Hi friends,
I just started my 12/12 cycle this morning with a bad omen. My HPS light won't stay on for more than 20 seconds. I turn it on, and everything seems fine, it powers up as normal. Roughly 10 seconds in it flickers slightly, then shuts off shortly after. I have tried re-connecting the bulb numerous times to make sure it was seated correctly. When re-seating i have noticed that the bulb is extremely hot to the touch, even through my gloves. Obviously a 400 watt bulb is going to be hot, but maybe that's too hot too fast?
After messing around with the HPS for 30 minutes i gave up, my plants need some real light. So i put back in the 400 watt HID i've been vegging with for the last 2 months. It still works fine. Same ballast. In fact these are both new bulbs and new ballast that i bought as a package 2 months ago.
My first question is obvious, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this bulb to shine and actually stay on?
The second question i have is how bad is it that i'm using the wrong bulb to start out 12/12 cycle? Will it only slow down my budding process, adding time before harvest? Or will it confuse the plants perhaps telling them not to bud? This is my first grow so being forced to use the wrong bulb is scaring the heck outta me.
Thank you all for your help!
I just started my 12/12 cycle this morning with a bad omen. My HPS light won't stay on for more than 20 seconds. I turn it on, and everything seems fine, it powers up as normal. Roughly 10 seconds in it flickers slightly, then shuts off shortly after. I have tried re-connecting the bulb numerous times to make sure it was seated correctly. When re-seating i have noticed that the bulb is extremely hot to the touch, even through my gloves. Obviously a 400 watt bulb is going to be hot, but maybe that's too hot too fast?
After messing around with the HPS for 30 minutes i gave up, my plants need some real light. So i put back in the 400 watt HID i've been vegging with for the last 2 months. It still works fine. Same ballast. In fact these are both new bulbs and new ballast that i bought as a package 2 months ago.
My first question is obvious, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this bulb to shine and actually stay on?
The second question i have is how bad is it that i'm using the wrong bulb to start out 12/12 cycle? Will it only slow down my budding process, adding time before harvest? Or will it confuse the plants perhaps telling them not to bud? This is my first grow so being forced to use the wrong bulb is scaring the heck outta me.
Thank you all for your help!