400 watt mh bulb acting weird

smokinpauly

smokinpauly

Well-Known Member
hey folks man this is my first inside grow and ive been blowing this place up, and im grateful for all of the help so far. so anyway i have a 400 watt mh/hps setup. right now i have the mh bulb in and i had my room running for a minute then shut it down to adjust a few things. when i turned it back on the bulb wouldnt come on. i switched to the hps to see if my ballast was shot, but it came right on with the hps bulb. after about 15 mins i put the mh bulb in and now it works fine. any thoughts on this? thanks!
 
WaxxyNuggets

WaxxyNuggets

Active Member
Some digitals have quick restart protection. Not sure how it works but if you restrike a bulb without letting it cool down it can fuck it up, so the ballast won't allow it to turn back on until its adequately cooled.
 
smokinpauly

smokinpauly

Well-Known Member
WaxxyNuggets said:
Some digitals have quick restart protection. Not sure how it works but if you restrike a bulb without letting it cool down it can fuck it up, so the ballast won't allow it to turn back on until its adequately cooled.
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oh no shit? thats good to know. yea its a digi that makes sense
 
Bud Grauer

Bud Grauer

New Member
Yes, your equip went thru a "restrike" cycle.

Always a good idea to read the Owners' Manual with anything more sophisticated than a wheelbarrow Leroy.
 
smoke and coke

smoke and coke

Well-Known Member
whenever you shut down an hps or mh light, wait about 15 minute for the gas or vapor inside the bulb to cool down before you restart the light.
 
C

coocoo

Active Member
yeah like the one guy said, that's normal man you gotta give it time to cool down. My reef aquarium has 2x 250watt mh and they do the exact same thing.
 
choop

choop

Well-Known Member
i tried to turn mine on too quick like a minute later too (nooby i know) and it wouldnt come on. i thought i broke the thing . my ballast is digital too so this must explain it. i always wait like 10 minutes now before switching on and off if i need to for some reason
 
missnu

missnu

Well-Known Member
smokinpauly said:
hey folks man this is my first inside grow and ive been blowing this place up, and im grateful for all of the help so far. so anyway i have a 400 watt mh/hps setup. right now i have the mh bulb in and i had my room running for a minute then shut it down to adjust a few things. when i turned it back on the bulb wouldnt come on. i switched to the hps to see if my ballast was shot, but it came right on with the hps bulb. after about 15 mins i put the mh bulb in and now it works fine. any thoughts on this? thanks!
Click to expand...
It takes mine a little bit to come back on if I have to turn it off...as a general rule I wait at least 15 minutes before trying to turn it back on...because if I try to turn it back on before then I end up having to have a, "did my bulb just blow" freakout. Both my magnetic and Digital ballasts do this...there is no flip it off, flip it on...You have to flip it off, and then leave it off...then turn it back on after a little bit.
 
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