magnetic ballast losing power?

[larrypizzimp93]

I have magnetic ballasts and it seems like they lose power over time. Changed bulbs and its still the same brightness. but one of my ballasts blew and my grow store let me borrow one till mine gets replaced and it's actually brighter with an old bulb. anyone get this?

 

[Kingrow1]

I have magnetic ballasts and it seems like they lose power over time. Changed bulbs and its still the same brightness. but one of my ballasts blew and my grow store let me borrow one till mine gets replaced and it's actually brighter with an old bulb. anyone get this?

No never

 

[jondamon]

I have magnetic ballasts and it seems like they lose power over time. Changed bulbs and its still the same brightness. but one of my ballasts blew and my grow store let me borrow one till mine gets replaced and it's actually brighter with an old bulb. anyone get this?

Over time a magnetic ballast can degrade due to the coils etc within them that create the magnetic field to regulate the electricity being supplied, they loosen and cause more degradation.

Also couple that with the fact your electricity supply to your home can fluctuate during the day depending upon times it’s in use and how much is being used.

In the U.K. your supply can differ during the day between 210v-258v even though we run 240v supplies.

Magnetic ballasts depending upon manufacturer could have lesser quality components making more voltage drop internally or less voltage drop internally.

So in answer to your question could a different ballast make a bulb appear brighter than it was before.

YES due to all these factors I listed.

All being equal if you took a
Digital ballast and a magnetic ballast that are brand new and a brand new bulb.

The bulb would appear brighter in the digital ballast due to the digital ballast being a lot more efficient than the magnetic ballast and thus delivering more power to the lamp than the magnetic ballast can achieve.

 

[larrypizzimp93]

Over time a magnetic ballast can degrade due to the coils etc within them that create the magnetic field to regulate the electricity being supplied, they loosen and cause more degradation.

Also couple that with the fact your electricity supply to your home can fluctuate during the day depending upon times it’s in use and how much is being used.

In the U.K. your supply can differ during the day between 210v-258v even though we run 240v supplies.

Magnetic ballasts depending upon manufacturer could have lesser quality components making more voltage drop internally or less voltage drop internally.

So in answer to your question could a different ballast make a bulb appear brighter than it was before.

YES due to all these factors I listed.

All being equal if you took a
Digital ballast and a magnetic ballast that are brand new and a brand new bulb.

The bulb would appear brighter in the digital ballast due to the digital ballast being a lot more efficient than the magnetic ballast and thus delivering more power to the lamp than the magnetic ballast can achieve.

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna have to switch to digital. I'm guessing the ballasts are the reason i'm not pulling the weight I should be getting. Do digital put off a lot of frequency? I read that digitals can mess with neighbors wireless electronics

 

[Hashishh]

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna have to switch to digital. I'm guessing the ballasts are the reason i'm not pulling the weight I should be getting. Do digital put off a lot of frequency? I read that digitals can mess with neighbors wireless electronics

I've been running a Vivosun 600w HPS/MH in my small highrise for about 6 months now. No knocks at the door. Nothing wrong with my electronics at all, even in the bedroom where my tent/ballast is. I've heard stories but I haven't noticed anything go wonky since growing.

Edit: I should add my neighbours an older gentleman, stays home and listens to the radio. Never made any mention of anything weird.

 

[xtsho]

I've been running a Vivosun 600w HPS/MH in my small highrise for about 6 months now. No knocks at the door. Nothing wrong with my electronics at all, even in the bedroom where my tent/ballast is. I've heard stories but I haven't noticed anything go wonky since growing.

Edit: I should add my neighbours an older gentleman, stays home and listens to the radio. Never made any mention of anything weird.

I have the same Vivosun ballast and have never noticed any interference either. Most all newer digital ballasts have RF shielding to prevent interference.

 

[CannaBruh]

If there are electrolytic capacitors inside they may be failing or have failed.

 

[xtsho]

If there are electrolytic capacitors inside they may be failing or have failed.

There were ton's of bad capacitors put into all kinds of electronic devices some years back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

 

[OldMedUser]

I'm using all magnetics and some are at least 40 years old. The capacitors in them are totally unlike the ones that failed in electronic devices so there is no relevance there. If the capacitor dies the bulb won't fire at all and and for $30 or so can be easily replaced. Try fixing a digital ballast.

They do not lose power output as they age and are much less susceptible to damage from voltage fluctuations compared to digital ballasts.

I still use a 16 year old 400W Hortilux conversion bulb in a 40 year old HPS ballast and the plants grow fine. A buddy recently sent me a 400W Philips CMH bulb and that's the one I'll be using for my veg bulb now and just keep the old Hort for a backup.

No noise from it, (have 2 like this one and an MH like it), need the extra heat for my cool grow room and never once had a bulb blow in almost 20 years.

 

[CannaBruh]

I'm using all magnetics and some are at least 40 years old. The capacitors in them are totally unlike the ones that failed in electronic devices so there is no relevance there. If the capacitor dies the bulb won't fire at all and and for $30 or so can be easily replaced. Try fixing a digital ballast.

They do not lose power output as they age and are much less susceptible to damage from voltage fluctuations compared to digital ballasts.

I still use a 16 year old 400W Hortilux conversion bulb in a 40 year old HPS ballast and the plants grow fine. A buddy recently sent me a 400W Philips CMH bulb and that's the one I'll be using for my veg bulb now and just keep the old Hort for a backup.

No noise from it, (have 2 like this one and an MH like it), need the extra heat for my cool grow room and never once had a bulb blow in almost 20 years.

View attachment 4257186

Electrolytics are electrolytics, unless you're offering to share some other type of capacitor you find in yours? Maybe film?

I'm still banking on leaky caps in dude's low output ballast.

I'll fix your digital ballast but you won't like my rates.

 

[xtsho]

I'm using all magnetics and some are at least 40 years old. The capacitors in them are totally unlike the ones that failed in electronic devices so there is no relevance there. If the capacitor dies the bulb won't fire at all and and for $30 or so can be easily replaced. Try fixing a digital ballast.

They do not lose power output as they age and are much less susceptible to damage from voltage fluctuations compared to digital ballasts.

I still use a 16 year old 400W Hortilux conversion bulb in a 40 year old HPS ballast and the plants grow fine. A buddy recently sent me a 400W Philips CMH bulb and that's the one I'll be using for my veg bulb now and just keep the old Hort for a backup.

No noise from it, (have 2 like this one and an MH like it), need the extra heat for my cool grow room and never once had a bulb blow in almost 20 years.

View attachment 4257186

Yeah, wrong type of capacitor. I guess I'm not an Electrical Engineer.

 

[xtsho]

Electrolytics are electrolytics, unless you're offering to share some other type of capacitor you find in yours? Maybe film?

I'm still banking on leaky caps in dude's low output ballast.

I'll fix your digital ballast but you won't like my rates.

I think most magnetic ballasts use dry film capacitors. Some of the really old ones might use oil filled.

 

[CannaBruh]

I think most magnetic ballasts use dry film capacitors. Some of the really old ones might use oil filled.

Not much else in there to fail
Maaaaaybe a winding opened/went short and it's still firing the lamp but I dunno. Just guessing

 

[OldMedUser]

Electrolytics are electrolytics, unless you're offering to share some other type of capacitor you find in yours? Maybe film?

I'm still banking on leaky caps in dude's low output ballast.

I'll fix your digital ballast but you won't like my rates.

I'm not an electronics expert by any means but the capacitor plague thing refers to the types of capacitors used in digital appliances and not the larger ones used for ballasts, electric motors etc. Most digital ballast circuit boards that I've seen are covered with goop so you can't even look for fried components much less fix them. I've repaired TV's by finding cooked items on the circuit boards and soldering in new parts but those were old TVs and Radio Shack no longer sells many of the parts they used to keep in stock. I've got failed caps in the power supply for a 24" LCD monitor and the guy at 'The Source' can't even order in the 5 caps I need to fix it. Even went and got myself a heatless soldering iron to do the repair.

If it's a dead capacitor in the OP's magnetic ballast then the bulb shouldn't light up at all. I'm not sure if it will run at a lower voltage if the capacitor is still working but at a lower capacity.

I don't have to worry about anyone fixing my digital ballasts as I don't have any.

 

[CannaBruh]

Caps failing has nothing to do with the link posted. All electrolytic caps will fail with age/heat. Film caps can suffer failures of the dielectric. Caps can kind of work while suffering leakage, even film caps.

 

[raggyb]

IMO with old ones the bulb should first get brighter as the bulb wears out, but you shouldn't let it do that because it burns down the capacitor. After that happens it will become dimmer in general and eventually die completely.