Help with metal halide bulb not firing

[Jwill1316]

Im wondering Have you ever had issues with that specific bulb lighting constantly. I purchased that bulb along with
the bali sun fixture and a 250 watt dimmable Hamilton technology electronic ballast. I have been through 2 bulbs now where I'm having an issue with the bulb firing constantly. For the first few weeks the bulb will fire fine then it will not fire at the desired time that I have it set at sometimes it takes 10 min to fire others and hour. The first bulb I received did the same thing and fired well for about a week then the bulb just wont fire at all. I'm either lead to believe that this style bulb isn't any good or the ballast isn't any good. I have tried reseating the bulb checking all connections within the fixture. I'm at a point where i think I'm going to purchase an icecap ballast or go led.
I love metal halide bulbs and really don't want to switch but this is annoying. The only other thing I can think of
doing is switching to a different brand bulb to see if I get the same results. I'm ether going to go with a Reefbrite bulb or a Radion bulb. any help would be appreciated

 

[Saltyreef]

Is there an ignitor on your fixture?

 

[Jwill1316]

Is there an ignitor on your fixture?

no its a bali sun fixture supposedly everything is meant to work together the only thing i can think of is that im running the ballast off my neptune apex system and its causing it to not work right

 

[Saltyreef]

Theres not much complexity to ballasted lamps.
Plug it into a standard wall outlet if you believe the apex powerbar may be contributing to your issue.

Otherwise, I would contact hamilton technologies to have them help troubleshoot. Seeing as its all the same manufactuer and they are made for use with one another, you either have a faulty ballast, bad ignitor or bulb. Even less common a wiring fault.

 

[Jwill1316]

Theres not much complexity to ballasted lamps.
Plug it into a standard wall outlet if you believe the apex powerbar may be contributing to your issue.

Otherwise, I would contact hamilton technologies to have them help troubleshoot. Seeing as its all the same manufactuer and they are made for use with one another, you either have a faulty ballast, bad ignitor or bulb. Even less common a wiring fault.

lol well that's just it I have called them and havent seemed to get much help or advice as to what the issue could be
I spoke with Dave and he didn't provide much help he sent me a replacement bulb to see if that could be the issue
and suggested that it could be the fuse inside the ballast but I have checked that and checked to make sure
it was seated properly in the socket as well as the wiring Im going to try to setup the ballase
on an analogue timer and see if that helps make a difference

 

[Saltyreef]

lol well that's just it I have called them and havent seemed to get much help or advice as to what the issue could be
I spoke with Dave and he didn't provide much help he sent me a replacement bulb to see if that could be the issue
and suggested that it could be the fuse inside the ballast but I have checked that and checked to make sure
it was seated properly in the socket as well as the wiring Im going to try to setup the ballase
on an analogue timer and see if that helps make a difference

Yea theres only so much that could go wrong and only so much troubleshooting that could be done without replacements.

Glad they sent you a new bulb.

For the fuse holder, check that its making good contact at the bottom and top of the holder. Ive had to bend tabs closer to the fuse before on fuse holders that were giving me an issue.

In your scenerio, ive seen igniters on the fixture go bad but if theres not an igniter between the bulb holder and wiring then its likely isolated to the ballast.

Try the analog timer in another outlet and let us know how it works out for you!

 

[Jwill1316]

Yea theres only so much that could go wrong and only so much troubleshooting that could be done without replacements.

Glad they sent you a new bulb.

For the fuse holder, check that its making good contact at the bottom and top of the holder. Ive had to bend tabs closer to the fuse before on fuse holders that were giving me an issue.

In your scenerio, ive seen igniters on the fixture go bad but if theres not an igniter between the bulb holder and wiring then its likely isolated to the ballast.

Try the analog timer in another outlet and let us know how it works out for you!

yeah I definitly will do that Im hoping its just the fact that its hooked to the apex and not geting enough power I typically have to unplug the ballast and plug it back in to get it to work or tap on the bulb

 

[Saltyreef]

I hope it works out!

Another thing ive seen with standard bulb holder sockets is the small tab in the center doesnt get depressed all the way to make contact when the bulb is screwed in.

Somthing else to be aware of and check.

 

[Fishy888]

Do you know if your lamp is probe start or pulse start? That can make a difference too. It could certainly be the apex but I think it’s either a bad igniter or an incompatible lamp. Definitely check to see if it’s the apex first. If it’s not the apex then see if your lamp is pulse or probe start. I’m going to look up that ballast to see if it can handle both start types.

 

[Fishy888]

Ok the ballast can handle both types of start. It can also handle double ended lamps. If you have a pulse start lamp, see if you have the same issue with a probe start lamp if you have one to try. If it works maybe you could use that temporarily while they send you a replacement (assuming they let you do that). Either way you’ll need to have them either repair or replace the ballast.

 

[wrassie86]

I had 3x de bulbs from Hamilton all blow out in a months' time a few months ago I believe there was erratic starting before blowing out. switched to a different brand and no trouble since. But definitely check the tab in socket and make sure it lifted enough to make good contact.

 

[Jwill1316]

Ok the ballast can handle both types of start. It can also handle double ended lamps. If you have a pulse start lamp, see if you have the same issue with a probe start lamp if you have one to try. If it works maybe you could use that temporarily while they send you a replacement (assuming they let you do that). Either way you’ll need to have them either repair or replace the ballast.

yeah I only have the 250 14k bulbs from hamilton and I have checked the tab inside to make sure it was getting contact I think the next bulb I may try is a radion but Im first going to try to use an analogue style timer and powerstrip to see if it the Apex causing the issue then go from there

 

[Jwill1316]

I had 3x de bulbs from Hamilton all blow out in a months' time a few months ago I believe there was erratic starting before blowing out. switched to a different brand and no trouble since. But definitely check the tab in socket and make sure it lifted enough to make good contact.

yeah this is a mogul style bulb and this is the second one that I have been through the first one lasted almost 2weeks . the first 3 days the bulb fired fine but then starting to have igniting issues. Would fire then go out as soon as it would fire. then eventually wouldn't fire at all. now im having the same issue with this bulb

 

[Jwill1316]

I hope it works out!

Another thing ive seen with standard bulb holder sockets is the small tab in the center doesnt get depressed all the way to make contact when the bulb is screwed in.

Somthing else to be aware of and check.

thank u I have checked that as well as many other things only thing I can think of s the ballast is bad or the bulbs but leaning more towards the ballast

 

[Fishy888]

thank u I have checked that as well as many other things only thing I can think of s the ballast is bad or the bulbs but leaning more towards the ballast

Agreed.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Which outlet on the Apex strip do you have the ballast plugged in to?

 

[Jwill1316]

Number 4 outlet

 

[minus9]

My RB ballasts and Hamilton 14k bulbs are working perfectly fine on my EB8, but I'm not using #4 or #8.

 

[Jwill1316]

My RB ballasts and Hamilton 14k bulbs are working perfectly fine on my EB8, but I'm not using #4 or #8.

well thats my plan is to try to go and run it right off a analogue timer on a powerstrip instead of the apex and see if that works

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Number 4 outlet

Change your outlet to number 1 or 2, they are for lighting. It matters and says so in the Apex manual. Give it a shot and let me know.