MH bulb starts, but HPS flickers

[leafchick]

Yesterday I went into flowering, after 3 months of having a 400w metal halide on 18/6

HPS worked as soon as I switched, and 8 hours later I unplugged, cleaned up the grow area and plugged it back in. It worked for a few hours before the 12h was done.

This morning I went to find that the HPS was flickering, when it should have been on 20 mins before.

Now it just kind of flickers.. no physical damage on the bulb, and it has only been used for less than 24 hours in total. The ballast seems fine because the metal halide works.

I tried waiting for the ballast to cool down, still nada.

Ballast is a HPS 400w... MH is a conversion bulb.

Does HPS usually burn more power than MH? Maybe my circuits are overloaded but there's enough juice for the MH to power up?

HELP!

[Davy Jones]

I've heard that the conversion bulbs are bad on the ballast, you could have just proved that to be true. What kind of ballast is it? I mean is it something that had to be wired up? or was it ready to go when you got it?

[Don Piano]

Heard the same thing. Also wondering if you wired it up, or if it is a "store bought ready to go ballast"?
Hps actually is more efficient, producing more lumens for the amount of power consumed.
How are you handling your bulbs? May just be a bad bulb. Are you using an extension cord with your ballast? Or is is plugged straight into the wall?
Is is possible that the power may have failed for a split second where you live and the ballast did a hot start on your HPS bulb? (if you have no Idea what I am talking about with the last question, search out HOT START HPS on google)
If the last thing did happen (or maybe you shut it off for a sec and restarted the light),
You can get an "on delay relay" to prevent hot starts. I have an HLC-2 on delay relay, to prevent hotstarts (all the shops and online stores have them but I got mine at Discount-hydro.com)

[leafchick]

The conversion bulb and ballast are from HTG hydro. Ballast was ready-built and both bulbs were new.

The ballast is plugged directly into a timer which is directly plugged into a wall.

Do you guys think the conversion MH bulb "ruined" my ballast? But why does the MH bulb still work, and the HPS worked for a day and then just stopped?

[AugustWest]

i use MH and HPS conversion bulbs constantly in my grows with the same HTG ballasts, never a problem at all. Could be a faulty bulb or something to do with the ballast as Don Piano mentioned.
I don't think a conversion bulb will screw up the ballast on it's own.

[Don Piano]

Did you hot start the HPS bulb at all?
I am guessing that it is a bad bulb if it still fires the MH. Have you tried a different HPS bulb than the one you bought originally as well?
Hot starts will ruin a bulb. If you stop power to the ballast, then power it back up while the bulb is still hot, it can burn them bulbs up fast. Also like car headlight capsuls, never touch the glass on your bulb, get some cotton gloves or the like.

How long did the cleaning of the grow room take before you refired the light?

[leafchick]

"The HLC-2 is designed to protect your expensive HID lights from “Hot Starts.“ A hot start occurs whenever your lights are turned OFF and then back ON before the lamp is allowed to cool off. Hot starts caused by power outages reduce your lamp's life and intensity. When the HLC-2 is connected to your lights, it will sense a power interruption and start a 15 minute time delay to keep the lights from trying to re-fire during the cool down period."

I never turn the bulb back on while it's still hot.I wait at least an hour, but usually more. I make sure the bulb is cool enough to touch before removing it.

The HPS bulb is working right now. It's almost as if the HPS bulb works after the MH bulb has been running.

I have a few computers and a lot of other stuff hooked up on the same circuit. Do you think the circuit might be overloaded? That would make sense if the MH used less power than the HPS.. and maybe the HPS is turning on because I tried it at night, when I had a lot of things off.

Also, my MH bulb seems to be a lot less intense than the HPS. I know the HPS is more efficient, but should it be very different visually? I can have the MH running all day and it wouldn't bother me, whereas the HPS is a major nuisance if it's in my FOV. Is it just the different spectrum?

[Dewave]

IME, (In my experience) HPS flicker is a sign of impending death. I bot some el cheapos once, 3 bulbs each and each lasted approx 3 months, each flickered b4 death and each pissed me off.

Dewave

[Don Piano]

hey chick,
I hope you don't think I was insulting you by asking the questions I did. Just trying to weed out all the options.
I am glad you know of hot starts, I have made the mistake, and that is why I use the HLC-2.

If you had an overload, it would probably trip the breaker before just making the lamp flicker.

I agree, it is probably on its way out. The more it does flicker, the more the life is shortened on the bulb.

Yes HPS is a different spectrum and is more intense. HPS and MH actually use the same amount of power, just that the HPS uses the same power more efficiently (more lumens per watt).
Conversion bulbs are less intense than a standard bulb. Lots of lumens lost in the conversion (at least when using an HPS conversion, not 100% about MH conversion but assume its the same in both directions)
Red light will be bothersome to the eyes.

I have to ask again, Are you using an extension cord on your ballast, or is it plugged straight into the wall socket?

[leafchick]

no no, no offense taken.

The ballast is plugged directly into a timer which is directly plugged into a wall.

The weird thing is that right now, the bulb should of turned on by itself, but it's flickering. BUT... It seems to work if I turn on the MH conversion bulb for awhile, unplug the ballast, and replace it with the HPS bulb. What the hell?? Weird...

actually I was just about to take a video of the bulb flickering (maybe I'm not using the right word??) but it's working because I "warmed" the ballast up using the MH bulb (??)

The bulb is a 400 Watt HPS "LU400/hort" "For Use with S51 Ballast", brand is HTGSupply. It IS mounted horizontally, and it did work the first time I tried it. I tried it once, it worked for a few hours, I unplugged and was using the MH bulb until a few days ago.. in total it has less than a day's worth of usage. Pretty crummy...

when I get free time I'll try the ballast in another part of the room, which is on a different circuit. The only diff between the first time I tried the hps and now, is that I moved some computers and other equipment onto the same circuit supplying the ballast ... but as you guys said, the jumper should of went off if that's the prob.. i dunno

[Don Piano]

I would also stop at (providing you are in the US) home depot and pick up a cheap 400watt hps, and see if it works the same way.
Would love to see a vid of it though.

[comrade]

Check it out I had the exact same problem try unplugging that htg timer and plug the balast straight in to the wall. It may sound stupid but thats what did it for me I dont think the timers from htg are worth a shit. But I swear buy all the other products of theres that I have used.

[Don Piano]

I agree, The timer is another possible issue.
Is it a digital timer?
The old intermatic grounded timer will work great. I have used it on a 400watt hps.

This is kind of the same thing that I was getting at with the extension cord question,
It has to be plugged directly into the outlet. Some timers will cause resistance like using an extension cord.

One more question.
Are you plugged into the wall, or do you have an outlet strip?