HID lighting, are they safe?

Hi people,

I'm new at this, as you can tell. I set aside a wooden cabinet and put some plastic sheeting around it that I got from the Grow store.
I put in an HID light, that, at the moment, I cant get to work. I put the Balast in a glass tray, thats meant for cooking in an oven,
to keep it separate from the wood. And placed that on a small phone book. I was wondering if this could be a fire hazard?

Are HID's in general, dangerous?

What are some precautions I could take? Anyone have bad experiences with this?

Also, could someone tell me why its not working?

Thanks!!!
EK

pics of the area would be great, and would help others possibly assess the situation better for you. As for the ballast not working, there are many different things that can effect this... ie ballast manufacturer (don't go cheap on ballast or bulb in my book, well mainly HPS bulb that is). Is your bulb rated for the ballast you have? Have you unscrewed and re screwed the bulb back in? (this actually was my first problem, some how the contact was not complete and the bulb did not fire) Hope this helps a little

As said above, is the wattage of the ballast equal to the wattage of the bulb? Also is it an HID ballast? There's MH/HPS based ballasts also.

If they really freek you out get a flame defender.... I sleep better using them, hope to never need them though.

ekspain said:

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Are HID's in general, dangerous?
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These lights are extremely dangerous! 100% of ALL cannabis plants placed under them do not survive!

Seriously though yes ballasts use a goodly amount of energy, turning out heat as a by product and can cause a fire. So you should be careful. I would definitely suggest having an electrician wire you up for anything out of the ordinary.

Now HID take a bit of time to start. So give it time for it's start up sequence. Usually it begins by humming then you get a little light out of your bulb and it slowly ramps up to full brightness. Plus some of the better ballasts have a time out of 15 minutes from start to start. So if the light doesn't seem to appear right away and you turn it off/on then you may have just setup a 15 minute time out.

If your ballast won't start at all check to make sure it's all plugged in correctly. Make sure you haven't blown a circuit breaker. If you have reset the breaker and if it blows then you can not run that ballast on that circuit. Try it on another circuit. If that blows take your ballast back to your vendor.
This is just some quick help and not a definitive answer, others will be along to help with more suggestions,

I was quite worried about fire for my grow also, but now I'm onto LEDs for power/heat issues, that's not to say I think LEDs are better for growing Just a more viable option for some.

In regards to fire hazards I went out and bought a wireless weather station which I just keep near me with whatever i'm doing around the house (obviously doesn't work for miles away if you're out of the house) so that I can see how the temps are going in my grow room. Have you also looked into fire alarms? They're not that expensive. All these aren't really precautionary measures though will obviously help in an emergency.

First thing that worries me is that your ballast won't fire your bulb.
the second is the bulb, there are 3 types of bulbs positions.
horizontal-
vertical-
universal-
make sure you have the right bulb.

Thank you all very much!!! I really appreciate it!
A quick question; How do GROW Led's compare to HID lighting.

I think its a good balast and light. Costed 90 Euros! for the whole kit.
Not sure I can return after opening. I would prefer to go for the safe option of LED, if that actually worked well.

Ill see about the photos!

Another thing about the balast, is there is no obvious on and off switch, so I guess its just a question of plugging it in or taking it out???

ekspain said:

Another thing about the balast, is there is no obvious on and off switch, so I guess its just a question of plugging it in or taking it out???

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Get a decent timer that will handle the wattage you intend to have.

topfuel29 said:

Get a decent timer that will handle the wattage you intend to have.

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Thanks Topfuel29!