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Why Are My New HPS Bulbs Dimmer?
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Posted by karenmn NYC (My Page) on Sun, Aug 20, 06 at 22:34
| Replaced my burnt out 600W Gavita HPS bulb and found that the new one was much dimmer. Thought it might be just the new bulb, so tried another new one from a different source, and it's just as dim.
Could this be a problem with the ballast? It's only a year old. How long do ballasts last?
Voltage here may have been cut by the power company due to high demand. Could this cause it?
How can I find out what's wrong?
Any ideas greatly appreciated. Don't know what to do now.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Why Are My New HPS Bulbs Dimmer?
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| The obvious question to ask is why do you think its dimmer? Are you comparing two bulbs side by side? One after the other? Or just remembering what the old one looked like? And what was the old bulb, another Gavita? If the old bulb when right through to failure then I'd expect a new one of the same specs to be significantly brighter, up to as much as twice as bright although your eyes might not perceive it that way. The ballast should last through several bulbs as a minimum but there are reasons why it might not. A moderate dimming of the bulb is not what I'd expect from a failing ballast. |
RE: Why Are My New HPS Bulbs Dimmer?
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| Thanks, shrubs. The light is obviously much dimmer to the eye, maybe not even half as bright. The first new bulb was almost blinding. The new ones are not even close to that. These are the new bulbs compared to the one that burnt out. What woud cause the ballast to fail? Have the 600W Lumatek digital ballast. |
RE: Why Are My New HPS Bulbs Dimmer?
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| Sounds like it's the bulb. Your sure they are HPS in the right wattage? |
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