Mh bulb just caught fire

mjr99

mjr99

Well-Known Member
Plug got pulled out and when I plugged it back in it started smoking and everything in it caught fire. Could I have had a bad bulb or ballast? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm freakin out because what if I hadn't been there and the power flickered from a storm or something. Any insight would be great. Thanks
 
Jrankin89

Jrankin89

Well-Known Member
mjr99 said:
Plug got pulled out and when I plugged it back in it started smoking and everything in it caught fire. Could I have had a bad bulb or ballast? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm freakin out because what if I hadn't been there and the power flickered from a storm or something. Any insight would be great. Thanks
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sounds like your ballast shorted out. another reason i use CFL's :D lol
 
mjr99

mjr99

Well-Known Member
Jrankin89 said:
sounds like your ballast shorted out. another reason i use CFL's :D lol
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why would it short out?

here's a picture of the bulb. the crack was from one of the metal pieces that got fryed and dropped onto the glass. the bulb caught fire as soon as i plugged it in so im lead to believe my problem has something to do with the ballast like you said.
 
captain chronizzle

captain chronizzle

Well-Known Member
there are so many variables, like it got pulled out from tripping on cord, would be my guess. that could cause the wires in the ballast to short, ie come in contact with each other.
 
N

noone88

Active Member
mjr99 said:
Plug got pulled out and when I plugged it back in it started smoking and everything in it caught fire. Could I have had a bad bulb or ballast? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm freakin out because what if I hadn't been there and the power flickered from a storm or something. Any insight would be great. Thanks
Click to expand...
Did you plug it back in immediately?

If so, that's a hot start. A big "no-no"

R & M Supply, Inc. - C.A.P. 15 Minute On Delay Timer

safety first
 
R

ROBINBANKS

New Member
mjr99 said:
why would it short out?

here's a picture of the bulb. the crack was from one of the metal pieces that got fryed and dropped onto the glass. the bulb caught fire as soon as i plugged it in so im lead to believe my problem has something to do with the ballast like you said.
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No pic up, was it metal halide ?
 
R

ROBINBANKS

New Member
Happens to them all the time dude, i quit using them, your ballast will be fine, get a hps in and youl be dancing, its happend to me twice, ven though you have safety mode of 15 mins they still try to relight and the heat starts sparks that in turn get hotter thus fire, just change the bulb.
 
Hidden Dragon

Hidden Dragon

Well-Known Member
Your ballast is probably fine. Just put in another bulb. I run seven 600 watt bulbs with Digital Greenhouse ballasts. Some time the bulbs just go.
The only time I had a failure, some water got on the bulb from misting, resulting in a crack in the bulb.
 
erkelsgoo420

erkelsgoo420

New Member
I believe the fingerprint thing is in halogen no? I could be wrong...
It sounds like a hot start to me as well. Buy a new bulb if that doesn't work either buy a rebuild kit from like hgt or the like or get a new ballast. Best of luck man hope it was just the hot start
 
R

ROBINBANKS

New Member
I take it when you say the plug got knocked out you mean the plug from the shade to the ballast, if that was the case power would still have been going through the ballast, the safety 15 min mode would only kick in if the power went off, like in a power cut, but you prob knocked out the flex going to the ballast then plugged back in to a live ballast am i right ? thus power going straight back to the bulb, when you knocked it out you should have put it off from the mains for 15 mins put it back together then after the 15 mins put back on from the mains, all would have been fine then, but MH are not trust worthy.
 
R

ROBINBANKS

New Member
erkelsgoo420 said:
I believe the fingerprint thing is in halogen no? I could be wrong...
It sounds like a hot start to me as well. Buy a new bulb if that doesn't work either buy a rebuild kit from like hgt or the like or get a new ballast. Best of luck man hope it was just the hot start
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Yipp i agree with you, sounds like a hot start on a live ballast, he never said what socket got knocked out, ''from the wall'' or prong from ballast, if the jack came out the ballast unit the ballast would still be live, plugging straight back into that is a school boy error, he would have been better putting off from the mains then putting back the jack plug to the ballast, when he switched back on the mains the safety mode would then kick in, and relight when safety time of 15mins was over, it would only restart when the bulbs were cool.
 
R

ROBINBANKS

New Member
It would do, a tip for the future is to have a couple of bulbs dude, one in and a spare, it saves the hassle etc.

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