Metal Halide bulb flicker

[MMreef]

So, I've had this 400w icecap electronic ballast and fixture sitting around for eons, I'm not sure it's ever been used before. I'm fairly certain I purchased this light new, but again, it's been sitting for a while. I recently started a new 120g aquarium and I noticed this fixture, once it fires up, warms up a bit the bulb will start to flicker slightly. I purchased a brand new pair of plusrite 2408 M59/E 20k bulbs for it and it does it with both. With that being said, if I restart the ballast once or twice, it will stop flicking and run all day long with no problems. Everytime it starts up for the first time, it flickers. Not really sure if I should try a different bulb brand, or just order a new ballast? I've used heaps of different electronic ballasts over the years and I've never seen a bulb flicker like this. Has anybody else seen or had problems like this?

 

[hybridazn]

This sounds like the normal flicker you get during bulb warm up.

 

[MMreef]

Well, the flicker will persist for many hours, all day long if I let it. I've never seen a halide do it before. I will see if I can take a video and see if my camera will pick it up.

 

[MMreef]

Well, the flicker will persist for many hours, all day long if I let it. I've never seen a halide do it before. I will see if I can take a video and see if my camera will pick it up.

I tried to get my camera to pick up the flicker, it just wasn't noticeable at all in the video. I wound up replacing the end on a luxcore ballast I had laying around, so it would plug into the icecap fixture. So far...it seems to be working just fine. *crosses fingers*

Cross all that out. The luxcore ballast is flickering too! :|

 

[lancesmith1]

did you ever figure this out?

 

[MMreef]

I wound up buying a lower wattage halide fixture for the aquarium that worked just fine. I tried everything I could think of to get them to stop. New breakers, new outlet, new wiring and nothing seemed to work. My best guess is that whatever the issue causing the lights to flicker was coming from outside of my house, perhaps the power lines had something causing the issue. I just don't know. However, I got curious a few weeks ago and plugged them in and they worked without a hiccup...nearly a year later.

 

[MMreef]

I wanted to add my resolution to this issue! I finally got some time to tinker with this light. It was the fixture itself. I took it all apart, sanded sound and cleaned all the grounds and the socket with rubbing alcohol and it took care of the flicker.