bulb/reflector fire. wtf happened here?

[mastacheeser]

Got to the grow spot about a hour after lights on. Smelled of burnt plastic.
Get to the flower room and find this.
Raptor reflector. C.a.p. bulb
Air cooled with can fan
Had to pretty much pry the bulb out to see if there was any saving it

 

[delae632]

Man...all I can say is that you're lucky as hell you caught this when you did. :eek:

 

[cannabeans]

That kinda happened to me as well, but not as severe as you. Bulb looked similar to yours after it blew.(My bulb was a C.A.P metal halide) I had to replace the recepticle that the bulb screws into. Couldnt ever figure out why it did that....possibly a power surge of some sort is all I could come up with.

 

[jkbeing]

It looks like it arc'ed in some way. Did it flip your breaker? Scary, cause i'm running a CAP bulb right now.

 

[outwest]

This, more then any other reason, is why I spend the extra $20-$30 on ushio or hortilix bulbs.


outwest

 

[coloradochem]

Heebie jeebies. Glad u caught it.

 

[sky high]

Gonna speculate a bit here. Has anyone else noticed this?

With Cool tubes (especially, IMO) and other air cooled reflectors...the part of the cord that runs inside the tube/reflector can become stiff/brittle from the extended exposure to the heat from the lamp and the wire casing inside can become very dark/almost burnt looking. In the case of Cool Tubes...which I used quite a bit years ago....I've had the cord short out...and lamps fry...my guess is from a.possible drop in voltage or a short inside the cord where the wire casing is compromised.

I've had a couple events like this myself. Such is why I think it is mandatory to have some sort of breaker INLINE...rather than simply at the box.

Probably hard to tell now..with that level of melting/etc..if the wire on your reflector was compromised....but this is my best guess why the lamp doesn't merely blow and things start to melt/etc.

Wayyy glad it wasn't a tragedy bro. Prolly a real good time for everyone to go check yer cords..and set/mount your ballasts on non-flammable surfaces if they aren't already.

 

[d420dool]

hortilux all the way, no probs in 3 years

 

[dorjewright]

Skyhigh, what sort of inline breaker are you talking about?

 

[mastacheeser]

All equipment is less than a year old. Hydrofarm rep immediately met me at the hydro store to check it out and my local hydro store gave me a new raptor. Have a feeling that cap or discount hydro r gunna be dicks about replacing the bulb and ballast if it needs it
Breaker did not blow
All ballasts are a foot off the ground on bricks

 

[jkbeing]

Gonna speculate a bit here. Has anyone else noticed this?

With Cool tubes (especially, IMO) and other air cooled reflectors...the part of the cord that runs inside the tube/reflector can become stiff/brittle from the extended exposure to the heat from the lamp and the wire casing inside can become very dark/almost burnt looking. In the case of Cool Tubes...which I used quite a bit years ago....I've had the cord short out...and lamps fry....

The radiant heat is destructive in that small space.

 

[jkbeing]

All equipment is less than a year old. Hydrofarm rep immediately met me at the hydro store to check it out and my local hydro store gave me a new raptor. Have a feeling that cap or discount hydro r gunna be dicks about replacing the bulb and ballast if it needs it
Breaker did not blow
All ballasts are a foot off the ground on bricks

Scary... you did have air blowing though it?

 

[mastacheeser]

Scary... you did have air blowing though it?

Yep can fan and two boosters on a 40 ft run
Glass underneath the bulb bearly got warm

 

[woodsmaneh]

Due to the arcing on the inside of the raptor I would say it shorted behind the mogul. I have seen issues with the cheaper bulbs blowing the base out, but not often. Never cheap on your bulb there is a difference in the quality and yield, believe me. I carry Philips as my econo bulb but sell Eye' by the case for a reasonable markup I make less on the eye but I have no issues with them and they are the best. IMHO. The other thing to do is look at the bulb where it meats the metal and see if there is a small crack, lesser bulbs stress crack there the most.

 

[WAkuntry]

yikes glad it didnt burn the place down

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Fire your electrician as soon as you can,which means I guess your out of a job. You complain about them(vendors) but your in charge of your room. That breaker should have thrown. If you came to me with that crap I would laugh your way out of my shop. Reason I would never rent out my house again. JK

 

[mastacheeser]

Fire your electrician as soon as you can,which means I guess your out of a job. You complain about them(vendors) but your in charge of your room. That breaker should have thrown. If you came to me with that crap I would laugh your way out of my shop. Reason I would never rent out my house again. JK

Good thing i dont go to your shop, everything was replaced for free

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

here ya go bro, just incase it may happen again! lol
Glad everything turned out ok and ur grow isnt in ashes!

 

[woodsmaneh]

We would replace it, and give you a sample of something new to try. My supplier would replace it with a smile on their face as they know I can buy the same thing from a number of distributors. Most manufactures want this failed stuff back so they can check why, can you imagine if 10,000 raptors were blowing up, the whole industry would know about it and that is good for no one.

Glad you had a reasonable hydro shop not like some others LOL.

here ya go bro, just incase it may happen again! lol
Glad everything turned out ok and ur grow isnt in ashes!

Great idea and cheap insurance ^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[fishwhistle]

Wow the breaker didnt trip?How many lights are on it and what size is the breaker?When something like that happens i wanna know why,my money would be on the bulb and not the raptor.BTW i beleive C.A.P. owns discount hydro,they are one in the same.