New Super hps bulb keeps turning off after warm up?

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drizzeydrazz

Member
hey guys so this is my first legit expensive grow with all the stops, I h ave a 1000 watt hood with a digital e ballist called phantom II. I woke up this morning to my MH bulb being end of life, so no problem right ill just switch to my super HPS... well... after it does its warm up and is on for about 5 or so minutes, it just turns off. The dimming button starts doing 3 flashes at a time and the power light is solid, the chart on the front says nothing about that combo and it just keeps doing it.... i dont know what to do at this point im honestly about to just buy the spider farmer led 4000 and be done with it im beyond aggravated
 
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drizzeydrazz

Member
so i just looks up the manual,. Low Input Voltage Flash x 3 On .... the mh was fine, why would the hps be saying low input voltage i have it hooked up the same exact way??
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
If you have a multimeter you can confirm the power supply voltage is correct but I suspect a defective ballast. Because of that I would want new bulbs as well.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
You aren't using an extension cord are you? That could cause a voltage drop. When the ballast starts it gradually brings up the power and perhaps when it gets near max it encounters a voltage drop causing it to scram. A voltage drop can cause a load to draw excess current so they build in a protection circuit.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
some digi ballasts wont' fire non E ballast rated HPS bulbs.

Edit: oops, you said it does fire it so disregard.

what else do you have on the same circuit? a 1K @ 120V is pulling about 8 amps by itself
 
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drizzeydrazz

Member
im not using an extension cord, but i am using a power strip, its just weird because the 1000 watt mh bulb ive had in there the past couple months have been giving me no problems. honestly this ballast is a 300$ ballast and im borrowing from a friend, i already messaged him asking if he ever had this issue. just weird how ive had no issues then when i switch the bulb all of the sudden this, it gets fully warmed up and stays on for a good 5 to ten minutes after that too, just blows my mind how the other 1000 watt bulb gave me not one issue, honestly tho i think im just gonna buy a spider farmer 4000 led and save on electricity in the long run, im literally having to turn this thing back on every 20 mins, i thru my 40 watt full spectrum led in there just to keep them in light for the next day while i wait for the spider farmer.

im not much of an electrician and our circuit breaker dosent have anything labeled so i honestly have no idea what else is on this circuit. now do hps bulbs take more voltage to run then mh's do? im just trying to comeup with reasons on why this is happening.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
HPS and MH run at the same voltage, the ignition process is different.

Maybe try a different bulb.
 
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drizzeydrazz

Member
interesting, weird though because if the bulb was end of life the ballast would just tell me that. these bulbs are so expensive too. that blows my mind even more that they run at the same voltage. i have a feeling the ballast is messed up tbh.
 
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drizzeydrazz

Member
yea its just weird that it would cycle like that, and not tell me low voltage right away, its fully firing up, staying fully fired up for ten or so minutes THEN telling me at has low voltage for a bit then turns it self back on then repeats until eventually it goes on stand by or some other weird combination of blinking / solid colored lights haha, unfortunately he gave me everything he had, i only have 2 600 watt bulb, 1 mh and 1 hps but i have a 1000watt hood so ehh.

I was literally on the edge of going led anyways because between electricity and buying the bulbs i feel like the led will pay for itself in no time.All the comparisons i read and watch say that you get the same results if not better, so we will see what happens.

I really appreciate all the help guys for real you are saints <3 literally the quickest help i've gotten on any forums ever, you guys rock!!! :)
 
Skunk Baxter

Skunk Baxter

Well-Known Member
I've had that happen twice now with Eye Hortilux Super 1000W bulbs. The first time, I assumed it was the ballast, but by the time the new ballast arrived, it had stopped happening. A few years later (just a couple of months ago, in fact), I had it happen again with a different brand new Eye Hortilux bulb. This time, it only happened twice, and then it was fine.

So I can't prove it, but it does kind of seem that there's something about the bulb that makes it somewhat prone to that. I can't think of what that would be, but I've never had it happen with any other type of bulb.
 
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