Help!! my lights went out!

Help! my plants have been under 18/6 lighting for 2 weeks. I checked on them last night and for some reason I happen to feel my ballast and felt it being very hot. I think I couldve possibly fried an egg on it. I definetly couldnt keep my hand on it. It sits on the floor. Well I woke up and happened to notice from my thermostat (wireless sensor in my closet and displayed in my livingroom) is not changing. Usually it fluctuates ~5 degrees F. I have fans that are automated etc. Well, I opened up the closet to fing my ballast just humming and the bulb was out. What does a blown MH bulb look like? I have a HPS for floweing but I didnt wanna use it til flowering. I can't switch the bulbs until my son gets in the bath tub in a couple hours (he is quite curious). Will this effect my plants horibly? I don't even know the cause or anything at this point. Hopefully I can switch out the bulbs and all is well. If not I have to some how come up with a new ballast. Ultimately if it is the ballast I am gonna have to scrap muy secondgrow in a row. The ballast however does still seem to turn on but the lamp doesnt turn on. It is an agorsun 1kw ballast with a mh conversion bulb.Some Anyone got any ideas?!

any pics? of the bumb in question?

and why the hell are you growing weed in the same house as your son what if you get caught dude! not cool !

well I am well under any major legal issues I only have four plants. He is just here for eater weekend and usually every other weekend etc. I will get some pics. I am trying to change it before he wakes up. he just normally does right now.

Well I went to move my ballast and under the ballast the floor was disclored due to temps. I switched my bulb and it still didnt turn on. I don't know how or why it got so hot. I guess I can keep em under some cfls for now but damn that sucks. Man makes a plan and god laughs. This really sucks though. I have spent around 1500 dollars on this op. I guess its a good thing cuz evidentally it had some emergency switch that killed the ballast after it got so hot or something. Maybe I shouldnt have it on the floor maybe I should mount it next time. And I am gonna check but maybe there is an internal fuse blown or something? I dunno - this really sux.

htgsupply.com is down also so I can't even check into this problem. I don't wanna void warranty by opening it and seeing any switches etc. I don't even know if they are stil in business or what. The website is down and I am freakin out! This is bullshit!

sometimes they overheat, have you tried unplugging it and waiting a bit?

why not just switch to the other light but chage the conditions such as lighting times tempature e.t.c...

or yeah what Tehdansauce said just try unplugging them and let them cool the fuck down for a couple hours and try again

Peace x

Ok I just got back from family stuff and I am gonna try to plug it back in but I need to figure out something to keep it from happening again if it even does work. Somehow I need to keep it from over heating again....

Yeah its done. I just tried pluggin it in and still nothin. It hums but no lights. I might just have to scrap this grow and I think Im just gonna have to shell out some cash for some cfl's or just save up for a digi ballast to stay away from heat. Hell I dunno. I cant just not do it now though... I have come so far. I spent this money and I have god bud femized seeds (which I just wasted 4). I am so depressed. I have them under my seedling/cloning flourescent tube to keep em goin til I can brain storm somethin up. Hopefully they can chill under that for a couple weeks til I get some cash up. Damn it's gonna be middle of july by the time I get this harvest in. If it aint one thing it's another. I can only afford cfls in a couple weeks but if I save a bit more I could probably get a digi a few more weeks.

if the ballast is humming then it should still be working,,,,some have a safety feature which makes um turn themselves off so they can cool down,,,can take several hours to turn itself back on,,,if that aint the reason the bulbs probably blown,,,,peace

That sucks man, sure sounds like a defective ballast

My 600w's get quite warm to the touch, but never so hot I cant keep my hand on them...

mrskitz said:

if the ballast is humming then it should still be working,,,,some have a safety feature which makes um turn themselves off so they can cool down,,,can take several hours to turn itself back on,,,if that aint the reason the bulbs probably blown,,,,peace

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I tried both bulbs. I am hopin you are right. I will be testing it out tonite - gotta go do more family stuff. In the mean time, I will have the flourescent on them. I really hope you sre right. I mean this ballast is only a month old. It is so wierd tough that after weeks of it being on, I felt it last nite just out of curiosity and then today its messin up. Thanks for your vote of confidence though. I am tryin to figure a way to put the ballast directly in front of the cool air intake fan (cool air pulled from attic). I hope it does kick on. I thought that it would since it is humming maybe I just need to be more patient. I am just in a hurry with family stuff going on today. I am totally dumb with electrical so I am hoping you are right an I do feel a little better - thanks for the help everyone..

When our 1000w blew the ballest still gave off the humming noise! Just our bulb blew! We still use ours we just had to dish out the $109 for the new bulb! Wish we could help

Well I just plugged it back in. How long should I wait before I determine that it is a defective ballast? I put in my hps bulb to give that a shot. Waiting hours just doesnt seem right. Will it always need to take that long from here on out or just this "reset" if it even does work?

i have a htg 400 and it would not go on for three hrs thay suck ...so i bout a future brite thay kick ass thay never get hot thay have a little fan in them..it;s a 600W thay are pricey but well worth it

If you left it unplugged for several hours and tried both bulbs in it and still got nothing, it has to be a defective ballast. I use a 400watt MH conversion bulb (with my 400watt HPS ballast) for vegging, and it shut off on me one time when it was still brand new (less than 3 days old) and I just unplugged it for a few minutes and when I plugged it back in it worked fine and it hasn't done it since. I use a small fan (10 inch oscilating) specifically to cool my ballast, I know it's not necessary but I figure it can't hurt. Good luck!!

my futerbrite stays on 24/7 never ever gets hot ..not even worm ........da plantDOC

Yea, I am gonna be pickin up a future bright in a couple weeks from a more local guy so its easier if there are any problems.

i love my future brite's i have 6 of then never had a problem with them..thay are the oldes ballest on the market..very very good i get 1000watt ballast for 229$ NOT BAD