I have read that it should be changed every 2 grows. I found some technical data on my 600w Eye Hortilux. My question is about the chart labeled "lumen maintenance" At the end of the bulbs life of 16000 hours, it has only lost 20% My grows are 1 month veg, 2 months flower totalling about 1260 hours of lighting. It seems like they should last longer than 2 harvests. Am I missing something here? http://www.eyehortilux.com/tb/superhps/EQS-N-52-78-66710.pdf
From the research I have done, it seems that MH bulbs have a much shorter rated life. Here's another thing I just realized, I thought all Hortilux HPS bulbs had a 24000 hour life. This is one of the reasons I choose the 600w system. I just realized that the 430 and 600w bulbs are only rated for 16000 hours. But still, I believe that HPS bulbs last longer than MH. Here's the specs for the MH bulb http://www.eyehortilux.com/tb/metalhalide/EQS-N-52-78-53960.pdf
I heard it doesnt effect the quality of the bud if you veg under an hps but it's slower. If anyone has any info on how much longer it generally takes to veg under a HPS (in my case 400 watt) vs. a Metal Halide? Thanks
Depending on the type of ballast a bulb should be changed every 3rd harvest with a digital ballast and every 5th harvest with a magnetic ballast.
Get a light meter check your lumen output. MH don't last as long as HPS. The differnce between MH and HPS during veg isn't really length of time, more of stretch. Under MHs my node lengths 1 or 2 per inch of stock. HPS its like 3 or 4 inches per node. My first grow i did HPS straight through and had good results. Second i did MH veg and HPS flower. The difference in size was staggering. I was able to veg a extra 3 weeks cause height wasn't as much of a issue. I also got 1 1/2 oz more then the first grow. keep'em burnin DirtyViperMan
I do three runs but use separate veg room for all but last week before flip. I think a lot of it is if its just for personal use and yield isn't big deal you could go even longer, just depends on what u are doing. A commercial grower will be ahead changing bulb if it changes yield by 3/4 of an ounce per light. Many people let veg lights go a year before changing them but change hps lights every other run.
Thanks for some real input, Well I guess I can't complain about 1 1/2 oz... was there a difference in quality? +rep for the help thanks
The bud was extremely diizzzank, but that had to do with genetics more i think. Personally i see quality, is in the genetics and quantity is in the cultivation. Happy growing to you all. Keep'em burin DirtyViperMan
I believe I have found the next bulb I will be running in my Lumateks. It is the GE Lucalox XO PSL 600w HPS. I got this download from the Hydrofarm site. Check out page 4. The average rated life of this bulb is 28,500 hours. The Solarmax bulb has an average rated life of 24,000 hours. The Eye Hortilux has an average rated life of 16,000. I still can't get any specs on the Sylvania Grolux bulb. 28,500 hours is pretty impressive. Plus, GE did invent the HPS bulb. I'm guessing they know wtf they are doing. http://www.hydrofarm.com/docs/18062_GElucaluxBulb.pdf
idk if your talking to me but my b - I sincerely doubt anyone is reading my posts and not yours, maybe the people who have read your entries didn't have the answer? good luck with your lighting although you have pretty much got your answers