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HID Light - Burning Smell?

dyren

dyren

Member
Hi ICmag,

About 2 months ago I purchased a 400w MH/HPS ballast/socket/reflector + 2 bulbs (one mh, one hps) off ebay for about 100$. Upon receiving the items I plugged 'er in and found both bulbs to be in working order. At that time I didn't leave the light on for more than about 5 minutes as my cab wasn't prepared to house and ventilate such a light.

Since then I have been using 3 42w CFL's to provide light for my little ones and the 400watter has sit dormant. Just yesterday I plugged it in to test it and see if it still worked. I believe the MH bulb was in there and it fired up nice. While it was warming up.. I began to notice a burning smell. I immediately turned off the light and searched for the source of the odor. It seems that it's coming directly from the bulb area... not the ballast. Today I decided to test the setup with the HPS light and the same thing happened. Plugged in, warmed up, started to smell, I shut it off. I didn't see any visible flame nor any smoke but the smell was very distinct.

What should I do?

(pics can be taken if necessary)
 
bounty29

bounty29

Custom User Title
Veteran
Is the area around the bulb socket clear of any burnable items? Plastic, paper, stickers, glue? Have you checked in where you actually screw the bulb in? Something could be lodged in there. Smart move though, we don't need anybody burning their houses down because they didn't check their equipment carefully.
 
G

Guest

did you remove the plastic sheet from your reflective area of your hood?
 
dyren

dyren

Member
I like to think I have a lick or two of common sense! :p

The area around the socket is definitely clear of items. I just took a look into the socket itself and everything seems to be in order. The ONLY thing I can see that MIGHT be causing this is a small clump of hard white substance where the metal end of the bulb (the threads) meets the glass part. It's a small glob.. looks like part of a repair job to the bulb or something. My guess is that it's not that. The substance doesn't appear to be agitated by the light being on.

I wish I could send smells over the internet.


edit: the item was second-hand and the plastic must have already been removed. Again, when I initially turned the system on when I got it, everything was fine.
 
WeeD22MaN

WeeD22MaN

Member
Hey dyren!

It could be anything :S Are you good with eletronics and wireing? Id suggest taking the socket appart from the hood and see if mabye a wire's case is right close to the middle hot spot of the socket. Also if the hood was made with the plasic on they could of installed the sockets over the plasic and buddy could of just ripped it off not noticing it went right in. I had that same problem on my hood I took it all appart and there was white plastic sheeting in the screw holes and everything. I bet you got the same problem.

All the best,
WeedMan
 
G

Guest

realy weird is that i just got a new 400w hps and noticed this same thing last night when i turned it on. im using a hydrofarm reflector/socket and a galaxy 400w digital balast but the smell was for sure coming from the bulb area. going to look into it more tonight , i thought it might just be the new bulb warming up and it would go away
 
H

herbert

New member
Sometimes the lamp gets grease on it (from fingers) which can actually make it blow. Always clean any lamp with a dry lint rag before you use it. The ballast may be burning off dust as it warms up, that also makes a smell.

The small spot weld isn't a problem - its part of the way the bulbs are made.

There could be a bad connection in the lamp holder - check that out.

Ultimately, plug it in when you can stay around for 12 hours and keep your eye on it. Make sure you can quickly unplug the ballast if you need to.

If in doubt, buy a new lamp holder, or get a friendly spark round..... don't leave it alone until you're sure

Hope this helps!
 
Chiefsmokingbud

Chiefsmokingbud

Slap-A-Ho tribe
Veteran
Even new ballasts can smell. My new 400 ballast had a smell to it when i turned it on and i was told some of the epoxy type insulation can heat up and give off an odor. After approx 2 weeks the smell went away and it's been running for 2 years now.
However this obviously isn't the case with dyren. I would suggest first going to home depot and get a new bulb ,however it is strange both bulbs do the same thing. If you don't see smoke, it sounds like something is arcing to me.
 
UVrays

UVrays

Member
New equipment does have a weird smell for a while its what them in the trade call burning in period.
 
dyren

dyren

Member
Well thanks for all the feedback guys. I noticed that there is definitely a lot of hand/finger oils on the bulbs. I'm gonna wipe them down and give it another go. If that fails I might take apart the box and take a peek.

Peace~
 
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