i finally got my plants under a 400W HPS light for flowering. it has the glass enclosed reflector and a fan cooling it constantly. this is my first time using an HID lighting system. it has only been 2 days but it has worked fine until this morning. It should have gone on at 5:30 but when i got up at 7:30 it wasn't on the ballast was just making a buzzing noise? and the ballast was pretty warm. so i unplugged it for 15 min or so and then plugged it back in, waited another 25 min now and still nothing but more buzzing. My girls just had 14 hours of darkness throwing off their light cycle, and now they just have room light on them. I don't know what to do about that or how to fix this light does anyone have any ideas for me? i will call the company (htg) when they open but i don't know if i will get the guy or the machine. i have class at ten thirty i gotta fix this!

mAKE SURE THE TWO WIRES GOING IN TO THE PART THAT THE BULB SCREWS INTO
ARE MAKING A GOOD CONECTION. tHEY DO GET LOOSE SOMETIMES.

ok i checked and the wires are fine./ everything looks normal on the light it just won't come on. besides that the only unusual thing is the buzzing noise coming from the ballast. its pretty loud and def not like that before.

ok so i talked to the guy at htg and he said it is a defective bulb? and he is sending a new one for free since its all still under warranty. but that will take like three days. he said the plants will be fine under ambient room light (they are inside a box but i have the door wide open.) i have a big warm CFL i can rig up in there but the light will be pretty minimal and im afraid it will cause stretching. should i just leave the door open and use room/sunlight or should i hook up the one cfl inside the box and keep the door closed (for better reflection.) This is third day of flowering now and i hope my plants are not totally fucked!

Boy, I love those guys at HTG!!! That's where I bought my HID system. I did get an extra bulb. I ordered the cheapie bulbs and they were out of them so they sent me an email telling me they were upgrading me to the nice ones at no additional charge!! Most any other place (SH) would have put me on the back burner and let me wait another month til they got the cheapo lights in from China. Hope your plants do ok; I think they will.

__________________
"Dope will get you thru times of no money better than money will get you thru times of no dope." Fat Freddie

got a link for this HTG guys...

High Tech Garden Supply

my favorite place to shop.....

__________________

thanks for the warning and reminder... adding back-up bulbs to my shopping list

i hope your little ones survive this - good luck!

I hear ya man; too much waiting, 'lectricity, money and risk involved not to keep spares of essential stuff on hand.

__________________
"Dope will get you thru times of no money better than money will get you thru times of no dope." Fat Freddie

yeah so the girls seem ok today. its really cloudy here so i set up a lamp right outside their box. my hope is that its enough light to let them know its "daytime" without causing stretching. im not really seeing any signs of sex yet- its day 4 now. ya this is a definite wake up call to get some spare parts! I highly recommend htg as well. My first order was from SH and the customer service was good but the product not so much. im waiting to see if this new bulb does the trick before I order though. This is my first indoor soil grow and my first grow with "proper" equipment. I have 2 skunk passion, 4 k2, 4 big bud, and eight sensi indoor mix seeds so who knows what strain. its really interesting to watch them all grow, now I wanna see some flowers!