Problem with MH setup

[johntanjm]

Hey guys, need some help to see where's the problem

I have a 70W Dual-ended setup. It's a DIY unit, i bought the ballast, bulb, pendant and timer and connected them myself.

Problem lies here:

1. When i turn ON the power, the bulb doesn't light up

2. When i turn OFF the power, the bulb flashes for a split second

Temporary Solution:

1. Turn ON the power

2. Turn OFF the power, the bulb flashes

3. Quickly turn on the power again

4. Bulb ignites, powers up and works great

Seems like turning OFF causes some kind of strong stray current to ignite the bulb and while the bulb is still ignited, by quickly turning ON the power again, the bulb powers up.

The seller has since provided me with another ballast and another bulb so now i have 2 bulbs 2 ballast and they both have the same problem. could I be so unlucky that both sets are not working? or is it cos I left something out?

thanks!

[dr evil]

Hey guys, need some help to see where's the problem

I have a 70W Dual-ended setup. It's a DIY unit, i bought the ballast, bulb, pendant and timer and connected them myself.

Problem lies here:

1. When i turn ON the power, the bulb doesn't light up

2. When i turn OFF the power, the bulb flashes for a split second

Temporary Solution:

1. Turn ON the power

2. Turn OFF the power, the bulb flashes

3. Quickly turn on the power again

4. Bulb ignites, powers up and works great

Seems like turning OFF causes some kind of strong stray current to ignite the bulb and while the bulb is still ignited, by quickly turning ON the power again, the bulb powers up.

The seller has since provided me with another ballast and another bulb so now i have 2 bulbs 2 ballast and they both have the same problem. could I be so unlucky that both sets are not working? or is it cos I left something out?

thanks!

maybe u able to show some pics of you wiring and your MH setup will be great. From there can advise what went wrong.....cause if you wire them properly, this would not happen

[johntanjm]

ok problem resolve. This is what i learnt. in MH ballast there is something called an ignitor. once power is on, if it doesn't detect a bulb or a lighted bulb it will keep sending strong pulses to ignite the bulb. once it detects that the bulb is lighted, it stops. how this is done is another question for another time.

For this ignitor's pulse to work, the distance between the ignitor (inside the ballast) and the bulb should be around 2 feet. Anything more than that, the pulse will become too weak to ignite the bulb. the wire between my bulb and ballast was 6ft hence the ignitor's pulse wasn't strong enough to light the bulb up. Reducing that wire length worked like a charm =) In special cases where u need to place the ballast far from the bulb, a special long-distance ignitor is required to send the pulse further.

Finally.... after so many weeks of manual light switching =) hope what i learnt will be useful to all.

DIY folks, good luck!