Bulb life ?

dux

dux

Well-Known Member
I was wondering If there Is a general rule of thumb when It comes to the life of a grow bulb? Mh or HPS.Will a bulb look good but possibly have a weakening of the light spectrum that we would not notice? I just put a new MH in one of my hoods that I know I had used for 2-3 years.
Just curious to what people think.
I did switch all my nutrients to a different brand and put In new bulbs and this grow (6 plants) Is looking fuller and happier than any of my previous...:clap:
Thoughts?

Dux
 
Swisher Sweet

Swisher Sweet

Active Member
dux said:
I was wondering If there Is a general rule of thumb when It comes to the life of a grow bulb? Mh or HPS.Will a bulb look good but possibly have a weakening of the light spectrum that we would not notice? I just put a new MH in one of my hoods that I know I had used for 2-3 years.
Just curious to what people think.
I did switch all my nutrients to a different brand and put In new bulbs and this grow (6 plants) Is looking fuller and happier than any of my previous...:clap:

I use mine for two cycles although they say they last longer. Just my preference.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dubdeuce

Well-Known Member
The "life" of a bulb by the manufacturers technical specification is 24,000 hours. Since HID bulbs have sealed ends, they slowly lose lumens due to loss of gas. Like Swisher said, 2 grow cycles is a good rule of thumb to switch out. I've never seen any solid data on how many lumens have been lost after any given amount of time. Using a PAR meter, I will performing these tests in the next couple weeks.
 
G

Ganjen

Member
Hey. i have 2 600 watt hps running together. both are the identical model except one is a year older than the other. sooo that being said, all of the plants get the same nutes, same temperature, same humidity, same everything.. and the light that is a year older is almost 2 yeard old now and i never changed the bulb. I am getting better results under the older bulb that supposedly is weaker after one year. i am going to keep using it. it works great.
 
ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
I suspect a slight shit to the red registers, similar to when a torch battery starts to run down.
 
Swisher Sweet

Swisher Sweet

Active Member
Ganjen said:
Hey. i have 2 600 watt hps running together. both are the identical model except one is a year older than the other. sooo that being said, all of the plants get the same nutes, same temperature, same humidity, same everything.. and the light that is a year older is almost 2 yeard old now and i never changed the bulb. I am getting better results under the older bulb that supposedly is weaker after one year. i am going to keep using it. it works great.
Click to expand...
Same Manufacturer?
 
dux

dux

Well-Known Member
sounds good thanks! always kinda thought 2 years would be about right. Has anybody ever had a bulb blow-up?
 
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