Bad ballast or bad bulb?

[buckeye-leaf]

Hey folks,
Today my friend gave me a free 400w hps light, ballast, reflector, bulb everything . But I have a problem the light turns on and stays on for about an hour or two hours, then shuts off for an hour or two then comes back on. My question is the ballast bad or is the bulb bad? I've had a light before and never seen anything like this so I wanted to ask you folks what you think. The setup was free so Im still happy, I just need to know what I should do to correct this problem.


buckeye-leaf

 

[mace_ecam]

check the cabeling, is the bulb properly screwed in?

how old you think/have been told is the bulb?

a magnetic ballast is highly unlikely to fail, you should never work with used bulbs that weren't yours, could be a big waste of electricity, effort and plants

 

[buckeye-leaf]

hey mace thanks for the reply, yeah the bulb is properly screwed in Ive had a hps lamp before but never seen the lights do this before. My buddy said the system was about 1 year old which includes the bulb, he gave it to me because he got a larger watt light. I know a place here that has 400w hps bulbs for around $25, so I think Im gonna go buy one and replace the old bulb and see how it goes, if not I'll have to buy a new ballast but its ok because it was free a little cash to make a practically brand new light working will be nice.


buckeye-leaf

 

[mace_ecam]

the only things i can think of to fail in the ballast is the ignitor or the capacitor(unlikely), the coil is as good as unbreakable, and if its broken, you'll note it either by the smoke that comes out of the ballast or by the fuse that blows each time you plug it in.

Anyways, you'll need a new bulb

Let us know how it went,

mace

 

[R00KIE]

Did it do the same thing at your buddys??
Are you wired on the right current?
Sounds like it's overheating somehow, maybe the ignitor or cap is shot and it just shuts itself off when it gets too hot...
Does the ballast keep humming when it shuts off or does it just go silent?