Hamilton metal halide bulbs junk

[greekspec2]

I'm not or never been a fan of Hamilton products (Chinese made) so it was time to replace my bulb 250w DE in my Giesemann Infiniti, I always ran Giesemann,BLV or Ushio bulbs and figure to try a Hamilton 20k to see if it was a different spctrum of blue vs my Giesemann 20k not because of a $20 price savings. Got the bulb and considering there ballast are cheap and the only available M80 I figured the bulb is made in China also, so after 3 hours later the bulb bulb had shut off and would not re-fire so I pulled it out and found this. There are members who claim how great there crap is and this just proved why I always go out of my way to purchase German or EU made products.

 

[greekspec2]

 

[Bpb]

I’ll admit my time with Hamilton bulbs was short lived relatively speaking but I never had one go out on me. I had a pair of 15 year old Hamilton m80’s working fine that I sold, m58’s that never gave me problems, and went through a year of 14k and a year of 20k bulbs and never had any issue. Shame you had a bad run with them, they’re considerably cheaper than alternative options (where there aren’t many of now)

 

[yeldarbj]

I had a SE Hamilton bulb do the same thing for me. It worked for 1-2 days.. I contacted Hamilton, and they sent me a new one which worked great for a year or more. Great customer service. Sometimes you might get a bad bulb. It can happen to any company. What matters is how they treat the customer when it does happen.

 

[A. grandis]

Of course there is a difference between German and Japanese bulbs versus Chinese ones. I've had most of the aquarium halide brands and the Hamilton bulbs weren't bad. All my Hamilton worked fine. They do have the best customer service you can find!

 

[Hamilton Tech]

Hi greekspec2. We have not had any contacts regarding a bad 250 watt 20K DE bulb. We mostly hear only very positive feedback from customers and we get a ton of reorders, but if you had an issue with your purchase, simply contact us. Just email us regarding your issue and submit a copy of your invoice as proof of purchase to [email protected] or call us at 800-447-9797 and we will gladly remedy the issue for you. We do offer other ballasts than M80 and our ballasts are not “cheap”. It’s very common for us to speak with halide users who are still using the same Hamilton ballast for 10 - 20 years. That’s actually common and not surprising considering our ballasts last a long time. However, we do offer them at a lower price and at a lesser profit to us in order to be competitive - which should be a good thing. Feel free to contact us if you want our help with a replacement. Nobody on here can help you with that but we would like to. We take a lot of pride in our products and we care that you are happy with your purchase.

 

[A. grandis]

I'm so proud of having a company like Hamilton selling quality halide fixtures, ballasts, bulbs and replacement parts/accessories here in USA! Thanks very much for all the years of superb customer service, dedication and support to the hobby!

 

[greekspec2]

I'm so proud of having a company like Hamilton selling quality halide fixtures, ballasts, bulbs and replacement parts/accessories here in USA! Thanks very much for all the years of superb customer service, dedication and support to the hobby!

products made in the PRC aren't high quality I will continue to pay a premium and purchase EU products

 

[greekspec2]

Hi greekspec2. We have not had any contacts regarding a bad 250 watt 20K DE bulb. We mostly hear only very positive feedback from customers and we get a ton of reorders, but if you had an issue with your purchase, simply contact us. Just email us regarding your issue and submit a copy of your invoice as proof of purchase to [email protected] or call us at 800-447-9797 and we will gladly remedy the issue for you. We do offer other ballasts than M80 and our ballasts are not “cheap”. It’s very common for us to speak with halide users who are still using the same Hamilton ballast for 10 - 20 years. That’s actually common and not surprising considering our ballasts last a long time. However, we do offer them at a lower price and at a lesser profit to us in order to be competitive - which should be a good thing. Feel free to contact us if you want our help with a replacement. Nobody on here can help you with that but we would like to. We take a lot of pride in our products and we care that you are happy with your purchase.

Thanks for reaching out but I had the vendor refund me

 

[WVNed]

Mine come on every day and work fine. All 4 of them.

 

[Chibils]

Hi greekspec2. We have not had any contacts regarding a bad 250 watt 20K DE bulb. We mostly hear only very positive feedback from customers and we get a ton of reorders, but if you had an issue with your purchase, simply contact us. Just email us regarding your issue and submit a copy of your invoice as proof of purchase to [email protected] or call us at 800-447-9797 and we will gladly remedy the issue for you. We do offer other ballasts than M80 and our ballasts are not “cheap”. It’s very common for us to speak with halide users who are still using the same Hamilton ballast for 10 - 20 years. That’s actually common and not surprising considering our ballasts last a long time. However, we do offer them at a lower price and at a lesser profit to us in order to be competitive - which should be a good thing. Feel free to contact us if you want our help with a replacement. Nobody on here can help you with that but we would like to. We take a lot of pride in our products and we care that you are happy with your purchase.

I appreciate that you still continue to produce nearly a full lineup of metal halide products when most other companies have abandoned the technology. Thank you for your continued support of this hobby!

 

[WVNed]

I have used 10k, 14k and 20k bulbs. 12 in all and all worked.
I just couldn't make up my mind which color I wanted.

 

[A. grandis]

products made in the PRC aren't high quality I will continue to pay a premium and purchase EU products

Can you imagine if everyone here would act like you? No one would use none of the LEDs in the US market cause at least the majority of their parts come from China. Are you using only aquarium pumps, filters, dosing pumps, etc... from EU? What about your home and car?
I really think you should be more rumble and apologize to the company.
I strongly think you should reevaluate your words and attitude.
Next time please send an email to the company and resolve the problem with them. That would be the first step, not coming here with rocks in your hands!
Most people that use halides know Hamilton has strong solid customer service for so many years.
If you think EU companies will NEVER let you down, watch this video and cry!
Nothing is perfect, but God.
Peace!

 

[greekspec2]

I work for Audi/Porsche AG Germany only own German vehicles all of my equipment is from Germany or Italy,

That guy got the wrong bulb in the box a mis-pick watch his other videos so fake news.....just FYI BLV is the only EU company making halide bulb for aquatic...

most people on here ***** about the cost of stuff but rarely about quality or how or where it is made their is different tiers of quality.... hell I got a custom tank built by Schuran and had it exported to me, few bucks more and some shipping cost big deal.

If you think Hamilton is the bees/nees then open up your ballast and google the company where they components come from, there the Harbor Freight of lighting.

Can we agree its ok **** thats readily available unless you want better and willing to export from Europe!

 

[greekspec2]

I appreciate that you still continue to produce nearly a full lineup of metal halide products when most other companies have abandoned the technology. Thank you for your continued support of this hobby!

you realize there still are 3-4 companies still offering halide components from Europe that have been doing it way before Hamilton came onboard, this is not a **** on Hamilton show but don't put out info that is not true

 

[A. grandis]

I work for Audi/Porsche AG Germany only own German vehicles all of my equipment is from Germany or Italy,

That guy got the wrong bulb in the box a mis-pick watch his other videos so fake news.....just FYI BLV is the only EU company making halide bulb for aquatic...

most people on here ***** about the cost of stuff but rarely about quality or how or where it is made their is different tiers of quality.... hell I got a custom tank built by Schuran and had it exported to me, few bucks more and some shipping cost big deal.

If you think Hamilton is the bees/nees then open up your ballast and google the company where they components come from, there the Harbor Freight of lighting.

Can we agree its ok **** thats readily available unless you want better and willing to export from Europe!

Seriously... if you get your stuff from Germany or Italy why did you pick Hamilton this time? You should know better then!
I'm not crazy to say Chinese products would be equal/better than made in Japan, Germany, Italy. Of course I agree with that! Even though most parts of German fixtures, for example, come from China. Maybe that will be change soon, I would hope.
My point here is the respect for the company.
We all make mistakes. I think you went too far with your disrespect and you should apologize for the way you aproached the problem in public. And please don't take me wrong... once more, we aren't stupid and know the differences of qualities and how EU bulbs are amazing, but that's not the point, my friend!! Hope you come to understand this shouldn't be the way to refer to Hamilton. That's all.

 

[greekspec2]

Seriously... if you get your stuff from Germany or Italy why did you pick Hamilton this time? You should know better then!
I'm not crazy to say Chinese products would be equal/better than made in Japan, Germany, Italy. Of course I agree with that! Even though most parts of German fixtures, for example, come from China. Maybe that will be change soon, I would hope.
My point here is respect for the company.
We all make mistakes. I think you went too far with your disrespect and you should apologize for the way you aproached the problem in public. And please don't take me wrong... once more, we aren't stupid and know the differences of qualities and how EU bulbs are amazing, but that's not the point, my friend!! Hope you come to understand this shouldn't be the way to refer to Hamilton. That's all.

I tried the bulb because I wanted to see if it had more blue then a BLV,Ushio,Aqua Medic,Giesemann which are all the same bulb....Hamilton mentioned to me on a conversation awhile ago that there bulbs use to come from a company from Holland, so I figured they were produced by Phillips,Osram or Narva.

I have a Giesemann ballast now which is the same as Aqua Medic 'Vossloh Schwabe components' no need to worry about ANSI codes because these are the correct ballast for EU bulbs.

Just waiting on Philips Coral Care to release another fine EU product....

 

[Bpb]

hell I got a custom tank built by Schuran and had it exported to me, few bucks more and some shipping cost big deal.

curious to know what your definition of a few bucks extra is

My only experience with German aquarium gear are a pair of tunze 6105 units that both died (not at the same time) shortly after the 2 year mark, and an ati sunpower in which the ballasts would randomly power down throughout the day. My sicce syncra silent 3.0 impeller blew up at the 9 month mark as well. Haven’t had the best luck with European products.

the longest lived two products I have owned so far are a cheap JBJ auto topoff running reliably without a single failure purchased in 2012, and a pair of jebao wp pumps purchased in 2014

 

[Chibils]

I tried the bulb because I wanted to see if it had more blue then a BLV,Ushio,Aqua Medic,Giesemann which are all the same bulb....Hamilton mentioned to me on a conversation awhile ago that there bulbs use to come from a company from Holland, so I figured they were produced by Phillips,Osram or Narva.

I have a Giesemann ballast now which is the same as Aqua Medic 'Vossloh Schwabe components' no need to worry about ANSI codes because these are the correct ballast for EU bulbs.

Just waiting on Philips Coral Care to release another fine EU product....

Do you know of anyone importing BLV, AB, or other German bulbs to the US? Halide bulb selection has thinned out dramatically in the last several years.

 

[greekspec2]

What kelvin do you want and DE or SE?

All Giesemann,AB,Ushio,Aquaconnect are BLV mfg bulbs they all use BLV 's arc tubes and outer jacket. Giesemann tends to rate the kelvin higher than it really is, for instance a Giesemann Crystal 17,5k is really a BLV 16k if you look close at the arc tube it's stamped 16k.
All of the above brands 20k bulbs the arc tubes are stamped BL for blue and so on so when one guy say's my bulb is this or that it is laughable because there misinformed.