The plug fell out and when I plugged it back in the bulb started to smoke and then caught fire. It appeared to have caught atleast. The inside of the bulb is black and there is a big crack in it. Luckily I was there and was able to unplug the ballast. I'm freakin out though because what if I wasn't. What if I were at work and a storm caused the power to flicker. Was there something wrong with the bulb or ballast possibly? Any insight would be great. Thanks
You said there was a crack in the bulb, thats it. Turn on almost any light bulb and crack the glass and it will burst into flames, but only for like 2-3 seconds at most. It is not a problem, you just need a new bulb. everything else is fine. To turn the other bulb out if the glass is really broken, get a potato and put it into the stuck light bulb and turn it.
The crack is from the fire. Can u guys turn your ballast on and off when ever you want? The plug has fallen out before but last time it just took about 10. Mins to come back on. The ballast was just fired up after being off all night when the plug fell out which had something to do with it.
u need to let ur balist cool down before u plug it back in it if its hot just let it cool down u well be good if u do that like ten mins and ur balist well be cool
The crack was the cause of the fire. Riddle me this Batman, how can a fire start inside an airtight bulb?
here's a picture of the bulb. the crack was from one of the metal pieces that got fried after it dropped onto the glass. the bulb caught fire as soon as i plugged it in so im lead to believe my problem has something to do with the ballast.
make sure you dont touch the bulb with your hands either, it makes hot spots on the bulb which can make it more likely to blow. is your balast quite old by any chance? my ones will not restart the bulb untill the bulb has cooled down they just tick tick tick, the same as if it should if the light is not pluged into the balast when it is on. expensive wee mistakes with these bulbs eh.
What plug came out? The ballast to outlet? or the ballast to the socket? I have heard of bulbs blowing if you plug the socket into the ballast after power is already going to the ballast. Also, like greenfinger said, make sure not to touch the bulb with your hands. Use a clean soft cloth to wipe off the bulb before putting it in, the oils on your hands will stay on the bulb and cause hot spots.
the main plug from the surge protector that handles everything came out. and i was there watching it and can tell you that the prongs and shit inside the bulb were on fire. has anyone else seen a 400 mh bulb blow? My biggest fear now is if our power flickers and my freakin house burns down. i guess ill have to spend 80 on a delay timer.
You bulb must have blown, and while it blown it cracked the glass letting oxygen in to cause a flame!
Dont worry about a delay timer, balasts are safe as. they are used for most factory lighting. i have never heard of a factory burning down because of a faulty balast. your more likely to start a fire by overloading a power point, just dont run to many things of 1 power point, say if you plug every thing into a multi box feel the cable that runs to your power point, if it is slightly warm fine, if it is quite hot you got to many things plugged in, i use 1 power point for lighting and 1 for fans etc. I have blown 1 bulb before trying to take it out when it was still warm, the glass just cracked away from the metal, dumbass!! generally when your lights flicker it will be late at night yea? the power company does this to turn off peoples hot water to save power, this will not do anything to your hps light, it may not even flicker as it has a transformer that stores power and makes a smooth amount of power go to your light.