Support
Our Support team is here to help with all of your horticultural lighting enquiries. Check out our constantly updated resources, F.A.Q and troubleshooting guides to keep illuminated about HI-PAR!
Troubleshooting
My light isn’t turning on properly! What’s happened?
Don’t worry. Horticultural lighting is a very technical science and we often underestimate the requirements for a safe and successful grow facility. We firstly need to run through some basic checks to see what has caused the problem.
The first stage is to check the external environment and surroundings for any hazards or potentially influencing factors. Be sure to go through our checks to solve the illuminating mystery!
Peripheral Checks:
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Does your house or facility have good quality electrical wiring with a sufficient current?
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Some buildings have a mere 10A line in their walls whereas others have 20Amp.
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Industrial facilities can vary from 20A upwards of 100Amp.
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Older houses wiring may have degraded and may need checking
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Do you have too much load on an individual line
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E.g kettles and heaters can use a lot of electricity from a line
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Multiple ballasts, fans, reflectors, air-conditions and other peripheral devices can put a serious strain on home and even commercial power supplies!
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Is the ballast in a safe location?
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Free from direct heat, sunlight, water or excess moisture?
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Are the cables and power-boards tested and tagged? Have you tried without the powerboard or extension cable?
Is there a problem with your ballast?
Our ballasts operate using smart-ignition software and soft-start technology. This allows them to safely fire multiple ballasts at precisely timed intervals, and will never re-strike a hot lamp as this can be dangerous.
If a ballast is not turning on immediately, it may be using these features to wait 2-15 minutes before striking the bulb. Always ensure to wait 20-30 minutes when testing the functionality of a ballast.
If the ballast is still not firing after an extended period of time, try our easy troubleshooting to ascertain what is causing the issue.
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Try running the bulb and reflector with a known working ballast.
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Try unplugging and waiting 15-20 minutes before plugging back in.
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Try different cables
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Try a different powerpoint
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Take the ballast into your local hydroponics retailer for further testing
Is there a problem with your reflector?
Reflectors are rarely problematic however it is worth understanding the best ways to examine and maintain reflectors for the best efficiency. Always ensure to clean your Reflector with our HI-SHINE Reflector wipes to maintain output. Reflectors can lose 10% efficiency after just 12 months due to dust and general use.
If you have ascertained that your ballast is perfectly operational. It’s easy to test if the Reflector is working correctly.
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Check the bulb mount in the Reflector.
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Wait 15-30 minutes while the unit is turned on.
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While the fixture is unplugged, try gently re-seating the bulb and make sure the thread is not tightened too much.
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Test a known working bulb and ballast combination in the Reflector
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Take the reflector into your local hydroponics retailer for further testing
Is there a problem with your bulb?
HID bulbs are generally very reliable and effective means of illuminating your crops. However, they do operate in very harsh conditions with fluctuating humidity and temperatures. Always ensure you treat your bulbs with care, and never touch the glass with bare fingertips.
If you are having issues with your bulb, it’s worth checking the following simple steps:
Make sure you wait until the bulb has fully cooled!
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Remove the bulb and check for any physical damage, breakages or burn marks
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Carefully wipe the bulb with a dry, glass-safe cloth or paper towel
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Re-seat the bulb and test with a different ballast & reflector
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Take the globe into your local hydroponics retailer for further testing
If all none of the above has shed any light on your issue (pun intended), please bring your equipment back to your local hydroponics retailer. They will be able to provide further testing on site before sending back to the distributor.
Always bring your proof of purchase receipt when claiming issue under warranty. We want to ensure you have the best experience with all HI-PAR products and our generous warranty is specified on all HI-PAR packaging.
User Manual Downloads
Click to download user manuals for the following:
BALLAST:
A ballast is a component used in an electric circuit to moderate changes in current. In digital lighting, the ballast regulates the current to provide sufficient charge to ignite a HID bulb and then stems the flow to regulate the bulb operating current at a lower amperage. Our ballast listings all display the start-up and operating current of our ballasts when used with suggested bulbs.
CCT:
CCT (Correlated Colour Temperature) is a measure of light source colour appearance defined by the proximity of the light source and relating its colour to the colour of light from a reference source. It is generally measured in Kelvin; however this can also refer to a different scale of measurement.
CCT values are intended by the lighting industry to give specifiers a general indication of the apparent "warmth" or "coolness" of the light emitted by the source. E.g. 2000k is warm yellow and 6400k is cool white.
CMH:
CMH (Ceramic Metal Halide), often referred to as ceramic discharge metal-halide (CDM) is a source of light that is a type of metal-halide lamp which is 10-20% more efficient than the traditional quartz metal halide and produces a superior color rendering index (85-96 CRI).[2].
CMH lamps use a ceramic composite arc tube which allows arc-tube higher temperatures compared to HPS/MH lamps, which results in better efficacy, colour rendering and colour stability. CMH lamps also have a significantly longer life than HPS or MH lamps.
CRI:
The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colours of objects in comparison with an ideal or natural light source (such as the sun).
CRI values for HPS are 20-40, depending on the lamp type. CRI values for CMH is generally between 85-95% similar to ‘ideal’ sunlight.
GLOBE:
A globe (lamp or bulb) is the key source of illumination for your crops! In horticulture, these are predominantly HID globes that use an electrical current to ignite the gases within an arc tube. Horticultural bulbs are usually HPS (High Pressure Sodium), MH (Metal Halide) or CMH (Ceramic Metal Halide).
HID:
HID (High Intensity Discharge) lighting are a type of electrical gas-discharge lamp which produces light by creating an electric arc between electrodes housed inside an arc tube. These lights require a ‘Ballast’ to act like a transformer and provide the correct electrical current to ignite and maintain the gases within the arc tube.
HI-PAR Glossary
HPS:
HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lamps work by creating an electric arc through vaporized sodium metal. Other materials and gases are used to help start the lamp or control its colour. The HPS lamp consists of a narrow arc tube supported by a frame in a bulb. The arc tube has a high pressure inside for higher efficiency. Sodium, mercury and xenon are usually used inside the arc tube. The arc tube is made of aluminium oxide ceramic which is resistant to the corrosive effects of alkalis like sodium.
KELVIN:
Kelvin (K) describes the colour temperature whilst taking into account the actual temperature of the filament. Because LED’s and fluorescents do not use heat to create light, a kelvin reading is irrelevant. When colour temperature is estimated in relation to the colour of the light, it is often referred to as ‘correlated colour temperature’ (CCT)
MICROMOLE:
To keep it simple, a photon is a particle of light. Photons are counted in micromoles (µmol) and one µmol is 602 quadrillion photons. Blue photons have shorter wavelengths than red photons and your plants use these photons for photosynthesis. It takes roughly 8-10 photons to bind one molecule of CO2. As red light produces more photons than blue light, this means it is more efficient for photosynthesis (in PAR light (µmol) per watt of light generated.
PAR:
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), specifies the wavebands of radiation between 400 to 700 nanometers (nm) that plants are able to use in the process of photosynthesis. All wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm contribute to the photosynthesis, in addition wavelengths carry information that plants can use.
PBAR:
There is critical information for plants beyond PAR wavelengths; in the UV range below 400 nm and in the far- red region above 700 nm. These areas and their relative ratios strongly affect plant growth. Hence, it is more accurate to refer to photobiologically active radiation 280-800 nm.
REFLECTOR:
A Reflector is the unit that holds a bulb in place and effectively directs the light back down onto the canopy. There is a wide range of reflector designs and materials, and a big difference between them! Our range of Dynamic and Sunstorm Reflectors are designed with premium MIRO Aluminium and unique engineering for near-perfect light reflectivity and consistent light output footprint!