whats wrong with my new ballast?

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del taco lover

Well-Known Member
i bought a new 250w lumatek digital ballast, a slightly used super sun 1 with cord, and a 270 super agro bulb. im new to growing, so bear with me. arent i supposed to just plug everything in and it should turn on? i noticed the "input" button on the ballast is pushed in. what does this mean?

thanks
 
SikSol

SikSol

Well-Known Member
Correct, when you first fire it up its not going to look right, will seem very yellow and not very bright at first usually. Once warmed up it will be fine, also if you shut it off you should let it cool down before trying to fire it back up.
 
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del taco lover

Well-Known Member
Dirtyboy said:
plug it in. turn it on. ot takes some time to warm up and cool off once lit to work.
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what do you mean by "turn it on". there is no on/off switch on this thing. just a white button labeled "input" and its fully depressed in and wont come out. not sure what that means. this is confusing to me because looking at other lumatek ballast switches there is an on/off switch but mine has none.
 
Skunk#1

Skunk#1

Well-Known Member
mine does not have a switch also its meant to be plug into a timer and that is the on off switch
 
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del taco lover

Well-Known Member
well i plugged it into my timer, and its now plugged into the wall and nothing. damn this is frustrating. i find it hard to believe the ballast is bad. am i missing some kind of power cable/converter or something? i dont get it
 
smallclosetgrowr

smallclosetgrowr

Well-Known Member
i still dont get what your saying , hps lights do not have an on/off buttom, its pretty simple buddy just plug your hood with the globe in it into the Ballast....then the balllast goes into the wall. if your do that and its still not comming on listen for a tiking noise comming from the ballast that means that your globe is fucked,
 
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del taco lover

Well-Known Member
i dont hear any noise, nor does the ballast get hot at all. this is with and without the reflector plugged in. heres a stupid question, how do i tell if my electricity is 120 or 240? i picked up a 120 and live in the states.
 
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del taco lover

Well-Known Member
Barrett said:
All normal outlets are 120v, a "dryer" outlet is 240v..

Get a voltmetre/check fuses/diagrams
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last question, should this thing(ballast) be making noise/getting hot without anything being plugged into it? because if it does im thinking its a bad ballast.
 
smallclosetgrowr

smallclosetgrowr

Well-Known Member
so u have everything plugged in light into the hood ?hood into the ballast?and ballast into the wall? your ballast shouldnt be getting hot if its not in use lol ...check your fuse it will be on the side of the ballast it might have blown
 
G

guestrollitup

New Member
Lumatek's take a bit to get hot, and yes there should be a draw on it even if nothing is plugged in.. However with the new digi ballasts they might not take energy without something drawing from it.
 
lemmis

lemmis

Well-Known Member
you said 270 agro bulb. is 270 the wattage? if it is, will your 250 watt balast work with it? also, not sure how digital works but do ya need to match hps bulbs with hps ballasts? m ake sure your bulb will work with your ballast
 
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del taco lover

Well-Known Member
its supposed to work with the 270 bulb. screw it im just going to take everything to the hydro shop and test it out. thanks for the help.
 
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