HPS melted

I’ve been using a 1.000 watt hps in my flowering room for about 2 months now. I did very little for dust control but it was in a closed hood with a carbon filter on the intake. Today I noticed my light was barely shining, I put it under a lumen reader and it was less than the dark side of my room. I unplugged the ballast and plugged it back in, that’s when it sparked bright and snapped in two!

is this normal for a hps bulb? I thought they should be good for about over a year? It’s Vivosun brand. I’m running the ballast at 600watts, that’s the only changes I’ve made recently.

GreenForMiles said:

I’ve been using a 1.000 watt hps in my flowering room for about 2 months now. I did very little for dust control but it was in a closed hood with a carbon filter on the intake. Today I noticed my light was barely shining, I put it under a lumen reader and it was less than the dark side of my room. I unplugged the ballast and plugged it back in, that’s when it sparked bright and snapped in two!

is this normal for a hps bulb? I thought they should be good for about over a year? It’s Vivosun brand. I’m running the ballast at 600watts, that’s the only changes I’ve made recently.

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It can happen with any light. I've been using Vivosun bulbs for years and have not had any issues. The one time I did have a lamp blow it was an Eye Hortilux that cost me around $100 and was only a few weeks old. Four times the cost of a Vivosun bulb. And it literally blew as in the glass actually broke.

curious2garden said:

Log In ‹ EYE Hortilux — WordPress

eyehortilux.com

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I posted right at the same time. I've used that brand but will never again. They cost 4 times as much as a Vivosun and are not any better spectrum wise. Plus they can blow just like any other brand of light. I don't think they're any better than Vivosun bulbs but they do cost about 4 times as much. I've used both and did not notice any difference in yield or quality so I go with the lower cost bulb.

xtsho said:

It can happen with any light. I've been using Vivosun bulbs for years and have not had any issues. The one time I did have a lamp blow it was an Eye Hortilux that cost me around $100 and was only a few weeks old. Four times the cost of a Vivosun bulb. And it literally blew as in the glass actually broke.

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I've had the best of luck with the Eye Hortilux and with Plantmax bulbs

Vivosun is the biggest pile of garbage shit I won't buy any more of their crap. Light timers fail and get stuck on all the time. I had one burn badly. They delivered me an 8" fan inline and carbon filter the fan was unbalanced from day one it was insane. The carbon filter worked for like a month. The stuff is all made disposable. If I was running vivosun sun bulbs I'd be swapping them every cycle or every other max.

xtsho said:

I posted right at the same time. I've used that brand but will never again. They cost 4 times as much as a Vivosun and are not any better spectrum wise. Plus they can blow just like any other brand of light. I don't think they're any better than Vivosun bulbs but they do cost about 4 times as much. I've used both and did not notice any difference in yield or quality so I go with the lower cost bulb.

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Yeah that's why I was laughing.

curious2garden said:

I've had the best of luck with the Eye Hortiluz and with Plantmax bulbs

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I'm not saying they are not good bulbs. They are just not worth the cost compared to other bulbs.

MidnightSun72 said:

Vivosun is the biggest pile of garbage shit I won't buy any more of their crap. Light timers fail and get stuck on all the time. I had one burn badly. They delivered me an 8" inline and carbon filter the fan was unbalanced from day one it was insane. The carbon filter worked for like a month. The stuff is all made disposable. If I was running vivosun sun bulbs I'd be swapping them every cycle or every other max.

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I've been using Vivosun equipment for years. Ballast still works, tent still works, carbon filter contains the smell. I have not had a single issue in 4 years using the same equipment. I do swap my bulbs out every couple of grows but they're so inexpensive that the cost is minimal. Years ago when I was using the Hortilux bulbs I only ran them for a couple grows as well. If I was to go out and buy new equipment I'd go Vivosun again as I've used it for years and have grown hundreds of plants with the equipment. Some buy the most expensive brand, I buy the most economical and am very successful using that equipment.

xtsho said:

I'm not saying they are not good bulbs. They are just not worth the cost compared to other bulbs.

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Yeah, I'm running Plantmax and am very happy with them too.

xtsho said:

I've been using Vivosun equipment for years. Ballast still works, tent still works, carbon filter contains the smell. I have not had a single issue in 4 years using the same equipment. I do swap my bulbs out every couple of grows but they're so inexpensive that the cost is minimal. Years ago when I was using the Hortilux bulbs I only ran them for a couple grows as well. If I was to go out and buy new equipment I'd go Vivosun again as I've used it for years and have grown hundreds of plants with the equipment. Some buy the most expensive brand, I buy the most economical and am very successful using that equipment.

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I forgot to mention I got a 4x8 tent from them leaks light like crazy too.

I like to save money as much as possible but I like to find a balance between saving money and wondering if my house smells like it's burning down.

makes more sense for the bulbs since most don't last super long regardless of brand.

Thanks guys, I’ll look into different branding. Thank you @xtsho your perspective was helpful, I use a vivosun tent and like it a lot, it doesn’t leak light as long as the vents are closed. They’re not a horrible brand, but for light, I think I prefer my HLG QB’s for veg. Maybe time to upgrade to an led for flowering however Ive had no problems with Vivosun up until now. I’m really glad it just snapped and didn’t explode, I was looking at it as it happened…

MidnightSun72 said:

I forgot to mention I got a 4x8 tent from them leaks light like crazy too.

I like to save money as much as possible but I like to find a balance between saving money and wondering if my house smells like it's burning down.

makes more sense for the bulbs since most don't last super long regardless of brand.

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There's going to be duds with almost every product. I guess I've been lucky.

Much of it is going to do with the manufacturing process. Different shifts, quality control, etc... I worked in manufacturing years ago and some shifts would have a much higher amount of RMA's. Same process but the human factor can make a difference.

Sometimes you can spend a ton of money on the most expensive equipment and have issues. Sometimes you can buy the cheapest option out there and not have a single problem. Just look at all the people buying luxury cars and spending months with them in the shop while someone that bought a cheap KIA can drive for years doing nothing but filling the tank with gas.

I was just relating my experience with Vivosun which has been stellar. But I do know that many people have experienced problems with the brand. There is going to be some luck involved for sure. I also wonder how much the transport of things like bulbs can affect their longevity. Sometimes packages get pretty abused in transit. You might not notice on the packaging but the way those lights are made it can't be good for the internals to be banging around as they toss those boxes around in the transfer stations and warehouses.

GreenForMiles said:

I’ve been using a 1.000 watt hps in my flowering room for about 2 months now. I did very little for dust control but it was in a closed hood with a carbon filter on the intake. Today I noticed my light was barely shining, I put it under a lumen reader and it was less than the dark side of my room. I unplugged the ballast and plugged it back in, that’s when it sparked bright and snapped in two!

is this normal for a hps bulb? I thought they should be good for about over a year? It’s Vivosun brand. I’m running the ballast at 600watts, that’s the only changes I’ve made recently.

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This is why I use cheap ballasts but with the pricey Phillips Son-T bulbs ....touch wood ....lol