Metal halide

justingraham · Aug 16, 2017

Roy 9121 said:
Ok, thank you for that.

Dude u told me my bulbs are bad because they have been used for five months

Then u told me to go buy one at 830 at night to see if it is in fact my bulb and then if it isn't go buy a ballast

If I order a bulb right now won't get here till Friday then if it isn't the bulb we're talking a week without light for my corals I don't know about u but I got 2grand In corals in my tank

I want to know what to check to make sure I order the right part the first time so I'm not down for a week without lights

Like I said thank u for ur help but the info ur dishing out just isnt what I'm looking for

Don't take it personal but I have lives in my hand here

Roy 9121 · Aug 16, 2017

justingraham said:
Dude u told me my bulbs are bad because they have been used for five months

Then u told me to go buy one at 830 at night to see if it is in fact my bulb and then if it isn't go buy a ballast

If I order a bulb right now won't get here till Friday then if it isn't the bulb we're talking a week without light for my corals I don't know about u but I got 2grand In corals in my tank

I want to know what to check to make sure I order the right part the first time so I'm not down for a week without lights

Like I said thank u for ur help but the info ur dishing out just isnt what I'm looking for

Don't take it personal but I have lives in my hand here

I though you were ignoring me, please continue. All I said was to try changing the bulb, if that's not your problem, check the ballast. I never said the bulb was bad because it's 5 months old, I said it's almost time to change them. I use to change my bulbs every 6-8 months. Sorry for trying to help you. Good luck.

PSLReefer · Aug 16, 2017

We all said try another bulb, it was just the way it was said lol

hybridazn · Aug 16, 2017

justingraham said:
And if it is the bulb any problems running a brand new one and one with five months on it?

There will be a par difference until the new one burns in, other than that no. But If It were me I would replace both now and keep the 5 month old one as a backup in case this ever happens again. Run the 5 month one until the new one arrives.

PSLReefer · Aug 16, 2017

hybridazn said:
There will be a par difference until the new one burns in, other than that no. But If It were me I would replace both now and keep the 5 month old one as a backup in case this ever happens again. Run the 5 month one until the new one arrives.

I always hated splashing water and cracking a bulb then having one newer than the other. Such a pain with the different par. Would just have to order 2 and use the older one as a back up, like you said.

justingraham · Aug 16, 2017

Roy 9121 said:
I though you were ignoring me, please continue. All I said was to try changing the bulb, if that's not your problem, check the ballast. I never said the bulb was bad because it's 5 months old, I said it's almost time to change them. I use to change my bulbs every 6-8 months. Sorry for trying to help you. Good luck.

And thank u for ur help man I'm just p ed off that this is happening and trying to figure out the problem the first time

justingraham · Aug 16, 2017

PSLReefer said:
I always hated splashing water and cracking a bulb then having one newer than the other. Such a pain with the different par. Would just have to order 2 and use the older one as a back up, like you said.

Thanks that seems to be like the best idea half my tank will just be lit for two days I guess

justingraham · Aug 16, 2017

hybridazn said:
There will be a par difference until the new one burns in, other than that no. But If It were me I would replace both now and keep the 5 month old one as a backup in case this ever happens again. Run the 5 month one until the new one arrives.

Smart that's why I hang out with ya

I'm calling tulio tomorow he guaranteed me (and my girl) that it would last at least a year.

prsnlty · Aug 16, 2017

Are you sure it can't possibly be your fixture? Maybe the socket has a problem? What if you take the good bulb that is working properly and switch it like you did the ballast to check the ballast? If it still does it with the good bulb then it's your fixture.

prsnlty · Aug 16, 2017

It can only be 1 of 3 things... bulb, ballast or fixture. If you switched ballasts and it still happens then it isn't the ballast. 1 down. Then switch bulbs. If it still does this with the other bulb then it is the fixture. If not then you know for sure it is the bulb.

justingraham · Aug 16, 2017

Yea bulb is hot right now will hopefully get to that tomorow before work of not ah

prsnlty · Aug 16, 2017

Justin, you can get faulty bulbs just like you can get faulty equipment. It happens. Let us know how it turns out.

justingraham · Aug 17, 2017

prsnlty said:
Justin, you can get faulty bulbs just like you can get faulty equipment. It happens. Let us know how it turns out.

Yea I know just mad

When ur told something and something else happens it makes me mad I don't know about u

But hybrid and that other persons idea of grabbing two and having one as a spare is a smart idea and I should have that anyway

aquavista99 · Aug 17, 2017

It looks like either a defective bulb or ballast issue . Usually halide bulbs should last well over a year or so. After about 8 months is when I usually replace them, sometimes longer. The flickering is not normal and is usually a sign of a bad ballast or bad bulb.

justingraham · Aug 17, 2017

aquavista99 said:
It looks like either a defective bulb or ballast issue . Usually halide bulbs should last well over a year or so. After about 8 months is when I usually replace them, sometimes longer. The flickering is not normal and is usually a sign of a bad ballast or bad bulb.

Thanks aqua was weird that it flickered like that to me if the bulb was bad it would do nothing but I never had halides so who knows.

I got I contact with tulio today and he handled himself very well I can not say That I was the cool collected calm person I usually am but in the end everything worked out and I have two bulbs in route to my house and a plan incase it is my connectors. The lights will be here tomorow.

Bruce Burnett · Aug 18, 2017

justingraham said:
Yea I know just mad

When ur told something and something else happens it makes me mad I don't know about u

But hybrid and that other persons idea of grabbing two and having one as a spare is a smart idea and I should have that anyway

Halides have an ignitor and when the bulb goes bad they flicker. Always good to keep old working ones as backup. I usually changed out my bulbs between 12-18 months. Everything is prone to failure at some point or human error only time worth getting mad or angry is when you make a stupid mistake yourself. I went away from halides because of bulb replacement and the heat produced.

Jeremy Willis · Aug 20, 2017

Roy 9121 said:
If the bulb is 5 months old, its about time to replace it any way. So i would replace the bulb and see if that fixes your problem.

HUH??? That would be a big waste of money. Halide bulbs give you a year in most cases. 5 months? Nope. It isn't anywhere near time to replace it.

hybridazn · Aug 20, 2017

Jeremy Willis said:
HUH??? That would be a big waste of money. Halide bulbs give you a year in most cases. 5 months? Nope. It isn't anywhere near time to replace it.

If you run the cheap plusrite or other eBay bulbs 5 months is probably about right.

Seanb1 · Aug 21, 2017

Make sure it's screwed in tight, maybe take it out and see if there's any salt creep or water, clean it up.

justingraham · Aug 21, 2017

Seanndenise said:
Make sure it's screwed in tight, maybe take it out and see if there's any salt creep or water, clean it up.

It's a Double ended bulb

So I got the new bulbs in so happy I did the canopy the way I did switched out the bulbs in ten mins flat

The bulb was bad joy and tulio kept there word and my tank is back to being lit

I am throughly happy with reefbrite they have always been good to me