Worried about Metal Halide fire

[jkmovies]

I was messing with my surge protector when I accidentally hit something causing power to resemble a brown out. My 400W Metal Halide bulb (Agromax 400) starting trying to light. There was a literal fire in the bulb just before the recepticle where the light burns.

It blackened my bulb a bit before I cut power and I waited a good 10 minutes before turning it back on. It worked as before without a problem after it cooled down.

Now, I am worried about what it would do if I am not around, and there's a brown out? I googled everything I could think of and found nothing about this.

Do I have a defective bulb, ballast, or socket? What does your Metal Halide do if it is momentarily deprived of power (a brown out)?

Would mine have exploded if it continued to burn? Would it have burned through the outer bulb and continued arching fire? It was like a welder's torch in that bulb. An actual fire.

I have a 150W HPS next to it and it just came back on without this problem.

I have a Digital Greenhouse 400W, using an Agromax 400 MH from HTG supply.

I ordered a Sunmaster bulb replacement, because I'm worried something bad happened to the current bulb, and didn't want the same brand.

Any suggestions? This can't be normal, right? Brown outs happen a couple times a year here I believe.

 

[wonderblunder]

your fine......... obviously you shouldn't knock shit around......

 

[jkmovies]

So you don't think it would have continued burning through the bulb? Is this a known flaw with Metal Halide? Lots of people must get brown outs.

 

[OregonMeds]

That's really odd I've had plenty of both hps and halide and never seen fire in a bulb.

Technically none of them are supposed to be powered right back on after power goes out. If something like that happens in the future you're always supposed to immediately unplug them or turn them off and give them a good 10-15 minutes to cool down before powering them back up. It would have fizzled for a while and then fired up as normal anyway, but it puts unnecessary strain on the bulb/ballast just don't do it.

If it'll make you feel safer, flames are a whole lot cooler than what that burns at when it's actually running. As long as whatever you saw was in the bulb the worst you could expect is the glass heating unevenly and the bulb shattering. Hot glass I suppose could set piles of leaves on fire if you don't have a hood with a glass shield to contain it, so just fireproof anyway in advance expecting that one day any bulb could shatter. You're supposed to kind of expect little things like that in your setup anyway. You don't put hot ballasts on things that can burn, you shouldn't leave extension cords and power strips on the floor where a water spill can electrocute you, etc...

As long as you set up your grow area safely, properly, you have nothing to worry about.

How would flames exist in a vacuum?

 

[jkmovies]

That's really odd I've had plenty of both hps and halide and never seen fire in a bulb.

Technically none of them are supposed to be powered right back on after power goes out. If something like that happens in the future you're always supposed to immediately unplug them or turn them off and give them a good 10-15 minutes to cool down before powering them back up. It would have fizzled for a while and then fired up as normal anyway, but it puts unnecessary strain on the bulb/ballast just don't do it.

If it'll make you feel safer, flames are a whole lot cooler than what that burns at when it's actually running. As long as whatever you saw was in the bulb the worst you could expect is the glass heating unevenly and the bulb shattering. Hot glass would set piles of leaves on fire so just fireproof anyway in advance expecting that one day any bulb could shatter.

A very good reason to invest in a glass lens for the hood certainly.

 

[jkmovies]

How would flames exist in a vacuum?

I don't know. How could something inside a metal halide bulb resemble fire and leave a burn mark on the inside?

 

[OregonMeds]

I don't know. How could something inside a metal halide bulb resemble fire and leave a burn mark on the inside?

Do you have a new bulb to compare it to? They come brand new with a black mark on them from some process in manufacturing, maybe that's what you're seeing as a burn mark?

They do arc and spark and it could -look- like fire as it "fires" up but I just wouldn't expect it to actually have real fire unless the vacuum has failed or for it to leave a burn mark on the glass.

It is possible for the vacuum to fail on a bulb, but for the bulb to still fire and then I don't know what symptoms it might show.

 

[jkmovies]

Do you have a new bulb to compare it to? They come brand new with a black mark on them from some process in manufacturing, maybe that's what you're seeing as a burn mark?

They do arc and spark and it could -look- like fire as it "fires" up but I just wouldn't expect it to actually have real fire unless the vacuum has failed or for it to leave a burn mark on the glass.

It is possible for the vacuum to fail on a bulb, but for the bulb to still fire and then I don't know what symptoms it might show.

I know the black mark you are referring to, and mine does have that. But, it also just acquired the new black burn mark right above where I saw the fire on the inside of the bulb. The 150W HPS I have does not exhibit the same "arcing/fire" and had no problem immediately re-igniting.

The "fire" was right before the white pocket that lights up the metal halide bulb. You could hear the arcing inside the bulb like rolling bb's in a glass.

I have ordered a replacement bulb, under a different company in hopes this is a bulb defect. Even when I get it though, I'm not going to try and re-create the incident. But now, I sure am thinking about investing in a glass lensed hood.

This hobby is costing more than I thought originally, in both funds and time. I realize this is a learning experience, and hope it worthwhile in the end.