Ballast/Light issues HELP!

TRollemup

Member
So I'm 1 week into flower w 600w mh/hps. When I switched to my hps bulb(brand new) it stayed on for appx 1 min before shutting off. Before freaking the fuck out, I unplugged my ballast, switched to 400w and turned it back on. It's been running fine at 400w since. I called the ballast/lamp mfgr sand had them both replaced. After waiting for the replacements, I plugged the new set in and the same thing happened. So my ballast ran my mh lamp at 600w but will only run my hps lamp at 400w. Wtf is going on? My new ballast also seems to be giving off a current that I can feel on the ballast itself as well as my hood for my lamp. Not too savy when it comes to electrical shit aside from the basics. Any feedback would be appreciated.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
So I'm 1 week into flower w 600w mh/hps. When I switched to my hps bulb(brand new) it stayed on for appx 1 min before shutting off. Before freaking the fuck out, I unplugged my ballast, switched to 400w and turned it back on. It's been running fine at 400w since. I called the ballast/lamp mfgr sand had them both replaced. After waiting for the replacements, I plugged the new set in and the same thing happened. So my ballast ran my mh lamp at 600w but will only run my hps lamp at 400w. Wtf is going on? My new ballast also seems to be giving off a current that I can feel on the ballast itself as well as my hood for my lamp. Not too savy when it comes to electrical shit aside from the basics. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Is the HPS a 600w bulb? Reason I ask is because if you're trying to use a 400w bulb with a ballast dimmed to 400w, it'll do exactly what you're describing.

Through process of elimination, the most likely culprit is the HPS bulb.
 

TRollemup

Member
Yes, it is a 600w lamp. I literally took it out of the box for the first time. Brand new ballast and lamp. 1st time either had been used. I dunno, this is the 3rd 600w lamp they've sent me so I'm leaning towards it NOT being the lamp now. I also ran an extension cord from another circuit just to see and it did the same thing. 2lamps and 2 ballasts all do the same shit. It ran my mh lamp at 600w no problem but everytime I put an HPS lamp in, it turns off after a minute. Hps works fine at 400w and I don't know how to make sense of that...
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Yes, it is a 600w lamp. I literally took it out of the box for the first time. Brand new ballast and lamp. 1st time either had been used. I dunno, this is the 3rd 600w lamp they've sent me so I'm leaning towards it NOT being the lamp now. I also ran an extension cord from another circuit just to see and it did the same thing. 2lamps and 2 ballasts all do the same shit. It ran my mh lamp at 600w no problem but everytime I put an HPS lamp in, it turns off after a minute. Hps works fine at 400w and I don't know how to make sense of that...
Yeah, sounds like an issue between the ballast and HPS. What brand is the ballast? You might be better off returning everything and getting a different package.
 

TRollemup

Member
It's from a company called HydroCrunch. They have excellent customer service as this is my 2nd ballast and 3rd hps. They haven't given me a hard time at all while I try and figure this out. Do you think that it could be something with my electrical in my house? I just don't know enough about electric to make any kind of determination on my own. I've been researching all morning and can't find ANYTHING related to this specifically. It's getting frustrating...
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
What have they said about the ballast you returned? I'm assuming these are digital ballasts and I only use magnetics. Some are 30 years old at least and still work fine.

I don't suppose you have a 600hps bulb of a different brand you could try in that ballast do you? Even a cheap standard bulb would be worth trying to see if it has the same problem then you'd know the problem was with the ballast and not the bulb. Really odd that it will run at the lower setting and not full power.

The only real difference between the MH and HPS is the HPS has an ignitor in the circuit to give the bulb a shot of higher voltage to spark it up. What they do with digi ballasts is a mystery to me. I can handle house wiring but never even seen the insides of a digi ballast other than pics in the forums.

:peace:
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
It's from a company called HydroCrunch. They have excellent customer service as this is my 2nd ballast and 3rd hps. They haven't given me a hard time at all while I try and figure this out. Do you think that it could be something with my electrical in my house? I just don't know enough about electric to make any kind of determination on my own. I've been researching all morning and can't find ANYTHING related to this specifically. It's getting frustrating...
I would contact them and have them do a test run of a new ballast and both bulbs before sending you a replacement.
 

Plutonium

Well-Known Member
It's a grounding issue, you even said you can feel a current on your ballast. Digital ballasts require proper grounding to work correctly. If it was properly grounded, there is no way you would feel a current of any kind on the ballast case. If I was you I would call a electrician and have them run a new ground from your breaker box to a new rod driven deep into the ground about 6 feet. It could be faulty in that specific outlet or could be faulty in the circuit that runs that room. You stated that you tried a different outlet, are you positive that outlet is not on the same circuit? If its not on the same circuit then the problem is in the breaker box itself or the grounding rod outside your home. FYI this is not something I am just assuming, my husband is a electrician and I just described to him your problem and he is the one that says your home has a faulty ground wire or rod or both.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
It's a grounding issue, you even said you can feel a current on your ballast. Digital ballasts require proper grounding to work correctly. If it was properly grounded, there is no way you would feel a current of any kind on the ballast case. If I was you I would call a electrician and have them run a new ground from your breaker box to a new rod driven deep into the ground about 6 feet. It could be faulty in that specific outlet or could be faulty in the circuit that runs that room. You stated that you tried a different outlet, are you positive that outlet is not on the same circuit? If its not on the same circuit then the problem is in the breaker box itself or the grounding rod outside your home. FYI this is not something I am just assuming, my husband is a electrician and I just described to him your problem and he is the one that says your home has a faulty ground wire or rod or both.
That's definitely a possibility. If he has the seller test everything before sending a replacement, then that would eliminate the possibility of a defective ballast or light.

Another thing he could try is taking the light and ballast to a friend's house and try it there.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
It's a grounding issue, you even said you can feel a current on your ballast. Digital ballasts require proper grounding to work correctly. If it was properly grounded, there is no way you would feel a current of any kind on the ballast case. If I was you I would call a electrician and have them run a new ground from your breaker box to a new rod driven deep into the ground about 6 feet. It could be faulty in that specific outlet or could be faulty in the circuit that runs that room. You stated that you tried a different outlet, are you positive that outlet is not on the same circuit? If its not on the same circuit then the problem is in the breaker box itself or the grounding rod outside your home. FYI this is not something I am just assuming, my husband is a electrician and I just described to him your problem and he is the one that says your home has a faulty ground wire or rod or both.
Please ask your hubby if the grounding cable needs replacing if it still seems fine and is firmly attached at both ends. We seem to have minor electrical issues after long periods of dry weather and a friend with limited electrical experience as a helper many years back suggested it might be a faulty ground. I've been meaning to get a new rod and pound one in. He said it's possible that it's badly corroded and only the first couple feet of it is functional and when the ground dries up it's not conducting properly.

Is there a simple way to test it's resistance/conductance at different times of the year too?

I can deal with installing a new rod. I have a pretty good grasp of basic wiring and the Alberta Book 1, Electrical Code Simplified, Residential Wiring manual for home study to challenge the 1st year apprentice exam but never went for the exam. I've done basic wiring for my grow room and outside outlets that have worked fine for 15 years. Will be running a 240v line into the grow room as soon as I get around to it for a heater I bought and didn't realize was 240 until I wired it 120 and it just got a little warm. Never zapped myself yet! :)

:peace:
 

Plutonium

Well-Known Member
Please ask your hubby if the grounding cable needs replacing if it still seems fine and is firmly attached at both ends. We seem to have minor electrical issues after long periods of dry weather and a friend with limited electrical experience as a helper many years back suggested it might be a faulty ground. I've been meaning to get a new rod and pound one in. He said it's possible that it's badly corroded and only the first couple feet of it is functional and when the ground dries up it's not conducting properly.

Is there a simple way to test it's resistance/conductance at different times of the year too?

I can deal with installing a new rod. I have a pretty good grasp of basic wiring and the Alberta Book 1, Electrical Code Simplified, Residential Wiring manual for home study to challenge the 1st year apprentice exam but never went for the exam. I've done basic wiring for my grow room and outside outlets that have worked fine for 15 years. Will be running a 240v line into the grow room as soon as I get around to it for a heater I bought and didn't realize was 240 until I wired it 120 and it just got a little warm. Never zapped myself yet! :)

:peace:
He says under normal operating conditions the grounding cables themselves are usually fine forever, the rod driven in the ground is usually the culprit due to corrosion. He says if your having electrical issues during dry periods such as things don't seem to have quite enough power it's definitely your grounding rod outside your home. He says depending on the composition of your soil the grounding rods often corrode at different rates. Your going to need to fix that grounding issue but he says a easy way to test it would be to find your grounding rod outside and put a water hose at it for about a hour or more to completely saturate the ground around the rod. If your ballast starts working after you saturate the ground you know for sure its the grounding rod, he also says this may not work as your grounding rod may already be badly corroded.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
He says under normal operating conditions the grounding cables themselves are usually fine forever, the rod driven in the ground is usually the culprit due to corrosion. He says if your having electrical issues during dry periods such as things don't seem to have quite enough power it's definitely your grounding rod outside your home. He says depending on the composition of your soil the grounding rods often corrode at different rates. Your going to need to fix that grounding issue but he says a easy way to test it would be to find your grounding rod outside and put a water hose at it for about a hour or more to completely saturate the ground around the rod. If your ballast starts working after you saturate the ground you know for sure its the grounding rod, he also says this may not work as your grounding rod may already be badly corroded.
Thanks very much and tell hubby thanks too. :)

Ground is still really wet with spring runoff yet but if issues show up later in the season I'll try that and see if there are changes.

We have two breaker boxes and two grounding rods. 50amp service from the main panel in the house to the attached workshop and it's on the workshop side that has occasional glitches. It was all professionally installed when I bought the place in '03.

:peace:
 
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