pirate2876
Valuable Member
So this is a rant with some questions at the end of it.
I had been contemplating running a 10k bulb instead of the Phoenix bulbs to try and increase growth. In my setup I have 2x 250w DE halides running off a SLS dual HQI ballast. I like the Phoenix, but I just wanted to see if the 10k bulb would dramatically improve growth or just help a little.
Well, one day one of the bulbs stopped lighting up. At first, the bulb would have a hard time firing and would take a while to finally light up. Then it stopped completely soon after. The other side was fine and lit no problem. So I figured the bulb must have gone out and I ordered 2 new 10k Ushio bulbs. So, I changed the bulbs and they worked fine the first day. Then the same fixture that had problems before goes out the next day. So it has to be either the fixture itself, or the ballast, right? New bulbs dont go out after a day, do they?
I decided I will just get 1 new fixture and ballast for the non functioning pendant. Keeping the one that works on the same old ballast. This will give me a bit of flexibility down the road if I want.
Well, I get the new pendant(Cayman Sun DE) and remove the old one. Also a tremendous pain in the *** to mount. Then install the bulb and new ballast and nothing. No light. I contact Marine Depot and ask about the ballast being compatible with HQI bulbs. They say no issue. The ballast(CoralVue Luxcore) is suppose to fire DE bulbs no problem. So I figure I should just switch the bulbs and see if they work. One breaks off when I try and remove it. ****...So I use an old bulb in the new pendant and try that. It works. Both run off the dual ballast fine. No need for new ballast.
I figure I can just send the Coralvue ballast back and be done with it. Well, two days later the other new 10k bulb stops working. No spark, no nothing firing. These **** bulbs have been giving me nothing but grief. Luckily Dr. Foster and Smith will take an exchange for new bulbs.
By this point I am super frustrated over this and about what a pain in the *** installing DE bulbs can be, so I just order a 250 mogul socket with a 20k Radium. This has to work with the CoralVue ballast, right? Can anyone see any bulb and ballast compatibility issues I missed? Can one side of a dual ballast go bad? And if so, how come everything was fine for a day?
Any info would help. Thanks.
I had been contemplating running a 10k bulb instead of the Phoenix bulbs to try and increase growth. In my setup I have 2x 250w DE halides running off a SLS dual HQI ballast. I like the Phoenix, but I just wanted to see if the 10k bulb would dramatically improve growth or just help a little.
Well, one day one of the bulbs stopped lighting up. At first, the bulb would have a hard time firing and would take a while to finally light up. Then it stopped completely soon after. The other side was fine and lit no problem. So I figured the bulb must have gone out and I ordered 2 new 10k Ushio bulbs. So, I changed the bulbs and they worked fine the first day. Then the same fixture that had problems before goes out the next day. So it has to be either the fixture itself, or the ballast, right? New bulbs dont go out after a day, do they?
I decided I will just get 1 new fixture and ballast for the non functioning pendant. Keeping the one that works on the same old ballast. This will give me a bit of flexibility down the road if I want.
Well, I get the new pendant(Cayman Sun DE) and remove the old one. Also a tremendous pain in the *** to mount. Then install the bulb and new ballast and nothing. No light. I contact Marine Depot and ask about the ballast being compatible with HQI bulbs. They say no issue. The ballast(CoralVue Luxcore) is suppose to fire DE bulbs no problem. So I figure I should just switch the bulbs and see if they work. One breaks off when I try and remove it. ****...So I use an old bulb in the new pendant and try that. It works. Both run off the dual ballast fine. No need for new ballast.
I figure I can just send the Coralvue ballast back and be done with it. Well, two days later the other new 10k bulb stops working. No spark, no nothing firing. These **** bulbs have been giving me nothing but grief. Luckily Dr. Foster and Smith will take an exchange for new bulbs.
By this point I am super frustrated over this and about what a pain in the *** installing DE bulbs can be, so I just order a 250 mogul socket with a 20k Radium. This has to work with the CoralVue ballast, right? Can anyone see any bulb and ballast compatibility issues I missed? Can one side of a dual ballast go bad? And if so, how come everything was fine for a day?
Any info would help. Thanks.
