mh lighting problem

[darklcd]

hey all

I just picked up my mh fixture but I am having a problem with it. I turned it on this morning and I had no problems with it but I shut it off for a couple hours and tried to turn it back on and I can see that it is trying to go but its not kicking in. I know that there is a little warm up time with mh lights but I didn't think it was longer then 2 or 3 mins. Its a 150 hqi 15 or 20k bulb,

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[packer]

What kind of fixture is it? Alot of times a bulb coming on for just a very short time and going out indicates a bad bulb or an older bulb going bad. I got an off market clip on fixture awhile back that did that after two days. I replaced the bulb with a quality bulb and it has been running like a champ for months now.

 

[darklcd]

I am not sure who makes the fixture I got but it was not that expensive in the first place the fixture cost me anour 215 bucks with 1 150 mh and 2 t5 24 watt bulbs. I was hoping that it was the bulb cuse I don't want to have to spend the money to send it back. It did fire up about 20 mins ago but then I hit the wrong switch and shut it off rather then turning the t5s on. I can see that it tried to fire up but it will stop. The bulb is a 150 watt hqi double ended bulb. I am not sure what K it is though.

How sure are you that the buld is bad and if it is bad and I have to replace it what should I replace it with? the t5s that are in there are pure actinic I believe they are the bluest lights i have ever seen if that helps lol

 

[darklcd]

I just looked at the info and the MH bulb is a 15k if that helps lol

 

[mattleycrue76]

I have a similar setup and with mine if I turn of the MHs I can't turn them on again for about 30mins. Doesn't really bother me since they run on a timer anyway.

 

[ronj]

i have to wait 8 minutes to turn mine on again after they go off...i had trouble with mine because the bulbs i had were conflicting with the ballasts i was using.. the bulbs had their own self-firing mechanism and it was causing problems..they eventually just started working on the timers like they were supposed to.. i had to mess with them every day before that to get them on.. i would unplug the ballast for 8 minutes and plug it back in... they would normally turn on with the 1st or 2nd attempt

 

[darklcd]

when I fired it up late last night and this morning I had no problems at all so I am guess that it just has to cool down to a good temp and then it will fire back up

 

[Krish]

when I fired it up late last night and this morning I had no problems at all so I am guess that it just has to cool down to a good temp and then it will fire back up

Yeah, I had to wait a few minutes in between as well with my mh's whenever the lights shut off and I wanted to turn right back on. Hopefully that's all it is

 

[darklcd]

I am preying thats what it is too I don't want to have to worry about sending it back. it worked ok this morning so I think thats all it is

 

[packer]

DE MH bulbs if on for even a short time get hot. If turned off they need to cool way down before they will fire up again, depending on the ambient temperature and how closed up the fixture is, it can even take 15-20 minutes. Sounds like that was your problem. With the T5 acitinic, when its time to replace the bulb you might want to consider a 10K bulb over the 15K. It will be a bit whiter and might give you better coral growth.

 

[darklcd]

sounds good I will have to keep that in mind I don't mind the whiter part with the t5s they have enough blue for anything lol