats failing.

Read the directions (i'm sure you have) it depends on which ballast but on my lumatek it says you have to unplug the power chord then the connector into the actual ballast.
I had my ballast fail on me after about a week of purchase and they replaced it free at my local hydro store.

If you still have your receipt, I believe most ballasts have a 5 year warranty. I would take it in and get a replacement

Take it for what its worth :]

Good luck

ifoundnemo said:

How did you unplug the ballast? It sounds to me like its the ballast thats failing.

Read the directions (i'm sure you have) it depends on which ballast but on my lumatek it says you have to unplug the power chord then the connector into the actual ballast.
I had my ballast fail on me after about a week of purchase and they replaced it free at my local hydro store.

If you still have your receipt, I believe most ballasts have a 5 year warranty. I would take it in and get a replacement

Take it for what its worth :]

Good luck

Click to expand...

Ended up going through the wiring and comparing it to a single 600 I had. The Markings on the transformer are sparse and should only be used as a rough wiring guide, not an exact explanation of every wire in there (really aggravating). However, something in the way I was told to wire it didn't comply with the markings., Anyway, long story short ended up being I was told some partially wrong information, looking at the replacement igniter, it needed a direct line to the long side of the transformer, but the old one didn't for some reason (rather it used a common to achieve the same thing, I assume new one is a more stable design?) The information for re-wiring of the sockets was correct, but the wiring of the igniter to the sockets was not, including that wire that was just a little off.

Anyway, here's some cool pics with it now running