probably just burned out my ballast, but how?

Okay, so the plan was to switch from MH to HPS. I changed the bulbs and fired it up, it looked good. Then I remembered that my ballast has the switch on the back HPS/MH and that I had left it on MH, so I turned it off, flipped the switched, waited around 16 minutes and fired it up again. It started up really badly at first, made a zapping sound and lights flickered, then it started to work...until the top of the ballast started smoking. Needless to say it's off right now, but what the fuck happened? Is this thing fried? Will my warranty cover it? Any info much appreciated!!!

Pilot error captain, go read the manual ...again, as you failed to set the switch BEFORE turning it on, Only in Canada and a member of the Trevor and Phillip fan club will you get a replacement under those conditions, you burnt out the main cap...is oil smell and leaking ....perhaps?

Well I found out why. I accidentally had the flip switch in the middle setting, which selects nothing. But it still came on for a second and ran, then the ballast smoked a little. So now my question is is this ballast still useable? Has this happened before, I'd plug it in now but I'm kinda scared, lol!

Yeah it smells like oil, or burnt electronic stuff...

It sounds like the ballast is done for my friend. I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune!

Best of luck,
Luffy the PK!

epher350 said:

Yeah it smells like oil, or burnt electronic stuff...

Click to expand...

Sorry dude sounds like toast, tho I would recommend that you stick your spare in to see if its totally screwed, or if its just one side, stick the hps in, but turn it off and set the switch first...see this for compensation

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK400GW19-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B004YXDHX6/ref=pd_sbs_lg_1/184-6239264-5135065?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QB4MX1MAC3WD23C8GJB

Dude, if its smoking. Id deff would just buy another one. I wouldn't take the chance....

<------ You don't want me to show up at your house do you?

Yeah, guess so. Took it out of the tent and fired it up to test. It will still run a bulb on the MH side, but it kind of makes a small crackling sound when it does. When switched to HPS it instantly starts to smoke. I can see inside it a little through the metal (it's a Sunleaves) but see no signs of damage. The smoke comes out right above where the switch and power supply cable go. So yeah, maybe it can be fixed, but I need to buy a new one.