Sylvania - SHP-TS 400W Growlux

This 400 watt Sylvania SHP-TS Grolux gives up to 58,000 lumen at 2050 kelvin, with an E40 cap and a nominal life of 26,000 hours.

An HID lamp is replaced on hours, not when it fails

A sodium lamp that is still lighting looks fine, and that is the problem. HID lighting gives steadily less light from its first hour onward, and it carries on doing so well past the point where replacing pays. The lamp only actually dies much later.

How fast that happens shows in the ratings themselves. The HPS lamps in this range quote a value at start and a value after run-in, and the second is already ten percent lower. It falls further from there. After a year or two full crops a lamp gives noticeably less than when you bought it, while your electricity bill has stayed exactly the same.

What you notice in the tent is confusing, because it does not look like a lamp problem. Yield slips, flowering feels like it drags, plants at the edges fall behind. The reflex is to go looking at the nutrients or the variety.

The fix is administrative rather than technical. Note the date when you fit it and the hours you run per day, and you know where you stand. Many growers replace HID lamps every twelve to eighteen months in daily use, well short of the nominal 26,000 hours, simply because output has already fallen too far.

Technical Specifications:

• Model: a0122
• Power: 400 W
• Type: high pressure sodium with Gro-Lux spectrum
• Colour temperature: 2050 K
• Luminous flux: up to 58,000 lumen
• Cap: E40
• Life expectancy: nominally 26,000 hours
• Ballast: 400 W required, not included

Frequently asked questions

Should I wait until the lamp goes out?
No. Long before then it gives too little light. Replace on running hours.

How do I know how many hours it has done?
Note the date when fitting it and the hours per day. Otherwise there is no way to tell.

Why do HID lamps quote two lumen figures?
One at start and one after run-in. The second is already lower and falls further.

Will I notice the decline?
Not on the lamp, but on the crop. Disappointing yield is easily blamed on nutrients or genetics.