Halide Lighting Won't Fire

[Bryan]

I just bought a dual 400w metal halide lighting system. In the store
the fired it up before I left, they did have problems getting it to
fire but blamed it on the circuit they plugged it in to. Once home I
mounted them to the top of my canopy and tried to fire them up, it
took a little fiddling with the plug into the transformer and turning
one of them off so the other could fire, but now that my canopy is
back on top of my tank I can not get them to fire up at all. Could
the bulbs be bad/broken now?!! I checked the voltage at the bulb and
the transformer and it read 272 volts, when I take my voltage sensor
there is power inside of the bulbs. Any ideas or suggestion would be
very helpful as these bulbs are about $150 a piece. Thanks.

[John]

This is a great pocket guide to ballasts. If you have a multimeter you can run
these tests. Theyre in end of the book, page 45:
http://www.advancetransformer.com/Literature/pdf/HID_Pocket_Guide.pdf
~John

[Jon]

Personally i'd just take it back to the store you got it from.
mention they had issues before you left as well. Any reputable
store should exchange them i would think.
If not...well personally i'd find somewhere else to buy my stuff from.


"Bryan" > wrote in message
om...
> I just bought a dual 400w metal halide lighting system. In the store
> the fired it up before I left, they did have problems getting it to
> fire but blamed it on the circuit they plugged it in to. Once home I
> mounted them to the top of my canopy and tried to fire them up, it
> took a little fiddling with the plug into the transformer and turning
> one of them off so the other could fire, but now that my canopy is
> back on top of my tank I can not get them to fire up at all. Could
> the bulbs be bad/broken now?!! I checked the voltage at the bulb and
> the transformer and it read 272 volts, when I take my voltage sensor
> there is power inside of the bulbs. Any ideas or suggestion would be
> very helpful as these bulbs are about $150 a piece. Thanks.

[Bryan]

Weird enough, I left one on all night long, at 3 pm the next day it
finally turned on and then I turned on the other one and they both are
working fine. I wonder if there was a large capaciter that had to
power up in the ballast before it could fire them on...
Thanks though

"Jon" > wrote in message >...
> Personally i'd just take it back to the store you got it from.
> mention they had issues before you left as well. Any reputable
> store should exchange them i would think.
> If not...well personally i'd find somewhere else to buy my stuff from.
>
>
> "Bryan" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I just bought a dual 400w metal halide lighting system. In the store
> > the fired it up before I left, they did have problems getting it to
> > fire but blamed it on the circuit they plugged it in to. Once home I
> > mounted them to the top of my canopy and tried to fire them up, it
> > took a little fiddling with the plug into the transformer and turning
> > one of them off so the other could fire, but now that my canopy is
> > back on top of my tank I can not get them to fire up at all. Could
> > the bulbs be bad/broken now?!! I checked the voltage at the bulb and
> > the transformer and it read 272 volts, when I take my voltage sensor
> > there is power inside of the bulbs. Any ideas or suggestion would be
> > very helpful as these bulbs are about $150 a piece. Thanks.

[CapFusion]

"Bryan" > wrote in message
om...
> Weird enough, I left one on all night long, at 3 pm the next day it
> finally turned on and then I turned on the other one and they both are
> working fine. I wonder if there was a large capaciter that had to
> power up in the ballast before it could fire them on...
> Thanks though

Some ballast / lamp may need to have a breakin period before it will fully
working.

CapFusion,...

[erik]

Could you explain this "break-in" period?
What needs to be broken in before it will work?


Erik

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 09:08:44 -0700, "CapFusion"
<CapeFussion...@hotmail.., com> wrote:

>
>"Bryan" > wrote in message
om...
>> Weird enough, I left one on all night long, at 3 pm the next day it
>> finally turned on and then I turned on the other one and they both are
>> working fine. I wonder if there was a large capaciter that had to
>> power up in the ballast before it could fire them on...
>> Thanks though
>
>Some ballast / lamp may need to have a breakin period before it will fully
>working.
>
>CapFusion,...
>

[John]

>Could you explain this "break-in" period?

I dont think the ballast has a break-in period, the bulb does. The bulb will
change wavelengths over time, thats why you should change them after 6 months.

My quick suggestion is trying another outlet/circuit in the house, preferrably
one thats not loaded. And if youre using an extension cord, make sure its of
thick guage. HID bulbs need some 5000 volts of juice to _start_, thats what
the capacitor is for, but if the line isnt supplying it then you have a
problem. I've seen many times where this is the case, took off extension cord,
plugged straight into wall socket, boom its on.
~John

[erik]

That's what I thought.

CapFusion, do you know of some reason why a break-in period is
necessary before it will work or were you thinking of the bulb as John
mentioned?


Erik


On 31 Jul 2004 15:57:14 GMT, (John) wrote:

>>Could you explain this "break-in" period?
>
>I dont think the ballast has a break-in period, the bulb does. The bulb will
>change wavelengths over time, thats why you should change them after 6 months.
>
>My quick suggestion is trying another outlet/circuit in the house, preferrably
>one thats not loaded. And if youre using an extension cord, make sure its of
>thick guage. HID bulbs need some 5000 volts of juice to _start_, thats what
>the capacitor is for, but if the line isnt supplying it then you have a
>problem. I've seen many times where this is the case, took off extension cord,
>plugged straight into wall socket, boom its on.
>~John

[Richard Periut]

erik wrote:

> That's what I thought.
>
> CapFusion, do you know of some reason why a break-in period is
> necessary before it will work or were you thinking of the bulb as John
> mentioned?
>
>
> Erik
>
>
> On 31 Jul 2004 15:57:14 GMT, (John) wrote:
>
>
>>>Could you explain this "break-in" period?
>>
>>I dont think the ballast has a break-in period, the bulb does. The bulb will
>>change wavelengths over time, thats why you should change them after 6 months.
>>
>>My quick suggestion is trying another outlet/circuit in the house, preferrably
>>one thats not loaded. And if youre using an extension cord, make sure its of
>>thick guage. HID bulbs need some 5000 volts of juice to _start_, thats what
>>the capacitor is for, but if the line isnt supplying it then you have a
>>problem. I've seen many times where this is the case, took off extension cord,
>>plugged straight into wall socket, boom its on.
>>~John
>
>

My previous bulb was quite capricious. It would not turn on right away
(it was a 10 K 175W MH German made,) but instead, it would only turn on
if I touched a screw on the fixture very lightly. It would not turn on
if I touched it hard, or with both hands. It didn't matter if I had
rubber sneakers on or not, and it was not associated with a visible
static spark. Go figure? Initially, I had to to the same with the bulb,
but that required taking off the lid every morning (a real PITA,) but
then I discovered the aforementioned.

My current bulb (coral life 20K 175) usually turns on right away, or in
about 5 minutes--no touching required.

HTH,

Rich

--
"Dum Spiro, Spero."

As long as I breath, I hope.

Cicero

[CapFusion]

"erik" > wrote in message
...
> Could you explain this "break-in" period?
> What needs to be broken in before it will work?
>

Break-in.... humm... Not sure howto simplify or explain this. From general
speaking. Everything need a so call "Breakin" period of time before it will
start to work properly. Any new ballast and lamp may not start properly
until after the "breakin period". Heck, even people need to time to get use
to it own surrounding. Car is another example, that need a "breakin period"
to work properly.

CapFusion,....

[CapFusion]

"erik" > wrote in message
...
> That's what I thought.
>
> CapFusion, do you know of some reason why a break-in period is
> necessary before it will work or were you thinking of the bulb as John
> mentioned?
>
>

I am not sure why or exactly the cause for some device need time to start.
This apply to ballast and lamp which John have mention. There a explaination
to this but I do not have. But this is certainly common issue. IceCap and
other ballast manufacturer see this common question but more so with the
lamp / bulb. But after the breakin period, everything work fine.

CapFusion,...