Ballast Broken, HELP

[Illadelph]

I have a 400w MH/HPS ballast that came on the cab i bought, pre assembled. I switched to 12/12 yesterday and changed the bulb. The light came on for 12 hours, went off like it was suppost too, then 12 hours later when it was suppost to come back on it didnt. I tried 3 different light bulbs none worked. I can see inside the ballast box through the fan grates that a red light is on inside the ballast, I dont know if this was always on or not, but it at least it indicates to me that the ballast is getting power. Also, the power company shut my power off today for a few hours to do work on the lines, but this was while the light was already off for 12 hours of darkness. I'm going to try to open the box tomorrow after I get a small screw driver to see if there are any loose connections, and do the same for the light socket. If anyone has any experience with such a problem, or has any experience with opening these ballasts up, please give me input. Its a blue ballast box, like I have seen many other people using in pictures in these forums. Dunno if the same color means its the same one, but it looks the same. Also I left a message for the company that sold me the pre-assembled cab for them to call me back. Also let me know you suggest not opening the box up if it is going to void any warranties that it might have. This company has not been very good at returning my calls so far, so I'll probably hear from anyone that posts here first. If there is anything that someone can suggest as a temporary substitute for the mean time, let me know. I have a work bench light with 2 T40 Florescents, dunno if that will be enough. But i'm freaking out because I'm a month into my grow. How long can those puppies go without lights?

Any response, advice or help is much appreciated

 

[FreezerBoy]

You'll void the warranty if they can see you've opened the box. Are there any markings on the screws such as tiny drops of Locktite. If not, just be careful not to leave big scratch marks and you may get away with it. The T-40s will maintain the light schedule but, the lesser power may cause stretch as the plants seek stronger light. You might try Home Depot for a security light. Either HPS or MH. Just enough to hold you over till the manufacturer comes through.

 

[Illadelph]

Thanks freezer boy. Yeah, they put locktite on one of the screw heads but I was able to scrape it out. Its definitly a loose conection in the output lines, I opened that thing up and jiggled it a little, and it worked, although there was a buzzing coming from the box indicating some kind of loose connection. When i turned it off to plug it back into the timer, it broke again. Fuck!. I called the manufacturer of my Cab and they said they have been having trouble with those ballasts, 60% of them don't work. They are waiting for new ballasts from a different company and will send me a free one when they get them In. I'm not sure how i'm going to swap it with the old one, as the connections are all soldiered to circuit boards, its not like there is just a plug. I'm gunna try the t40's, maybe see what I can do about a security light but its not like those things plug into outlets. I added bushmaster to my reservoir 2 days ago when I switched to flowering, so hopefully that will curb stretch with the T40's. I feel pretty screwed over that these dicks at the cab company sold me a box with a ballast that they knew they had been having problems with. Even though their technical support is great. I guess in about 2 weeks I Can expect a new one. Wish i didnt have to go through such bullshit on my first grow, especially when I'm not a do it yourself type of dude, and have to fuck with all this electrical equipment.

Still looking for any other input on what i can do to substitute lights and reduce stretch. So if you have any ideas that haven't been mentioned, throw em on out.

 

[Illadelph]

Got the plants under the T40's now. A pretty pathetic looking set up but hopefully it will be enough to keep things going. I overnighted the defective ballast to the cab company, and they will overnight the new one when they get it in, so I should recieve it early next week, assuming their shipment of new ballasts isnt late, which with my luck it will be. Its gunna be tough hooking the new one back up, as i have to connect the loose wires to the light socket. Does it matter which terminals on the socket a hook the positive and negative wires too? because I didnt think to mark them when disconnecting the old ballast. If so, hopefully they will be able to tell me which is positive and which is negative (terminals on light socket.)

This whole situation is very annoying to me. If I had wanted a grow happening in plain view in my basement, I wouldn't have spent 2 G's on a stealth cab. And If I wanted to go through all kinds of wiring and parts swapping, I would have just built my own. But atleast they company is doing everything they can so far, so I can't bitch too much.

Also, some of my leaves are drying up and dying from the ends inward. I'm at about 1550 PPMs so I don't think its a deficiency. Also, its starting at the tips, so that tells me its not nute burn. Its not on the new growth, only the older larger leaves. I tried to take a picture of it, but only have a camera phone so I don't know how great it is. I was thinking it might be PH Lockout. My PH seems to be between 6-7, so I added a little PH Down, hopefully it will do the trick but I'm looking for any answers anyone might have. Could it be from the 30 hours or so that my lights were off because of the broken ballast? I doubt it. Also, its okay to put them back under 24hrs of light after one light cycle of 12/12 followed by ~30hrs of darkness right? they are already showing the effects of 12/12 at the budsites and under the nodes where they show their first pistils. Any help in my situation is greatly appriciated. Since the reservoir is outside of the cab now, and the T40s dont give off much heat, i'm hoping that this will slow the growing, in addition the bushmaster I added to the reservoir a few days ago. Let me know if there is anything else I can do. Its bubba kush in case anyone is wondering or cares. Also, whats up with those drooping leaves in the front, not the actual leaves themself, but they are pulling the branch down, fan leaves, is that okay or does it indicate unhealthy plants?

 

[Illadelph]

Okay, got the new ballast and have it hooked up. The plants seemed to be okay for the 5 days or so that they were under the T40's 24hrs. They are under HPS 12/12 now, should be showing sex soon. Seemed to have survived this ordeal. Have some "rust" spots on some of my older leaves though...nute burn? Root damage from moving em around? PH lockout? the leaves seemed to have stopped drying out though. Any comments or suggestions on that? its only a few leaves on each plant, maybe not even every plant is affected.


... I'm not sure anyone is even reading this thread. But I just thought i'd update on my situation incase anyone stumbles across it months later or something.