Exciting day with my grow lights

hiker_ · April 17, 2018

In the process of hardening off here.

I'm using Commercial Electric brand shop lights from Home Depot. Designed for T8 32W fluorescent bulbs. Tried "ballast-compatible, drop-in replacement" LED bulbs, but two in the lamp do not work. One LED and one fluorescent does, so I'd been using those since February, no problem.

Yesterday one lamp was dark. I figured the lamp had died. Got a new lamp, tried the same bulbs in it, tried other bulbs in it--old bulbs worked fine in new lamp. Still one fluorescent and one LED. Put up the lamp, all good right?

This morning, all my grow lights were dark. The GFI circuit they were on had ceased working. The button hadn't popped; the breaker hadn't flipped; the circuit had just ceased working (based on the timer's setting, after about 2 hours of operation). Well, it's a new circuit, maybe the electrician did something wrong.

I moved the timer and attached lights to an old, non-GFI circuit. Put some stain treatment on a shirt and left. Came back 15 minutes later intending to start the washer...

Smoke was pouring out of the new lamp.

Seemed to be coming from the ballast (not the bulbs).

That's the end of that lamp. And I'm replacing the "LED drop-in replacements" with fluorescent bulbs.

Well...at least the plants are almost ready to go outside anyway.

April 17, 2018	#1
hiker_ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: RI Posts: 42	Exciting day with my grow lights In the process of hardening off here. I'm using Commercial Electric brand shop lights from Home Depot. Designed for T8 32W fluorescent bulbs. Tried "ballast-compatible, drop-in replacement" LED bulbs, but two in the lamp do not work. One LED and one fluorescent does, so I'd been using those since February, no problem. Yesterday one lamp was dark. I figured the lamp had died. Got a new lamp, tried the same bulbs in it, tried other bulbs in it--old bulbs worked fine in new lamp. Still one fluorescent and one LED. Put up the lamp, all good right? This morning, all my grow lights were dark. The GFI circuit they were on had ceased working. The button hadn't popped; the breaker hadn't flipped; the circuit had just ceased working (based on the timer's setting, after about 2 hours of operation). Well, it's a new circuit, maybe the electrician did something wrong. I moved the timer and attached lights to an old, non-GFI circuit. Put some stain treatment on a shirt and left. Came back 15 minutes later intending to start the washer... Smoke was pouring out of the new lamp. Seemed to be coming from the ballast (not the bulbs). That's the end of that lamp. And I'm replacing the "LED drop-in replacements" with fluorescent bulbs. Well...at least the plants are almost ready to go outside anyway.