I just wondered how often you changed your bulbs?

i change mine every 3rd grow mate.

i change every 6 to 7 months , and thats the g/lux or son t plus,they loose there light output wen they get old ,so new meens a brighter light / more lumens to your plants

2 for me.

I would say the third too - 2 crops per bulb

Before u change ure lamp, get a meter and check the lumens.

Two grows per bulb

Thanks for the advice guys as I have only changed the bulb twice in five years, so that's about 10-12 crops. The best crops I've ever grown have been when I've had brand new bulbs. I'm using an old 400w HPS bulb to veg (not got a 250w ballast) but will be getting a new bulb to flower.

I'm thinking of changing the bulb after every 2 grows then using the bulb that I flowered with to veg on the next few grows.

I change every grow.

Are the £10 400w HPS on ebay good enough? As quite often they're £18 elsewhere.

Buy them from a respectable shop mate. Ebay has a high risk of breaching your privacy, anyways whats an extra 8 quid for garanteed quality.

i do mine usually every 4 grows sometimes longer, i only really notice any diff after the 4th or 5th grow, especially when on 12/12.

Yeah you're right I suppose.

The bulbs I've always used are Sylvania Grolux.

The Grolux gets changed January and June, the cmh gets changed every January.

About time I got a new bulb then by the sounds of things Still using my original bulb


Bert...

Depends on what make of bulb your using according to this.

2-3 grows

That's the brand I was using so I definitely used the bulbs for far too long.

I got the one off ebay in the end. It's brand new GE Lucalox so it should be fine.

£10 delivered so I couldn't go wrong really, and a bit of a difference to the £23 delivered elsewhere.

Even if it only lasts 1 grow it's still a bargain imo.

Click to view attachment

Every grow without fail why pay for lumens you aint getting 916

yeah funny how GROWELL says to change the lamp every grow, but sylvania says no such thing.

Do you have to change a 100w HPS as often as a 600w HPS? (I am thinking about the fact that a 100w doesn't get even close to as warm)

every 12 months

i Try to change mine every grow but i cant find any 250w Son T+ lamps on ebay anymore. There are people selling some as new but you can see they've been fired up a good few times already.

How often for MH?

when peeps say they change after so many grows .. 2 or 3 or 4 .. are you talking from seed/clone or just the flower period .. i'm asking cos i veg under a blue envirolite and flower under my hps .. so basically are you including the veg stage when you say a grow or just the bloom period ? ..

Lately I've changed mine once every 12 months with a continuous 12/12 schedule. And I think that is too long. I can see faint clouding on the glass envelope. I will probably (now that I am not continuous anymore) change after 2-3 grows.

get a ge lucalox, there's usually loads on there, use one for my veg light, they put out more lumens than a son t+, too. edit, just search for 250hps, i just put it in and shed loads come up

i use grolux bulbs. I change mind every grow too. Found that my best results are when i change them when i start flowering. So for arguments sake i would run 18/24 for veg then change bulbs for flower period then use same bulbs for veg on next grow and so on. Is it worth paying for new bulbs ? I'd say yep as your paying to run em so make sure your giving your babbies all the light they can get!

Just for reference, I got more or less 15 months solid 12/12 use from a venture 600w bulb (4 week, 3 plant rotation), and never noticed a drop in efficiency. Until I put it away for 3 months while moving house. It was totally gash after that, the glass had blackened and the bulb gave off little lumens compared to new, and screwed a grow almost. I replaced it 3 weeks into flowering, and the difference was easily noticeable to the eye.

Currently, I am now changing every 3 grows, with Son T+ 600w

2 grows with a duel spec 400w hps.

iv'e always found it a problem, but after reading what evertybod else does it appears the majority go with apprx 6 months, so its a plan.

I change 600w hps after six months of 12/12. I always keep the best older one as a spare

whilst we on the subject, is there any device (without spending a fortune) to test what im getting of me bulbs, rather than change em needlessly?

Why bother when bulbs are only £20 - hell I got 2 sylvania's online for £12 each...

I think you might be able to measure light output tho with a light meter and you can get em for about £30 from flea bay -

Personally. If in doubt chuck it out and get a new one..

[/quote] is there any device (without spending a fortune) to test what im getting of me bulbs, rather than change em needlessly?
[/quote]

Here you go.

hxxp://bigbro.biophys.cornell.edu/~toombes/Science_Education/Light_Meter/Build_Your_Own_Light_Meter.pdf

the best thing to do is get a meter to check the lumins when its new. And check it after each grow, I'm fixin to buy a light meter myself. ive used a lamp for 4 grows, 3 months each. still usin it and havent noticed a diff. in yieald. its a 1000w MH. standard bulb.