Should I buy a new bulb???

I have a 400HPS. When I plug it in it lights up but when I turn the timer on it doesn't want to light up when the timer is supose to turn it on. It turns on but only slightly, It doesn't power all the way up but I just unpluged it for a few minutes an than pluged it back in and it turned all the way on. I hope someone understands what I am talking about. If you need more info. just ask. Thanks for any help that you can provide in advance.

HPS lights have to warm uopp wait about 5 - 10 minutes then if it still isnt on then we will look at other probs


good kluck

pjboy31 said:

HPS lights have to warm uopp wait about 5 - 10 minutes then if it still isnt on then we will look at other probs


good kluck

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PJ is correct. The HID lights need to warm up as well as cool down before they're turned back on. It can be a bit tedious at times, especially right after you get a new light and you want to turn it on and off to check things out, and see how its going to work with your space.

Patience is the key here. On another note, its not a bad idea to have a back-up bulb in the closet just in case your main bulb does burn out. You might look at it as an unneeded expense, but when your bulb does burn out you would rather have one right there than have to go flying around town to find a hydro shop that has one in stock... Hopefully no one ever has to go through the pain of having one over-nighted... haha

Good luck

name101 said:

I have a 400HPS. When I plug it in it lights up but when I turn the timer on it doesn't want to light up when the timer is supose to turn it on. It turns on but only slightly, It doesn't power all the way up but I just unpluged it for a few minutes an than pluged it back in and it turned all the way on. I hope someone understands what I am talking about. If you need more info. just ask. Thanks for any help that you can provide in advance.

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sounds to me like you need a new timer. If it lights up when you plug it in but just not with the timer I would say the timer is shot. Its not letting enough power through.

O.K. well I ordered 2 new bulbs just to be on the safe side. Do you think it could be the timer? It lights up though when I plug the light into the timer and than plug the timer into the power strip. It just seems as the timer goes around and turns the light off and than goes to turn it back on, It is only coming on maybe 20%. I'll keep an eye on it and leave you know what happens. Right now I put it back on 24 hours instead of 18/6 because once its on, it's good to go.
I don't think it should of had a problem turning back on because it was off for 6 hours before the timer kicked back on. I really don't know I;ll take a closer look at things later. I also don't know exactly how old this bulb is because I bought the whole thing off someone on ebay. She could have lied about the age, although it does look new, like she said. She said she was selling it because it was to small and turned right around and bought a 1000 watt setup, so this one was only a week old. Thanks again for your help.

bro you definitely need a digital timer with three prongs. Lmao you are making this much harder than it should be. you gave me a good laugh



good luck

You can't turn off a HPS and turn it right back on.

Just like they need time to warm up, they need time to cool down. I've seen wierd sparking and low outputs if I cycle the light on/off too quickly.

make sure the timer you use can handle the amps that your light puts out. and dont plug the light into a light strip, sounds like you are over loading the amp capability...

try and use one wall outlet only for your light.....

As big mike said sounds like your timer is not rated for more than 300watts.
I also burnt my first timer out with my 400watt hps lamp.
If the lamp works fine without the timer being plugged in its definitely a fact that you need a light controller and a new timer.
The light controller will protect your timers from surges that fuse the timers on and off circuits or mechanisms,depending on whether it is digital or clockwork.