Ballast | Bulb | Power ??

Hola, went to check my plants today and -- what -- my light isn't on.

I heard the ballast humming and maybe louder then usual. Or maybe I was just tripping cause my light wasn't on.

So, I turned off the power strip that my ballast plugs into, wiped down my bulb and made sure it was secure (How could it not be?) and turned the power strip back on -- and the light fired right up.

400 Watt HPS with remote ballast, new e.g. right out of box first run.

Should I be worried?

If so, about what? About my ballast, bulb, power?

Luckily the plants only lost first 10 min of light. (I know, I check'em too often.)

maybe the bulb was a little loose, play around with the wires, see if it happens again........... if it does, try and pinpoint the problem if its a loose wire or something

Had to be something loose. make sure all connections are tight. Wouldnt worry too much about it unless it keeps happening.

I'd bet it is a bad bulb. It will probably do it again. You might just want to go ahead and get a spare so you will be prepared. It would be the first thing to try when it does it again.

Most electrician diagnose hid's like this. Does the ballast hum? If not check for power to the ballast and if good replace the ballast. If the ballast dors hum replace the lamp, if it still doesn't work replace the ballast.

I've had something like that happen a couple times when there was a power surge, just from the power going off real quick and kicking back on it wouldn't fully ignite the bulb, just kinda hummed and stayed a blue, or sometimes wouldn't come back on. I've always seen it recommended if you have power surge to turn the light off, wait about 5-10mins then turn it on, and it will fire right back up. It's just that quick on/off that won't let the bulb fire completely back on sometimes.. Anywho just my 2cents.

In the event of a manual shutoff or quick power short, HIDs usually require that you shut off power for 2 - 3 minutes before you try to re-start. You may have had a power flicker (as mentioned above), which would result in the ballast humming, but the lamp not pulse starting. The ballast has a safety mechanism to prevent pulse start damage.

I also agree with the comment above to always have a spare bulb on hand. For all the time, effort, and money we spend on our hobby, the extra $50 - $100 for a spare bulb is nothing in the event your bulb fails, cracks, etc. I personally don't want to be in the position of trying to have a bulb over-nighted in the event my hydro shop is closed, or it's a holiday or something. Especially in the flowering cycle.

Get A Relay & A Program Timer Wire a 15 min Restart In Line lets bulb cool before restart