Time delayed light restriking

roidrage152

roidrage152

Active Member
Do HID Lights/Ballasts have built in restriking delays built in. I've considered integrating those $75 15 minute time delays or a DIY version, however I've not seen a need. I've had to move plug, had power surges, or just accidentally kicked out a plug several times, and the ballast/bulb never restrikes hot. It always take like 5-15 minutes before the light comes back on, and it seems to handle this on their own.

Does anyone know if this is already a pre-installed safety feature built into this equipment?
 
Thedillestpickle

Thedillestpickle

Well-Known Member
so your ballast just shuts down and wait?

my ballast is magnetic and if the power is cut off for a moment it will try to restrike the bulb indefinately

Will the bulb cool enough to restrike even if the striking arch continues? If a power outage occurs while I'm not home will the ballast kill the bulb trying to strike it for an hour?

I'm pretty sure I don't have to worry about this but I just want to check

Are you using a digital ballst Roid?
 
alphawolf.hack

alphawolf.hack

New Member
digtals have them built in. magnetic do not . if you can hot restike your bulb as with hps bulbs it will lower lower span but not by much the worry is constant re-striking or flickering a hot re-strike once or twice on an hps bulb wont matter. 10 -15 times might want to change your bulb. mh(on magnetic ballast) wont light unless you wait b4 plugging them back in. running them in an unlit status will kill bulb fast.
 
roidrage152

roidrage152

Active Member
I think the restriking safety is built into the bulb. I have magnetic ballasts. For example if I pull the plug, and just plug it back in, the light wont relight right away. Would probably take about 10 minutes or so to come back on. What alpha is saying makes sense.
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
I have rebuilt several dozen magnetic ballasts & never saw a timer or cutoff relay in 1. the ballast will keep re-striking the bulb till it cools enough to light. like Alpha said,once or twice wont matter but repeatedly will hurt the bulb.
 
phillipchristian

phillipchristian

New Member
alphawolf.hack said:
digtals have them built in. magnetic do not . if you can hot restike your bulb as with hps bulbs it will lower lower span but not by much the worry is constant re-striking or flickering a hot re-strike once or twice on an hps bulb wont matter. 10 -15 times might want to change your bulb. mh(on magnetic ballast) wont light unless you wait b4 plugging them back in. running them in an unlit status will kill bulb fast.
Click to expand...
Are you sure about digitals having them built in? I have Lumateks and I don't think they are built in. If you go through their website or the manuals it tells you to buy a delay timer for them. I put all of mine on a trigger box and then tied that to a environmental controller with a hot restart feature built in.
 
alphawolf.hack

alphawolf.hack

New Member
lumateks say they have it built in i have read on thier web site go ahead and try it yourself digitals wont hot re-stike. i had an older lumatek and it still had the delay.
Hot Re-strike

"It is VERY important that the lamp is given adequate time to cool down before it is reignited. You should allow a hot lamp to cool for 20-30 minutes before you try to re-strike it. Hot re-strikes cause premature lamp failure and lumen output degradation. Additionally, the lamp should never be turned off before the lamp reaches full intensity."

that is from the lumatek website which leads me to believe that they consider a hot re-strike a lamp lit in less than 30 min. but they have an internal delay that prevents you from lighing bulb for a few min. try it with an hps bulb if it doesnt have a delay unplug it then plug it back in as soon as you plug it back in it should light right back up if there is a delay i wont light up for a few min.
 
phillipchristian

phillipchristian

New Member
alphawolf.hack said:
lumateks say they have it built in i have read on thier web site go ahead and try it yourself digitals wont hot re-stike. i had an older lumatek and it still had the delay.
Hot Re-strike

"It is VERY important that the lamp is given adequate time to cool down before it is reignited. You should allow a hot lamp to cool for 20-30 minutes before you try to re-strike it. Hot re-strikes cause premature lamp failure and lumen output degradation. Additionally, the lamp should never be turned off before the lamp reaches full intensity."

that is from the lumatek website which leads me to believe that they consider a hot re-strike a lamp lit in less than 30 min. but they have an internal delay that prevents you from lighing bulb for a few min. try it with an hps bulb if it doesnt have a delay unplug it then plug it back in as soon as you plug it back in it should light right back up if there is a delay i wont light up for a few min.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, i'll test it out.
 
phillipchristian

phillipchristian

New Member
This is straight off the Lumatek website. This is why I am confused. It stats that you should give the lamp time to cool down before re-striking. I check everywhere on the website but it doesn't say anything about a hot strike feature.

[h=4]Hot Re-strike[/h]It is VERY important that the lamp is given adequate time to cool down before it is reignited. You should allow a hot lamp to cool for 20-30 minutes before you try to re-strike it. Hot re-strikes cause premature lamp failure and lumen output degradation. Additionally, the lamp should never be turned off before the lamp reaches full intensity.
 
alphawolf.hack

alphawolf.hack

New Member
i couldnt find the info about the delay either but thay have it in it. email them to ask about that feature. a hot re-strike can happen only if the bulb is hot in an air cooled hood it might take 1-2 min for the bulb to cool? see what im saying their version of a hot re-strike is within 30 min not 5 min/ what most people would consider hot re-strike time
 
phillipchristian

phillipchristian

New Member
Gotcha. I'll check it out and let you know what I come up with. Gonna email them and see what they say. Do you know of any ballast companies that do advertise their hot strike feature?
 
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