Hi everyone, first post here. Got everything ready for starting first grow. I am even germinating the seeds right now. I bought two ballasts off eBay (1st hand) but they are unbranded. The guy/girl who sold them to me said they build them themselves. I tried them both way back when they arrived in the post, and they both worked for the 20 seconds I had them on. I plugged one into the wall directly, with the bulb in the shade attached to the ballast. When I switched it on, the light flickered a bit then came on. I could smell a faint whiff of burning after a minute or so, so I switched it off. Tried it again, and it wouldn't work. Left it for a while then tried again, and it did work! I saw smoke coming out of the shades wiring (near where you screw the bulb in), so turned it off. Tried checking the internet, but PC was off, so found the circuit board had been tripped. I tried both ballasts again with new fuses in each plugs, all three bulbs and both shades attached to each, and nothing works! Now, the circuit board won't even trip, so seems something in the chain is fucked. Do you guys think it's the ballasts or shitty wiring on both shades? Do I just have shitty electrics in the house? Does anyone have experience with this? Do I need some sort of converter for the ballasts? (Thought that's what they're for!) Know this won't help, but really need help ASAP, as need to plant seeds sharpish! I tried looking on the net, but couldn't find many solutions to the problem bar it being a bad ballast...
Update: Ballasts are coming back on now, but there is a weird hissing sound coming from the shade/bulb area, and the bulb doesn't come on. WTF is this?! Help!!!
Is your bulb screwed in fully? Are you using MH or HPS? Where did you get your reflectors from? And what type are they?