super hot ballast

furious248 · Dec 8, 2015

Hi rid, I haven't used my ballast in a year or two, but I plugged my ballast in and it's very hot, it's 400w I think magnetic, doesn't have a name on it, and I remember buying it as part of a tent kit so it's pretty cheap, I have run it for a few hours and it is too hot to touch more than a second, it has loud humming but I know that is most likely the metal plates, or something lose, on the top of the ballast it says 25 degrees Celsius but as I said it is way to hot, can anyone help me with this?
Thanks

Diabolical666 · Dec 8, 2015

furious248 said:
Hi rid, I haven't used my ballast in a year or two, but I plugged my ballast in and it's very hot, it's 400w I think magnetic, doesn't have a name on it, and I remember buying it as part of a tent kit so it's pretty cheap, I have run it for a few hours and it is too hot to touch more than a second, it has loud humming but I know that is most likely the metal plates, or something lose, on the top of the ballast it says 25 degrees Celsius but as I said it is way to hot, can anyone help me with this?
Thanks

I would replace it if its running hot and loud

$bkbbudz$ · Dec 8, 2015

Diabolical666 said:
I would replace it if its running hot and loud

Agreed but you may want to take off the cover and see how much dust, hair, etc may be in there. use an air can too remove it.

OOPS! Just realized you said magnetic not digital...replace it, not worth burning down the house trying to get it too work correctly.

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

Diabolical666 said:
I would replace it if its running hot and loud

Thanks for the reply, so a hot magnetic humming ballast is a no, no? I did a whole grow with it a couple of years ago, I remember being able to dry my taster buds on it in 10 minutes, do you know why it might be getting so hot?

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

$bkbbudz$ said:
Agreed but you may want to take off the cover and see how much dust, hair, etc may be in there. use an air can too remove it.

OOPS! Just realized you said magnetic not digital...replace it, not worth burning down the house trying to get it too work correctly.

Thanks for the reply, do you know why it might be getting that hot?

Diabolical666 · Dec 9, 2015

furious248 said:
Thanks for the reply, so a hot magnetic humming ballast is a no, no? I did a whole grow with it a couple of years ago, I remember being able to dry my taster buds on it in 10 minutes, do you know why it might be getting so hot?

no, sry I do not know why its running so hot

*BUDS · Dec 9, 2015

Get rid of it.

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

Diabolical666 said:
no, sry I do not know why its running so hot

Thanks again for the reply, no worries, thanks for the help, so if a magnetic ballast gets hot it's time to throw it away?

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

*BUDS said:
Get rid of it.

Thanks mate, looks like I need a new one, luckily for me I have a brand new one, I brought 2 just in case this day came, if my new ballast gets just as hot would it still be a fault or just how they are? Thanks

grapefruitmarmalade · Dec 9, 2015

furious248 said:
Hi rid, I haven't used my ballast in a year or two, but I plugged my ballast in and it's very hot, it's 400w I think magnetic, doesn't have a name on it, and I remember buying it as part of a tent kit so it's pretty cheap, I have run it for a few hours and it is too hot to touch more than a second, it has loud humming but I know that is most likely the metal plates, or something lose, on the top of the ballast it says 25 degrees Celsius but as I said it is way to hot, can anyone help me with this?
Thanks

what sort of bulb are you firing up? how long is the cable from the ballast output to bulb?

Diabolical666 · Dec 9, 2015

furious248 said:
Thanks again for the reply, no worries, thanks for the help, so if a magnetic ballast gets hot it's time to throw it away?

Yea bc its really clogged up or something...you can try to clean it and see whats going on with it..IM no electrician and even magic smoke freaks me out. Being able to cook an egg on it just isnt a good idea to have in the grow, creates more heat and would have you worried alot

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

Diabolical666 said:
Yea bc its really clogged up or something...you can try to clean it and see whats going on with it..IM no electrician and even magic smoke freaks me out. Being able to cook an egg on it just isnt a good idea to have in the grow, creates more heat and would have you worried alot

Thanks I'm going to replace it with another that I have

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

grapefruitmarmalade said:
what sort of bulb are you firing up? how long is the cable from the ballast output to bulb?

I'm running a 400w hps, the cord from the ballast is about 1 foot, but the one from the light itself is about 2 meters .

grapefruitmarmalade · Dec 9, 2015

furious248 said:
I'm running a 400w hps, the cord from the ballast is about 1 foot, but the one from the light itself is about 2 meters .

Ah ok... I was just curious because with metal halide bulbs the igniter can't strike the arc if the cable is too long, and if it does strike the ballast will emit an annoying hum because of the igniter coils. With HPS bulbs you can go as much as 70 feet with no worries.
So yeah get a new ballast. If you choose to keep it magnetic try the "compact" ones, the ones you can't disassemble, I use none other than that
EDIT: I gotta add... all ballasts get hot. Don't dismiss it just because YOU THINK it gets TOO hot

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

grapefruitmarmalade said:
Ah ok... I was just curious because with metal halide bulbs the igniter can't strike the arc if the cable is too long, and if it does strike the ballast will emit an annoying hum because of the igniter coils. With HPS bulbs you can go as much as 70 feet with no worries.
So yeah get a new ballast. If you choose to keep it magnetic try the "compact" ones, the ones you can't disassemble, I use none other than that
EDIT: I gotta add... all ballasts get hot. Don't dismiss it just because YOU THINK it gets TOO hot

Thanks for the advice, do you know a heat range which you would call safe?

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

grapefruitmarmalade said:
Ah ok... I was just curious because with metal halide bulbs the igniter can't strike the arc if the cable is too long, and if it does strike the ballast will emit an annoying hum because of the igniter coils. With HPS bulbs you can go as much as 70 feet with no worries.
So yeah get a new ballast. If you choose to keep it magnetic try the "compact" ones, the ones you can't disassemble, I use none other than that
EDIT: I gotta add... all ballasts get hot. Don't dismiss it just because YOU THINK it gets TOO hot

Just done a quick temp check, I used a naff thermometer and that is reading at least 30 when the ballast says 25 degrees Celsius on the sticker, is it worth changing ballasts to be safe

rkymtnman · Dec 9, 2015

i'm running 2 400 mag ballasts right now. one has a CMH bulb, the other a HPS. they are hot as fuck and have always been that way.

the humming is a bit more unusual.

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

rkymtnman said:
i'm running 2 400 mag ballasts right now. one has a CMH bulb, the other a HPS. they are hot as fuck and have always been that way.

the humming is a bit more unusual.

Thanks for the reply, I think the humming is from the metal plates or something loose, have you had any problems with it being so hot?

rkymtnman · Dec 9, 2015

nope. i keep them outside my flower room. just be careful nothing flammable is around them or could fall on top, etc.

furious248 · Dec 9, 2015

rkymtnman said:
nope. i keep them outside my flower room. just be careful nothing flammable is around them or could fall on top, etc.

Ok thanks, I am going to do a test

super hot ballast

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