Exploding HPS?

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

Hello folks

I've never seen this happen before, but today one of my Osram HPS lamps exploded, I wasn't in the room when it happened but judging by the dispersion pattern of the glass, it was a violent event! Lights came on at noon, I checked it at 12,45 and the lamp was sill lit, but the glass envelope was missing and I noticed the crunch of glass underfoot. I reckon the bulb can only have exploded a few mins earlier otherwise it would not still be lit and would have burnt out?

Anyone seen a HPS explode like this before? I remember seeing a pic of an exploded 1000watter years ago on overgrow and folks said then the bulb must have been damaged or something.

logic · Jan 23, 2009

Not seen it before, but i thought it was about to happen to me lol

i plugged my bulb into my new digi ballast yesterday and for the first 5 mins it made a crazy noise

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

Wierd mate, I never heard a digi ballast make any noise.

I'm worried my ballast is getting a bit worn out, it makes a louder buzzing after turning on than it used to but it's an old magnetic one and I have spare parts.

logic · Jan 23, 2009

It wasnt the ballast making noise mate, it was the bulb vibrating hard lol i shit myself and ran out of the room well thought it was about to blow

FastForward · Jan 23, 2009

Yikes BH. For the sake of 150 quid I'd go digital, just for the piece of mind....

SENSI ZYM · Jan 23, 2009

logic said:
It wasnt the ballast making noise mate, it was the bulb vibrating hard lol i shit myself and ran out of the room well thought it was about to blow

lol pukka i can just see you doing that lol i dont the same only jumped down the loft hatch i h8 electics sadly lost my grow partener who was my sparks to so now have to do it myself scares the fook out a me

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

I've got four magnetic ballasts gathering dust and if I had 150 quid I have more pressing things to spend it one! lol

Vibrating bulb eh, bulbs do vibrate a little bit when the ballast first fires up (you can hear the chink of the metal inside) but not violently lol. Is it still doing it when it turns on?

I have seen a CFL explode before, it was a really loud bang as well.

Cpt-Redeye · Jan 23, 2009

Unlucky BH, that don't sound too good...at least ya weren't in the room when it happened ay...coulda been worse....i hate electrics aswell...Does anyone know if contactor timers are worth the bother or if they tend to stay stuck on or not turn on at all? I know the best way is to turn the light on/off yaself every time but i am struggling to get up some mornings to turn the light off....I'm thinking its gotta be worth having a backup to make sure the lights are getting turned on/off at the correct time....

logic · Jan 23, 2009

Nah its stopping doing it bh, it only did it the first time i fired it up its ok now

Midnightgardener · Jan 23, 2009

re

i had it happen to me running 10 400watt hpits's on 600 watt ballasts, plugged em in and watched them explode one after the other, the reason is the hpits cannot start on a 600watt ballast, i found out the hardway..

Hazeseeker · Jan 23, 2009

Never had this happen before but it's been close on 1 occasion, i ordered a Osram Son-T online, didn't think about checking over when it arrived, just put it in and turned it on, started making this weird noise and the light was strobing, turned the light off, once it was cooled down i checked the bulb and near the threads on the bulb there's a small hole that should be covered by a bit metal - that was missing, must of been damamged on arrival in the post, i'm glad i was in the room because it could of been way worse if i wasn't there, now i don't order bulbs online because of this.

peace

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

That sounds nasty MG. What brand are the hpits? I have been using Osram for years, can't remember the last time I used anything else as a few places locally sell Osram bulbs (not for growing, for warehouses etc that use em).

This makes me wonder about these new plasma lights, if one of those explodes there is gas and shit to escape, sounds potentially hazardous indeed.

Slick · Jan 23, 2009

I guess its highly unlikely but could it have gotten wet? The only reasons that I know of where glass would explode in such a way would be an extreme temprature change or a harmonic oscillation.

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

I think it might be down to temp change as it's only about 8 to 10C in my space with lights out at the moment. Plants are flowering slowly due to the low temps but there's nothing I can do about it at the moment, this will probably be the last grow I do in this location, I hope to move house soon.

Midnightgardener · Jan 23, 2009

re

it is the phillips bulb with the MH fitting for growing, they only start up on 400watt ballasts.. was terrible watching em explode..

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

I can imagine, what did that cost ya? 300 euros?

Midnightgardener · Jan 23, 2009

re

sulpher plasma would be nasty, but if you go about it correctly then it should not be exploding, the reason i think your bulb exploded is got to do with the humidity and condensation on the bulb, then when starting up it goes from very cold to very hot and that fluctuation causes it to bang, thats why you should never handle a bulb with your hands instead use a towel or rubber gloves:fighting0040:

Otto · Jan 23, 2009

Bout 6 months ago i had a bulb blow up almost in my face, it was from condensation on the top of my Darkroom, after that i bought a few cool tube's simply cause of how hard it popped fucker was loud as shit . (I know you dont have a digi BH)Another thing that might and i say might do it is if your had a short on a digi ballast while its on, that might not be true but i bought a few battery backups for each light i run now....just in case. Plus itll keep your lights on during short power outages and keeps the power more consistant to your ballast. Honestly if your running a digi ballast at all its a great idea to have a battery back up cause itll save your bulbs from times when there is flicker and the bulb turns off but dosnt re-ignite, shit will ruin your bulbs with the quickness.

-Otto

British_Hempire · Jan 23, 2009

The humidity is fine, 55% rh. I think the bulb was approaching the end of it's usable life anyways, it's been used for one grow and I toss em after 6 months, the exploded one was about 6 weeks away from going in the bin

jadins_journey · Jan 23, 2009

British_Hempire said:
Hello folks

I've never seen this happen before, but today one of my Osram HPS lamps exploded, I wasn't in the room when it happened but judging by the dispersion pattern of the glass, it was a violent event! Lights came on at noon, I checked it at 12,45 and the lamp was sill lit, but the glass envelope was missing and I noticed the crunch of glass underfoot. I reckon the bulb can only have exploded a few mins earlier otherwise it would not still be lit and would have burnt out?

Anyone seen a HPS explode like this before? I remember seeing a pic of an exploded 1000watter years ago on overgrow and folks said then the bulb must have been damaged or something.

Was in the grow room last summer and had a 1000w dual-arc explode, looked like the 4th of July! Thankfully it was summer and the glass was on the hood. Bulb replaced free of charge as it was only 6 months old and under warranty from Worm's Way.

jj

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