MH light not staying on. PLEASE help!

[kyla bidwell]

Hello,
I have a reefette (reefer girl lol) emergency!
So I switched from some low grade leds (fuval reef) to mh. I got rid of the leds I was using.

I got a nice mh setup with n electronic ballast from my lfs. Im using 250w 20000k bulb which is the appropriate bulb for the ballast. When I got the mh home and set it up, it came on for about 3 mins tops. Then shut off completely. I left it plugged in to see if it was still just warming up, and it came back on about 5 mins after it turned off. Again, it stayed on for only a couple of minutes and went off again.

So I called the owner of my lfs and he says to plug it in on the opposite side if the house. I did that and it did the exact same thing.

My lfs owner stumped. I dont know what to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? The only other lights I have are pc lights and the bulbs are old on them.

I have a lot of coral and over half of it is sps. I REALLY dont want to have a coral funeral so if anyone has a clue whats going on please let me know. Even if it's something that might not work, im willing to try pretty much anything to save my coral.

Also, how long will sps last without strong lighting?

I have acros, birdsnests, leptoseris, montis, chalice, hydnophora, scolymia, blastos, euphillia, lobo, maze brain, zoas and im sure there are more that in missing. So im extremely worried! How long can they go with pc lights?

THANK YOU in advance!

 

[D maul]

Hello,
I have a reefette (reefer girl lol) emergency!
So I switched from some low grade leds (fuval reef) to mh. I got rid of the leds I was using.

I got a nice mh setup with n electronic ballast from my lfs. Im using 250w 20000k bulb which is the appropriate bulb for the ballast. When I got the mh home and set it up, it came on for about 3 mins tops. Then shut off completely. I left it plugged in to see if it was still just warming up, and it came back on about 5 mins after it turned off. Again, it stayed on for only a couple of minutes and went off again.

So I called the owner of my lfs and he says to plug it in on the opposite side if the house. I did that and it did the exact same thing.

My lfs owner stumped. I dont know what to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? The only other lights I have are pc lights and the bulbs are old on them.

I have a lot of coral and over half of it is sps. I REALLY dont want to have a coral funeral so if anyone has a clue whats going on please let me know. Even if it's something that might not work, im willing to try pretty much anything to save my coral.

Also, how long will sps last without strong lighting?

I have acros, birdsnests, leptoseris, montis, chalice, hydnophora, scolymia, blastos, euphillia, lobo, maze brain, zoas and im sure there are more that in missing. So im extremely worried! How long can they go with pc lights?

THANK YOU in advance!

Ask your lfs if he has a different ballast you can try

 

[3lusive]

Could be a thermal switch . I know that in some electronic motors they have a safety switch that kills power if the unit gets too hot , once it cools off it will turn on again until it exceeds the temp then will once again shut off. It is there to prevent a fire.

Like mentioned above , try a different ballast . Yours could just be a dud.

 

[DeniseAndy]

My MH will shut off if a short, overheated or a power issue. They then take time to come back on. Could be a miss fire in a wire. See if you can find another ballast. That is where I would guess the problem is. Are you tripping circuits in the house? If so, that is the issue. Figured you would have said so, but had to ask.

 

[Akida17th]

If an electronic ballast detects that the bulb didn't strike properly it will intermittently shut off before warmup, usually within the first 3 minutes. This is a safety feature in almost all electronic ballasts, Contrary to some belief, pairing MH bulbs with ballasts can be difficult at times. Some ballasts have issues firing different bulbs due to compatibility issues. I work for a Horticulture wholesaler and see this often. What bulb and ballast are you using? It's possible it's a defective ballast but the only way to know for certain is to try a different bulb with that ballast. I'd bring it back to the store and request/demand they test it with another bulb to validate the issue.

 

[kyla bidwell]

If an electronic ballast detects that the bulb didn't strike properly it will intermittently shut off before warmup, usually within the first 3 minutes. This is a safety feature in almost all electronic ballasts, Contrary to some belief, pairing MH bulbs with ballasts can be difficult at times. Some ballasts have issues firing different bulbs due to compatibility issues. I work for a Horticulture wholesaler and see this often. What bulb and ballast are you using? It's possible it's a defective ballast but the only way to know for certain is to try a different bulb with that ballast. I'd bring it back to the store and request/demand they test it with another bulb to validate the issue.

 

[kyla bidwell]

If an electronic ballast detects that the bulb didn't strike properly it will intermittently shut off before warmup, usually within the first 3 minutes. This is a safety feature in almost all electronic ballasts, Contrary to some belief, pairing MH bulbs with ballasts can be difficult at times. Some ballasts have issues firing different bulbs due to compatibility issues. I work for a Horticulture wholesaler and see this often. What bulb and ballast are you using? It's possible it's a defective ballast but the only way to know for certain is to try a different bulb with that ballast. I'd bring it back to the store and request/demand they test it with another bulb to validate the issue.

I took the ballast in amd exchanged it for one thats not electric. the 20000k bulb still wouldnt work. So the lfs owner recommended trying a 10000k bulb. It works! But its just so strange that with 2 different ballasts, I cant get a 20000k bulb to work. Is it possible that my house just wont give off enough power to run the 20000k? Does a 20000k take more power than a 10000k? I would think not, but I just dont know what to think anymore honestly. Its not an emergency anymore bc at least now I have a decent light working. But I sure would like to figure out why im only able to use a 10000k bulb. Id REALLY LOVE to use a 20000k if anyone has any 'bright' ideas? (Pun intended lol)
My coral seem to be ok with this bulb as does my BTA. But i like the look of the 20000k better. Does anyone know what bulb is actually better for sps coral? Like monti cap, digitata, birdsnest, acros, pacillapora and millipora? Those are the corals im most concerned about.

As always, thank you for your help!

 

[kacrocorals581]

might want to try a new bulb if there is a problem with the initial strike/firing of the bulb could cause it to act up. I had a very similar issue before and got another bulb to put in work fine.

 

[kacrocorals581]

and no it doesn't take more power to run a 20k than a 10k only differences is the gases inside the bulb a 250w light is a 250w light no matter the color