Just a couple of equipment questions.....

issue #1
I own a lumatek 600 watt digital ballast, and I'm using a sumaster metal halide conversion bulb. My ballast seems to get really hot, I thought that digital ballasts don't get hot???? The only conclusion I came to, was that the conversion metal halide bulb was the cause. Any thoughts??

issue #2
This is my first real indoor grow, I don't understand the concept of light timers. Theres a power strip in my grow tent with all the fans plugged in, do I plug the light timer into this, then plug the lumatek light system into the timer??????? Whats the skinny on timers????!!!!

issue #3
My plants are currently in seedling stage. Due to trial and error equipment problems, and the learning process of my first grow, my light cycles have not been accurately at 18 on and 6 off. Do you think this will drastically stress my plants out?
Hey, I greatly appreciate all of your help. Thanks for fueling the revolution.

#1 sorry no idea
#2 be careful! yes plug the lights into the timer and the timer into a socket. BUT. you are running a 600w lamp along with fans and anything else, and thats a lot of power into one strip. i recommend keeping the lights and fans seperate so that nothing melts/sparks/burns to the ground.
#3 The begining of a plant's life is an important stage, but cannabis is also a very hardy plant. Erratic lighting would confuse seedlings and possibly slow grow slightly, as this would never happen in nature. However, returning to a consistent (plants like routine) lighting cycle will let them flourish and there will be no significant loss in yield. happy growing

1) Digital ballasts still get hot, but it certainly should not be sizzling. Make sure your ballast is rated to use the conversion bulb, it may be a HPS only ballast.

2) Depends on the timer, but the simple ones with a dial have a switch on point and a switch off point that is set by adding a plastic piece to the dial. If you want it to come on at 6PM then add the plastic piece to 6PM mark, off at 10AM? put other plastic piece in there. There should be instructions that came with the timer.

3) You should be fine, as long as the plants are getting at least 14 hours of light per day they should be ok. You will want to make sure you have yer timers figured out before flowering, you must keep 12on/12off like a religion.