New Halide Set up not working!

hatfielj · Jul 12, 2014

Looking for some thoughts...
I just switched my lighting set up. I bought two used coralvue reflectors, 2 brand new hamilton HQI ballasts, and 2 brand new radium bulbs for them. I plug everything in and NOTHING. Checked all my connections, checked my outlets, etc, and nothing still. Finally I was able to get one of them to start, but basically messing with the bulb (screwing it in and out a little seemed to do the trick?). However, when you turn it off, it won't turn back on unless I mess with it again. The other bulb nothing. I switched the bulbs around and it definitely seems to be the one bulb.
To me it seems really strange that 2 brand new bulbs would be defective like this. Has any one else had this issue? I've already contacted the vendor and they're going to send me new ones for exchange, but I'm nervous that the bulbs aren't the problem? Any ideas?

Eric B · Jul 12, 2014

You might want to unplug and check light socket where bulb screw's in for any corrosion. If there is any I would scotch bright it off and maybe that will help. Only thing I can think of since you bought everything new except reflectors which are used.

hybridazn · Jul 12, 2014

I'm going to guess that the sockets are bad. I had a similar situation with my metal halides where they would only fire if I messed with the bulbs. After I switched out the sockets problem solved.

FL_Reefer · Jul 12, 2014

So they will turn on if you turn the bulbs a little bit? Sounds like a bad connection to me. I know this sounds dumb but make sure they are screwed in strait, sometimes the can screw in kind of cockeyed.

hatfielj · Jul 12, 2014

I was thinking it could be the sockets too, so last night I took them both apart to look for any corrosion or solder failure or anything but they both looked ok. In fact, I swapped one of them out with a socket from another light fixture I have that I know works fine. Still didn't seem to change anything. This just has me puzzled. If the new bulbs dont work then I guess I'll try getting brand new socket and cord set up? If that doesnt do it, it would have to be the ballasts. So frustrating! Meanwhile my corals go another day with out consistent light

hybridazn · Jul 13, 2014

hatfielj said:
I was thinking it could be the sockets too, so last night I took them both apart to look for any corrosion or solder failure or anything but they both looked ok. In fact, I swapped one of them out with a socket from another light fixture I have that I know works fine. Still didn't seem to change anything. This just has me puzzled. If the new bulbs dont work then I guess I'll try getting brand new socket and cord set up? If that doesnt do it, it would have to be the ballasts. So frustrating! Meanwhile my corals go another day with out consistent light

I did the same thing. The old sockets showed no signs of corrosion or anything else. But as soon as I switched them out I haven't had a problem. I believe it is in the "flap" on the bottom of the socket that has the metal spring under it that was the problem. I assume that it stopped making contact with the bulb and wouldn't fire the bulb, and when it did it was probably arcing because it wouldn't fire again when I turned it off.

FL_Reefer · Jul 13, 2014

Have you checked the fuse in the ballast?

FL_Reefer · Jul 15, 2014

Any updates?

hatfielj · Jul 15, 2014

Okay, so I received a new bulb from Premium Aquatics today (they have been very helpful). I screwed it in and voila! It lit right up. HOWEVER...My aquarium timer turned it off after like 20-30 minutes (because it was time for lights out) and now it won't light again. I was hoping it was just the bulbs, but there's no way I've received 3 consecutive bad bulbs. SO, now I'm hoping its just a burn in issue. I'm going to leave them turned on (even though they're not actually lit up) and see if they turn them selves on after a while. Supposedly the ballast will try to ignite them at specified intervals? I also ordered brand new sockets and wired one of them up to see if that was the issue, but it made no difference. So, its not the bulb, its not the sockets, its not the ballasts (because they have both worked before and they're brand new), so it must just be a burn in problem? That's where I'm at anyway...

mcarroll · Jul 15, 2014

Prolly a built in wait for the bulbs to cool before re-firing. That should be a standard feature, so hopefully that's all it is. Bulbs should re-fire after 10-15 min if that's the case. If you're controlling power manually, leave them powered off while cooling.

-Matt

hatfielj · Jul 16, 2014

Well, today I again tried getting these things to fire up and now one of the ballasts caused my GFCI to trip! So, I unplugged it and tried it on a different circuit and it did the same thing, instantly! Also, I decided to try the bulbs on an e-ballast I happened to have lying around and they fired up instantly and worked like a charm. I've had it with these hamilton ballasts. I think they were the problem all along. I'm just going to run them on coralvue eballasts and send these hamilton's back. I've already contacted Hamilton and they're sending me return labels. I wonder if they labeled the ballasts wrong and that I'm actually using their "standard" ballasts and not the HQI. They both say HQI on the sticker, but it could be mis-labeled. They even admitted that could be the case. Regardless, I've had nothing but good experiences with electronic ballasts in the past, so I feel pretty good about going that route. I was hoping to use an M80 ballast for the radiums, but I think running them on eballasts with the "super lumens" mode will run them fairly similarly to an M80 ballast. At least they'll work!

FL_Reefer · Jul 16, 2014

So frustrating when something is supposed to work and it doesn't

Reef Pets · Jul 16, 2014

The coralvue ballasts are great. That's all I have used for 10+ years. The price is right and I still run 2 of them from 10 years ago. Of course they have changed their design and have labeled them Luxcore, which I have several of and they have remained the same quality.
It was good seeing you a while back.

mcarroll · Jul 17, 2014

hatfielj said:
[...] I was hoping to use an M80 ballast for the radiums, but I think running them on eballasts with the "super lumens" mode will run them fairly similarly to an M80 ballast. At least they'll work!

M80's are the best for Radiums, but I bet the wattage-boost-mode will be close enough! (Pretty sure Radiums are what that mode was designed for.)

-Matt