Lighting CFL Fading Syndrome.

[Feenix]

For the lack of another name.

I just had an event that was totally unexpected that I had never even heard of happening to anyone else although there was a brief mention in a customer review of "Brightness dimming" indicating that there is a visual warning but by the time it was visualy evident the damage was done.

Its been my lifelong experience that bulbs just burn out.

I just had two 125w CFL coils fade out gradually over enough time to super stretch my plants.
I estimate that they started fading 3 weeks ago and as the useful wavelength shortened un noticed, the plants stretched to it as if the lights were being continuously raised.

The lights were well within their predicted life yet both failed completely within minutes of each other with the diminished light visible to the eye only becoming noticeable two days before.

I've never had this possibility even on my radar and the damage could have been prevented if my light meter had been hanging in the cab instead of in a drawer and I had kept a basic record of baseline and comparison readings at intervals.

If you run CFL's and start noticing unexplained stretch, this is a real possibility to examine.

 

[mauricem00]

all forms of light. fluorescent,led or hid fade over time.the life expectancy is usually based on the point where output reaches 90% of original output. what you experienced is normal and it is why growers replace bulbs after two or three grows.high quality bulbs may be good for a year but even though they may still look bright a meter will show a reduction in output.i use my light meter and test kit frequently.

 

[Feenix]

all forms of light. fluorescent,led or hid fade over time.the life expectancy is usually based on the point where output reaches 90% of original output. what you experienced is normal and it is why growers replace bulbs after two or three grows.high quality bulbs may be good for a year but even though they may still look bright a meter will show a reduction in output.i use my light meter and test kit frequently.

Which in this case was predicted at 10,000 hrs. They died at approximately 4500 which I should have added to the original post. I'm replacing the CFL's until the money and LED fairies bless me in April and will keep a running log of meter readings until then and after on any lights I run from now on.

Thanks Maurice

 

[mauricem00]

sorry to hear about your bad luck with these. I run power compacts (pl-l55 style bulbs) with good luck. unfortunately it will be a while before my budget allows for high quality leds and I do not want to take a chance on cheap ones. cfls are not high quality bulbs and should be repalaced every 6 month to avoid the kind of problem you had.leds are out of my budget but I am happy with fluorescent.

 

[Feenix]

sorry to hear about your bad luck with these. I run power compacts (pl-l55 style bulbs) with good luck. unfortunately it will be a while before my budget allows for high quality leds and I do not want to take a chance on cheap ones. cfls are not high quality bulbs and should be repalaced every 6 month to avoid the kind of problem you had.leds are out of my budget but I am happy with fluorescent.

I 've been happy with the CFL's and will buy two more of the same if available. They were cheap at under $35 delivered for the pair and kept the girls happy,,,until they failed. You can bet that I'll pay attention to the testing details from now on.

 

[mauricem00]

I 've been happy with the CFL's and will buy two more of the same if available. They were cheap at under $35 delivered for the pair and kept the girls happy,,,until they failed. You can bet that I'll pay attention to the testing details from now on.

I apologize. it was not my intention to criticizes you. or your choice of lighting. many growers have had very successful grows with these high powered cfls.I am a DIYer and build my own lights so am able to use inexpensive commercial products not found in most grow lights.I do not know how you feel about HPS lights or if they would work in your grow room but I found this and it seemed like it might be a cheap alternative if you can't find a good price on those CFLs http://www.ebay.com/itm/160992974597?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT. again I apologize and I am not trying to criticizes you. just offering options.I was trained to maximize options because the final option is to "place your head firmly between your legs and kiss your sweat ass good by" LMAO.P.S I'm not quite house broken yet

 

[Feenix]

I apologize. it was not my intention to criticizes you. or your choice of lighting. many growers have had very successful grows with these high powered cfls.I am a DIYer and build my own lights so am able to use inexpensive commercial products not found in most grow lights.I do not know how you feel about HPS lights or if they would work in your grow room but I found this and it seemed like it might be a cheap alternative if you can't find a good price on those CFLs http://www.ebay.com/itm/160992974597?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT. again I apologize and I am not trying to criticizes you. just offering options.I was trained to maximize options because the final option is to "place your head firmly between your legs and kiss your sweat ass good by" LMAO.P.S I'm not quite house broken yet

No apology necessary. I'm not thin skinned, hell, through the wonders of medical science, I'm even two ply in places.
Don't ever hesitate to speak your mind with me. I respect that more than glad handing and pandering so I know that we will get along just fine.
Those HPS are a great deal but I wonder what they would do to my power bill which is already on the outside limits of sanity. I only have a small cabinet and between lights fans and keeping it cool when closed up, my limited budget is already stretched tight. In April I will receive a small stipend that will put some good LEDs to work. Not afraid of DIY myself, I'm seeing some pretty interesting kits offered by led suppliers that are sold by the foot and priced based on the arrays that I select.

 

[mauricem00]

No apology necessary. I'm not thin skinned, hell, through the wonders of medical science, I'm even two ply in places.
Don't ever hesitate to speak your mind with me. I respect that more than glad handing and pandering so I know that we will get along just fine.
Those HPS are a great deal but I wonder what they would do to my power bill which is already on the outside limits of sanity. I only have a small cabinet and between lights fans and keeping it cool when closed up, my limited budget is already stretched tight. In April I will receive a small stipend that will put some good LEDs to work. Not afraid of DIY myself, I'm seeing some pretty interesting kits offered by led suppliers that are sold by the foot and priced based on the arrays that I select.

I understand your concerns about power bills. I have two 2ft*2ft grow closets I run 3 55 watt bulbs in my flower room(12/12) and 2 55 watt bulbs in my veg room.(18/6) and it adds about $11 per month to my electric bill. my primary concern with HPS is heat.this light would use about 180 watts of power (about 1 1/2 times as much as a 125 watt cfl) but would provide 2 1/2 times as much light.I do not want to put holes in my floor and ceiling for vent fans.might lower the property value and increase heating and cooling cost for my house. I have played with warm white leds ranging from strip lights to 50 watt COBs but with cheap ebay diodes and drivers have not found anything that outperforms my florescent. I am retired and living off my investment income and taking care of a sick partner so do not have the money for a good led grow light.I love experimenting and trying new things. you are never too old to learn something new.

 

[Feenix]

I my primary concern with HPS is heat.this light would use about 180 watts of power (about 1 1/2 times as much as a 125 watt cfl) but would provide 2 1/2 times as much light.I do not want to put holes in my floor and ceiling for vent fans.might lower the property value and increase heating and cooling cost for my house. I have played with warm white leds ranging from strip lights to 50 watt COBs but with cheap ebay diodes and drivers have not found anything that outperforms my florescent. I am retired and living off my investment income and taking care of a sick partner so do not have the money for a good led grow light.I love experimenting and trying new things. you are never too old to learn something new.

Heats not a problem for me. I assembled a cooler you can find in the DIY forum and it works great. My flower 125w CFL's throw off an unusually high amount of heat for florescents so I had to find a permanent solution.

 

[Feenix]

I am pleasantly surprised to find that I was totally wrong about my lighting situation. I had been praising the coiled Top Hat CFL. 125w's and demonizing the 125w straight CFL Flower bulbs as power and heat monsters.
I just got my first bill with the two Flowering bulbs running the full cycle and it was almost 1/2 of the normal one running the Top hats from Cowboy studios. In the last 6 months, they wasted over $100 each month. Over $600 into

, thin air. A couple of decent LEDs thrown away due to false advertising. "Incredible Sulk"