Mh question

caffboy

New member
I have a mh 150w light set up that is run by an electonic 250v ballast the problem is that the light does not fire up when the timer kicks on but if i pull the power off and let it restart the bulb goes on it has been doing this for a couple of days.

The ballast actually is used to run two bulbs the 2nd one is firing up no trouble,hence the ballast seems fine could it be the bulb is dying?
 
Yes it is a hamilton canopy fixture with 3x150w de bulbs and 2 6ft vho .1 ballast fires up one of of the 150w bulb and a larger 2nd ballast fire up the other 2 150w bulbs.The vho run of a seperate ballast.

It is the ballast that fires up the 2 bulbs that seems to only start one when the timer kicks on but if i restrike it by unplugging and putting back on then they both start up.
 
The timer is functioning due to the fact the 2nd light kicks on .

Looks like new bulbs must be the next step.Even though they do work
 
Swap the bulbs on the dual ballast and see if the problem changes, if not, I would have to guess the issue is in the ballast.
 
Swap the bulbs on the dual ballast and see if the problem changes, if not, I would have to guess the issue is in the ballast.

+1. Additionally, swap the physical power cords (if they are removable) and swap the physical outlet that the cord is using. Corrosion in either of these places could be part of the problem.

The first thought I had was that your capacitor is bad. Typically MH ballasts have a large capacitor used to supply enough voltage to strike the bulb. A bad capacitor might cause this but I'd eliminate the other possibilities first. The bulb is the least likely cause, imo.

Oh, one more thought. Do you have both bulbs starting at the same time? If so, you might consider staggering their start times by 1 minute. This would reduce the initial current inrush through the timer by half.
 
Okay guys here is one for you ,I changed all three bulbs and again the two that were working fire up but the the lamp that was on the dual ballast and only working when i re started the power will now not work at all.
So i switched the connection of that lamp to the single ballast that i know is working fine and again no juice .

A new lamp a working ballast ,could the lamp be defective ,could be, but 4 beers in and i need a little experience here.
Thanks
 
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