Topo
Well-Known Member
High guys, this afternoon I plugged in a vacuum cleaner cord to the surge protector bar, and my 400wMH bulb went out. I then got up close, and noticed that there is an arc visible in the very middle interior, but it did not light up entirely. I unplugged everything, and the bulb did the same thing after re-start. This bluish arc was once again present, but the bulb did not fire up as I watched it for 10-15 minutes.
Since I do not have a backup MH bulb, I then set up my 600w MH fixture and ballast, but then my grow closet got really hot. So I decided to test the 400 in a different room, and of course it arcs and fires up
. So I get all happy, and took out the 600w to put the 400w back in there. I took a close look at the 400 MH bulb, and it looks normal. There are no black scorch marks or anything jumping around the interior of the bulb. I don't hear anything that sounded like it broke inside the bulb either. So the 400 lights up again, and stays on for ~2 hours. I then sat down at my computer (in the same room) and noticed that the bulb was flickering/cutting out again, but not as often.
Tomorrow is a holiday, and the shops around here are surely closed. Is this a bulb going bad, or did the ballast take "a hit" when the vacuum cleaner got plugged in? It's 1:28 in the morning, but it's bugging me that something is wrong. I don't want a fire hazard in the event that the bulb blows while I'm asleep. I do not have a light bulb cover for this reflector.
Thank you.
Since I do not have a backup MH bulb, I then set up my 600w MH fixture and ballast, but then my grow closet got really hot. So I decided to test the 400 in a different room, and of course it arcs and fires up
. So I get all happy, and took out the 600w to put the 400w back in there. I took a close look at the 400 MH bulb, and it looks normal. There are no black scorch marks or anything jumping around the interior of the bulb. I don't hear anything that sounded like it broke inside the bulb either. So the 400 lights up again, and stays on for ~2 hours. I then sat down at my computer (in the same room) and noticed that the bulb was flickering/cutting out again, but not as often.Tomorrow is a holiday, and the shops around here are surely closed. Is this a bulb going bad, or did the ballast take "a hit" when the vacuum cleaner got plugged in? It's 1:28 in the morning, but it's bugging me that something is wrong. I don't want a fire hazard in the event that the bulb blows while I'm asleep. I do not have a light bulb cover for this reflector.
Thank you.