Bad MH bulb??

[ronj]

i turned my halides on today to find that the middle light wouldn't come on..i switched out the outlets and checked my ballasts..it ended up being my brand new XM 10K...does this happen often?????? i only ran it for 4-5 hrs yesterday..it was brand new!!!!!

 

[thekingfish]

Is it single ended? If so have you tried twisting the bulb so the nipple is pointing up or was it down ( I forget the correct orientation).

 

[ronj]

it is SE...i didn't know there was a correct way...it worked fine yesterday.....any thoughts??????

 

[Krish]

You get the occasional" lemon" sometimes. Hopefully it was just one of those occasions. Maybe you can just leave one of your other bulbs in that socket for a bit just to make sure something didn't go freaky with the ballast and blew that XM, but chances are it was just a bad bulb

 

[ronj]

i hope it wasn't the ballast..i will put another bulb in and see..i will be pissed if it is the ballast..i am going to call PA tomorrow and see if i can get another bulb, maybe the 12K or 10K Reeflux

 

[Krish]

Yeah...May just be a bad bulb though, but better safe than sorry I guess

 

[ronj]

yeah, i will test a used bulb just in case..don't want to blow a new one if that is the problem!!! the bulb looks fine though...i can't remember if the ends of the halide were white to begin with..by ends, i mean the little tube inside the bulb that lights up..the ends of it are white...

 

[Krish]

the ends of it are white...

My 10K XM was white on the inside as well. Here's a pic of it...

 

[ronj]

oh, ok...i was worried for a minute that my ballast let the bulb get too hot and turned it white!!!! cool..i am going to call Jeremy tomorrow..what bulb should i get??? just your opinion???

 

[Krish]

Well..I've tried (4) 250w bulbs so far (20K XM, 14k Hamilton, 12k Reeflux and 10k XM). The XM was really white to me, the 12K Reeflux and 20K XM looked identical to me and the 14K had a nice cool blue look to it. However, the fact that I used a different ballast from you are using probably won't help that much. Maybe Jeremy will be able to recommend a buld to give you the color you want on your particualr ballast. All I know is how these bulbs look on a PFO ballast

 

[ronj]

i guess i will have to ask him then...if i get the 12K and like it, i will order 2 more...

 

[thekingfish]

it is SE...i didn't know there was a correct way...it worked fine yesterday.....any thoughts??????

Its probably not the nipple position but this is an interesting read.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/3/review

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Ron here is the CV Reeflux 10k

Here is the 12k Bulb

You see what I mean?

Courtesy of Cnidarian on RC

 

[ronj]

that is a tough decision!!!! i may try a 10K in the middle again and the 12K's on the ends..the 10K doesn't blend bad at all with the 14K's i have now..the 12K would blend even better i think

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Its always a prefrence bro, That all it is .

 

[ronj]

i know..it sucks!!LOL i am going to contact a guy that i know..i am going to see if he has an old used 12k that he will give me ..i may be able to get an idea..i'm sure the new ones will appear a little different...thanks Bob

 

[ronj]

i talked to Premium AQ this morning...they are sending me out a new bulb..i am going to try out the Reeflux 10K....if i like it, i will order 2 more..if not, i will try 2 of the Reeflux 12K bulbs(Bob, be looking for that!!)

 

[redrooster]

This may sound dumb but I assume you made sure not to touch the bulbs when you put them in correct? Finger oil on the bulbs can cause them to heat incorrectly or break. You should always handle them with a towel or such. As towelie would say "don't forget your towel". But I assume you already knew that. Just kinda wanted to make a towlie reference.
Also I would go with the 12 or 14K bulbs, but it is mostly just preference.

 

[ronj]

i didn't touch the bulb..i used a dry dish towel to put them in..i ended up replacing the XM10K with a Reeflux 10K...i will see how it looks....

 

[SueT]

Ron, the reeflux 10k should not be pink in any way, so be sure you have a good one. Neither of mine had the pink but I have read where some did. It's just like the yellow in the XM's. When I was using the xm's I had 2 times that I had to get replacements, way too yellow.