CMH Bulb Concern

I'm running a 400w Harvest Pro HPS ballast on a 400w Philips CMH retro white bulb. These are both brand new, used for only.. 3 weeks tops.

Today I noticed the bulb shut off, this is the 2nd time this has happened, the last time it happened about a month ago. It just randomly shut off and the ballast started buzzing. The lamp would not re-strike for a very long time, there was not even an arc in the tube - I unplugged the ballast for 5-10 min then plugged it back up and I seen an arc in the tube, but still would not restrike.. and still hasnt as I write this - I'm sure it'll fire back up in a few minutes.

Why does this happen? Should I be worried? Fuck the plants, I'm worried my house is gonna burn down while I'm at work one day.

So I had to unplug the ballast again for a solid 10+ mins, plugged it back in and the lamp instantly lit up.

i dont know about retro whites. maybe try a switchable mag ballast. I've used allstarts. they only run on mh and switchable mag not straight hps.

fonz tried an 860 w allstart on an mh ballast and would not fire but it worked fine on a switchable.

if its the bulb. they have a 1 year warranty. if you got it from advanced tech I think they give a 1.5 year warranty

your ballast has a 5 year warranty i think.

good luck

your capacitor if fuct on your ballast.....or possible loose connection

Mine does this too, I have the 250W Phillips CMH and it is quite sensitive to power fluctuations. Say the A/C is on the same circuit and when it kicks on will sometimes shut down the CMH. It does the same thing and buzzes slightly and arcs while trying to restart. Eventually it always restarts, usually 10-15 min later. I guess the arc tube needs to cool down to a certain point before the gas will ionize and re-light the lamp. Either way, the CMH is an awesome bulb.

read the FAQ section
http://sunlightsupply.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/product/902432_Tech-Guide.pdf