Help with my light, found a melted wire

[MDK]

Been having issues with my light for a while, today i gave it a look over and noticed melted plastic where all the bars plug in. It only appears to be one cable from what I can tell, going to take it down at lights off



Couple questions.

1) can I just unplug this bar and use the light to keep my plants going til I can get it replaced?

2) is this repairable? I dabble with electronics and some soldering...could the connector be replaced or is this indicative of larger issues inside the driver?

Appreciate it

 

[tobh]

Been having issues with my light for a while, today i gave it a look over and noticed melted plastic where all the bars plug in. It only appears to be one cable from what I can tell, going to take it down at lights off

View attachment 22754

Couple questions.

1) can I just unplug this bar and use the light to keep my plants going til I can get it replaced?

2) is this repairable? I dabble with electronics and some soldering...could the connector be replaced or is this indicative of larger issues inside the driver?

Appreciate it

1. I would be concerned about the reduced load on the driver overdriving the rest of the bars, causing the same failure on other connections.
2. You'll have to determine the root cause to determine if it's repairable. Something caused too much resistance at that connection which expressed itself as excess heat. I would err on the side of caution here and consider that entire device a fire hazard at this point.

 

[MDK]

I have it turned only to like 50% currently...think that would help any to reduce chances of it overloading the other bars...since it's not at full strength?

Gonna have to make it work til I can get something else over the plants or trash my grow if I throw it out before I can get it replaced

 

[GoodShit97]

I have it turned only to like 50% currently...think that would help any to reduce chances of it overloading the other bars...since it's not at full strength?

Gonna have to make it work til I can get something else over the plants or trash my grow if I throw it out before I can get it replaced

If you are going to use it i would definitely proceed with caution.
If you're worried about the light cycle, any kind of lighting just so they stay on schedule until the new light comes would probably be safer. Like when the power goes out here i just use 2 magnetic flashlights so they know its lights on amd lights off.

I had 2 mars hydro light cables catch fire. Like full on flames and all. I had soot all over the ceiling of my tent too.

What light is that you're running? Scary shit man.

 

[CannaGranny]

You have fire and smoke detectors in that tent?

 

[MDK]

No but I did disconnect the bars...may as well just rip up my plants

Life just won't let me

 

[CannaGranny]

No but I did disconnect the bars...may as well just rip up my plants

Life just won't let me

Naw no need to rip up your plants! Drop a 6500k bright white cfl with two 2700k cfl’s about every two feet. Cheap alternative until you can find/afford better, and it damn well works! If you need the hanging sockets or even bulbs, I’ll send you what I have.

 

[GrumpAzz]

2) is this repairable? I dabble with electronics and some soldering...could the connector be replaced or is this indicative of larger issues inside the driver?

It is potentially something that could be repaired, but my guess is it would be a soldered connection inside the driver. Depending on how long you've ran this light, it may be indicative of an overheating issue. If you've been running this light for a while and you're just now seeing an issue, the driver may have overheated and caused the bad connection. Could it have been a bad connection from the factory? Absolutely. If not, you're looking at the rest of the connections also potentially failing soon.

I'm with Tobh and would be worried about a fire, as I'm sure you are. That's why you posted this.

I have it turned only to like 50% currently...think that would help any to reduce chances of it overloading the other bars...since it's not at full strength?

We'd need to know the number of bars and the total wattage to do the math and answer this accurately. I want to say that at 50%, you should be OK for now, but I wouldn't trust that light for long.

Lets say it's a 400 watt fixture and you have 8 bars. At 100%, each bar is pulling approximately 50 watts, so that's their minimum rating. Dropping it down to 200 watts on 7 bars would have each bar pulling ~28.5 watts. Safe assuming all other connections are fine and not also beginning to fail. Maybe someone else can chime in here.

The problem there is that if it's something else inside that driver that is overheating which caused that bar's connection to start failing, you haven't solved the issue.

G$ nailed it too. Fires are scary man.

 

[CannaGranny]

Most of what I have read about the Mars Hydro is loose connections. I check mine now, all the time as I think just simply moving them up and down loosens them.
Everyone should have a smoke fire detector in their grow rooms!

 

[MDK]

Question...I've been considering (because of stuff like this) just buying 5 or 6 100w full spectrum boards and daisy chaining them together....then if one goes out it's easier to recover..

Seen some nice plants grown under small 100-200w lights....surely there are drawbacks to this though...heat comes to mind first

Is this a viable option or should I just get a light that fits the 5x5?

 

[GrumpAzz]

Question...I've been considering (because of stuff like this) just buying 5 or 6 100w full spectrum boards and daisy chaining them together....then if one goes out it's easier to recover..

Seen some nice plants grown under small 100-200w lights....surely there are drawbacks to this though...heat comes to mind first

Is this a viable option or should I just get a light that fits the 5x5?

Seems ok to me. Essentially you'd just have a seperate driver for each hundred watts vs a single driver for several bars. Might even get better coverage that way, centering a light over each plant.

That's pure speculation on my part, but I do see a lot of people running different types of lights in their tents just to up their wattage.

 

[GoodShit97]

Question...I've been considering (because of stuff like this) just buying 5 or 6 100w full spectrum boards and daisy chaining them together....then if one goes out it's easier to recover..

Seen some nice plants grown under small 100-200w lights....surely there are drawbacks to this though...heat comes to mind first

Is this a viable option or should I just get a light that fits the 5x5?

Maybe 2 lights that fit the 5x5? Like pipecarver, he runs 2 300? Watt bar lights in his 5x5. Then if 1 goes down you still have light in there.

 

[MDK]

I'll power thru, no lie it's gonna take a lot or a bold decision on a cheap light. My stove is goin out too so that was on the list to get replaced among other things I can't really afford...birthday season Christmas season

I don't drink but dam I'm close lol

 

[tobh]

Hell,I run three pairs of qb boards. Enfun 2000w equivalent. They're pretty fucking respectable and I've had zero issues with them. I like being able to tailor the lighting to each plant too, since I run six plants. Six boards, six plants, three drivers. Not as convenient as a single fixture but I have a lot of redundancy should one set fail

 

[MDK]

Hell,I run three pairs of qb boards. Enfun 2000w equivalent. They're pretty fucking respectable and I've had zero issues with them. I like being able to tailor the lighting to each plant too, since I run six plants. Six boards, six plants, three drivers. Not as convenient as a single fixture but I have a lot of redundancy should one set fail

Those lights actually look pretty dope for the price Samsung diodes and meanwell drivers...nice

This light is some cheap Amazon light my buddy gave me. Updayday is brand and the model I got isn't even being sold anymore. It wasn't super cheap or expensive when he got it but the new ones from same brand are super cheap (as they should be for quality). He got me onto growing spending all sorts of money to go with my free light but I knew I should have bought something better along the way, life just got me caught up and broke. So my buddy ordered the light it was "delivered" and when he got home he had no light. He called amazon griped and got them to send him another one. 2 days later one shows up, another 2 or 3 days later another showed up. Since then, he sold all his grow stuff. Probably smart on his part the reviews on the lights leave alot to be desired.

 

[moe.red]

If you want to bring the light to O’Fallon I have time today to fix it for you. I’ve got a proper electronics shop in the basement

 

[MDK]

I'd probably grab an hps 600w or something if I didn't expect issues fighting heat then. I'd probably have to spend more cooling it than just outright buying a light.

So far from what I am looking at light wise the front runner is the viparspectra ks5000. 500w which will work that's what the current burnt up light is. Decent reviews I guess good diodes, price is 369.99 right now on Amazon with coupon.

I don't think I could go any higher than 750w with my circuitry....i wanted that se7000 it's just out of grasp right now financially.

I'm considering those enfun ones you mentioned though, that or the sf1000s with the daisy chain (little more than the non chainable 100w offerings from sf....but dimmable)

My buddy here locally bought a kingled 4000...it's odd to me 400w and it's supposed to do like 4x4 space but it's shape looks like it's made for a 4x2....looks just like a bestva 4000...same stuff pretty much. They look like older outdated leds with the shroud around them and cooling fans but he is getting good results from it....I could pick up a bestva or one like he has for like 200 and some change.

What i am doing now (trying to skimp to make it happen) is exactly what the guy who ordered the light originally was doing so I already know its a rocky path I'm lookin down

 

[MDK]

If you want to bring the light to O’Fallon I have time today to fix it for you. I’ve got a proper electronics shop in the basement

I found 2 wires were melting (both still working flicker here and there)...and I tried to disconnect them at the back of the light and the wire goes into the body of driver no dice...so they may be hard wired to the driver.

When I get something else to cover the plants needs if you'd be willing man I'd love to look it over? At your convenience of course

 

[moe.red]

I found 2 wires were melting (both still working flicker here and there)...and I tried to disconnect them at the back of the light and the wire goes into the body of driver...so they may hard wired to the driver.

When I get something else to cover the plants needs if you'd be willing man I'd love to look it over? At your convenience of course

2 wires melted means bad connection somewhere, too much current draw(bad bar) or improper wires.

If it is a design flaw with connections or improper sized wire we can most likely repair and make it better than new. If your bar is too hot we might be able to find the short and repair it. Just depends on what is the root cause.

 

[MDK]

After I reread your post I really appreciate the offer I seen you said today that's fricken speedy service. I'm unfortunately housebound with my kid today. Father in law is dying so my wife and her siblings are rotating days at his house he needs full on care. Today is her day and my kid is too much to handle doing something like electronic repair...for me atleast lol

 

[moe.red]

After I reread your post I really appreciate the offer I seen you said today that's fricken speedy service. I'm unfortunately housebound with my kid today. Father in law is dying so my wife and her siblings are rotating days at his house he needs full on care. Today is her day and my kid is too much to handle doing something like electronic repair...for me atleast lol

Just don’t rip your plants out yet

 

[MDK]

When it kind of started acting up I made a habit to always feel the unit (that sounds horrible btw).

But it was always cool enough to touch never real warm or anything because I was always worried about heat causing stuff to melt as I've read about it alot...the built in timer didn't work out the box that's why he gave me the one he gave me...which I chalked up to most likely shitty soldering. No warranty on it either as he got it by mistake.

I feel like it most likely is bad connectivity causing it...but that's just what I deduce from everything

 

[moe.red]

When it kind of started acting up I made a habit to always feel the unit (that sounds horrible btw).

But it was always cool enough to touch never real warm or anything because I was always worried about heat causing stuff to melt as I've read about it alot...the built in timer didn't work out the box that's why he gave me the one he gave me...which I chalked up to most likely shitty soldering. No warranty on it either as he got it by mistake.

I feel like it most likely is bad connectivity causing it...but that's just what I deduce from everything

If so easy fix. Just need the right tools.

 

[MDK]

I got this sf600 veg lamp hanging out over my cloner...I may just put it and the clones all in the same tent for a while. Plants are 24 inches tall idk at that size how well they'll like the sf600 but we could always see...planned on using it to veg grows while others are flowering anyway

 

[Pipecarver]

I got this sf600 veg lamp hanging out over my cloner...I may just put it and the clones all in the same tent for a while. Plants are 24 inches tall idk at that size how well they'll like the sf600 but we could always see...planned on using it to veg grows while others are flowering anyway

I have an SF600 as well and I have used it on the ends of my SE3000's for a bit more coverage. Although they are not recommended by Spiderfarmer as flowering lights they do a dam good job in flowering. I get 55,000 lux off it and I had it within a few inches of my tops , There was little to no difference in flowering under it as anywhere else in the tent, all buds grew as normal.

The connectors can be an issue if squeezed on too tight, & with twisted wires crimped into the connectors there can be heat build up. Are the wires crispy at all, right up close to the connectors....with power off?
with power on and you not being grounded does it feel hot to the touch?. Do you smell burnt tar/ bakelite? is there any twinkling of the light off and on ? And is there 2 wires going into that 1 connector?

Old fluorescent ballasts used to do that before they'd burn up, a lot of times there was that tar on the inside of the covers when I took them off to replace.

 

[TomH]

Question...I've been considering (because of stuff like this) just buying 5 or 6 100w full spectrum boards and daisy chaining them together....then if one goes out it's easier to recover..

Seen some nice plants grown under small 100-200w lights....surely there are drawbacks to this though...heat comes to mind first

Is this a viable option or should I just get a light that fits the 5x5?

My biggest light is 200 watts, I have two additional 50 watt panels.
I’m not known for huge harvests, but the plants grow well and I’m certainly pleased with the performance.

I’d give it a try, or the CFLs that CG mentioned.

Best of luck in this event!

 

[MDK]

Question about Assurion protection plan from Amazon.

I think I'm about to order this viparspectra light. I seen they got a 4 or 5 year warranty. Would ordering the 3 year protection plan from assurion be unnecessary? I assume at most it would just hasten the return experience or guarantee it if viparspectra for some reason wouldn't honor a warranty?

 

[GoodShit97]

Question about Assurion protection plan from Amazon.

I think I'm about to order this viparspectra light. I seen they got a 4 or 5 year warranty. Would ordering the 3 year protection plan from assurion be unnecessary? I assume at most it would just hasten the return experience or guarantee it if viparspectra for some reason wouldn't honor a warranty?

What light were you looking at getting from them?

I have the ks3000 and xs1500pro, both have been great so far.

Im not big on a warranty that isnt offered by the actual company itself, but im also not sure how assurion works.

 

[MDK]

What light were you looking at getting from them?

I have the ks3000 and xs1500pro, both have been great so far.

Im not big on a warranty that isnt offered by the actual company itself, but im also not sure how assurion works.

So I figured it out a bit...viparspectra offers a limited warranty for components and stuff, so i went with Assurion. Assurion will send me out a gift card or some form of credit for the total of my purchase. The light was 379.99 with 6.99 shipping and 60.99 3 year protection...so about 460 and they cover me for 450....so the assurion if I have to use it will basically almost cover itself too in the cost....only out like 10 bucks if I have any issue in next 3 years.

Went with the ks5000...supposed to get here on the 27th...put my stove on hold but the wife n kids can wait

 

[tobh]

assurion can be hit and miss. personally i've never found value in paying for it outside when buying a new phone, and even then i only hold onto it while paying the phone off. not sure how reliable they would be with anything else. probably similar to a home warranty that's super restrictive and draws out timelines way longer than they should be.