How long do your hps globes last?

[Mellow oldfark]

How long do your hps and mh globes last?DO you use a light meter?
DO all identical bulbs last the same amount of time?
Any thought on so called digital hps and mh?
Ran the 4k mh solis tek when they were available a few years back and used to get pretty good results and long life,but story goes factory burnt down !
Experience anyone? No Google answers thanks.✌

 

[Deleted member cpr]

I run my HPS globes for 4 bloom cycles of 8 weeks, so about 32 weeks at 12 hr per day. I don't test them.

 

[Porky]

I’m interested to see the answers here.
How much is a globe??

 

[Mellow oldfark]

Depends who's selling and how many you buy at once.✌

 

[Porky]

Depends who's selling and how many you buy at once.✌

Average price per globe.

 

[Indy]

Usually just replace them after 2 or 3 runs. Pricewise per bulb, as little as $50 for a 250w to up around $120 for a 600w. Dunno about the 1000w but wouldn't think they'd be much more than $180 tops.

Naturally brand names fetch the higher prices

 

[elsooto]

Think I'm up to my fith flower run with my 400 hps. Paid $50 from memory (Phillips son-t) but recently scored another one off eBay for $20 brand new

 

[Pedro de pacas]

Every 2 years ?

 

[frankreynolds]

How long do your hps and mh globes last?DO you use a light meter?
DO all identical bulbs last the same amount of time?
Any thought on so called digital hps and mh?
Ran the 4k mh solis tek when they were available a few years back and used to get pretty good results and long life,but story goes factory burnt down !
Experience anyone? No Google answers thanks.✌

You know what happened to solistek? I have one of there old fancy ballasts still going. used there 10k MH finisher bulb years ago too.

I generally go 3 cycles max for HPS

 

[Mellow oldfark]

Local shop told me factory burnt down ,somewhere in Asia?✌

 

[frankreynolds]

Oh you were being literal lol shame the 1000w ballast lasted over 5 years not used all the time tho

 

[Mellow oldfark]

Yeah I've had a 6oo w for about the same.✌

 

[itchybro]

a cheap lux meter answers those Q's of HID life , if you use the same hid brand & have done for a while then you'll prob have no need for a meter but diff brand hid = diff lamp life i think
i think if you dim hid's you shorten there life span as well

so there are some variable's depending on how you use hid's & a lux meter is a handy tool that you can use to tell more than lamp fade

downside to a lux meter is it's not a PAR meter & with lighting heading in the LED direction lux meters are not quite up to , well , PAR !

doesn't mean you can't use a lux meter to measure LED's , you just have to calibrate the meter to a full spectrum LED you have by putting the light closer & closer to plants till you see a negative effect , use that measurement as your saturation point , as long as you use the same LED that calibration will be fine but change the LED & you'll need to recalibrate again

don't think you can calibrate a lux meter to a blurple LED though
PAR meters are reasonably pricey

otherwise do like pedro , X number of grows =X amount of time = lamp change , don't fuck around use , abuse & loose , lamps that is

i was a solis tek user as well , lamps & ballasts

 

[vostok]

How long do your hps and mh globes last?DO you use a light meter?
DO all identical bulbs last the same amount of time?
Any thought on so called digital hps and mh?
Ran the 4k mh solis tek when they were available a few years back and used to get pretty good results and long life,but story goes factory burnt down !
Experience anyone? No Google answers thanks.✌

thanks to many grows stores going bust due to Covid?
getting these 'globes' is getting very cheap indeed
and that the growers are using LED makes em cheap as chips

I used to change once time per year often more but I'm getting lazy too

few growers will spray the top section of the globe with heat proof flat white
to reflect light lower better than any reflector as such improves venting too

I prefer Phillips -Son T bulbs, great rep cost a little more , do last longer than the 'merican
and said to glow brighter

cheers

 

[Madmick]

You can tell when they are starting to go
Look at the base of the tube ,there's a small glass cylinder, it starts to go black as the tube gets older
If younlook at the base if there's black there you will see it
When it gets about 1cm long the globe is fucked and time to renew
I'll try get a picture to explain better later