Problem with new 12k bulbs or is it my ballast? (little long

[fish_who?]

I purchased 2 new 12k bulbs last week. When I got home I turned off one of my 65k's, then when it cooled down I installed the new bulb (all went well). I noticed the color looked to be about the same as before, which was kinda wierd. That night I installed the other bulb. When I got home that day I noticed the 1st bulb I installed was not the same color. It seemed to be a bit whiter than the other 12k. When you looked at the bulbs one had a blue tint, and the other had a purple tint to the bulb. I talked to the company I got the bulbs from and they said to give it a couple of days. That night I swapped the bulbs around to see if it was the ballast that made it a different color. No help. When I got home on day 3 the bulb that was more blue stopped working. I had it replaced, and no problems except for the purple tint and different color. Yesterday I took my bulb with the different color down and had it replaced, now this morning (after the lights have been off for the night) I tried the new bulb, and it did not work. What is up. I put my 65k back in and it lit up with no problem, as I did with the first bulb that stopped working. What is up? I am not sure. I am thinking the company I took the 1st bulb back to gave me back the same bulb, but I can not prove that as they handed me the bulb, and I placed it in another box. The ballast I have is a PFO 2x250 watt ballast. Any suggestions would be a great help.

Thanks,

Sorry so long

Check here for some pics under bulb problems
http://community.webshots.com/user/blaze_802

 

[MattM]

Are these the "Sunburst" brand bulbs? They have a horrible reliability record, so none of the above would surprise me if they were.

 

[fish_who?]

They are. I wish I would have known before I paid 89.00 each.

 

[bashcraft]

I'm currently using these bulbs and IME they are garbage and you will never find 2 of them that are the same color or intensity.

If you can return them and get your money back, do it now before it's too late!

Bob

 

[Anonymous]

I would check the return policy of the company and return them. I would suggest switching to a totally different bulb though you will need to add some supplemental blue fluorescent to deyellow. If you have 96W PC's I'd consider going to the 5500K Venture, or if you have 110W VHO's the Iwasaki.

[ October 17, 2001: Message edited by: MickAv8r ]

 

[Anonymous]

It's almost funny. I got a pair of the 250w 12000K sunbursts a couple months before they were available to the general public. I didn't like them, and had problems with my SPS corals under them. A few months later a few other serious SPS keepers I know reported the same problems I had. We posted about it.

No one listened. For about a year, people recommended 12000K bulbs right and left. Now, two years later, everyone complains about them.

 

[jimmy n]

I don't mind the 400 watt version of the 12k bulb. I get great colors on my corals and the intensity isn't bad. I am running 4 400 watters and mix them with 10 K bulbs. Can't argue with results.

This is from Blue Sierra, soon after purchase

This is a little over a month later. I will be taking more pictures soon as it is really branching out now.

Jim

[ October 18, 2001: Message edited by: jimmy n ]

 

[Anonymous]

LOL Charles I was calling that the great 12K bulb migration of 2000. The bulbs really hit the market around January of 2000 IIRC and by March people where moving back to whatever they had before they bought the 12k's

Jimmy: and others, PLEASE crop your photos before posting them in this forum, it is rather irritating when these gigantic high bandwidth photos are posted.

 

[jimmy n]

Sorry O'toole

 

[fish_who?]

Thanks for all the responses!!! I wish I had known about the 12k's. I did post a while back to see what everyone thought, but got very little responses. Maybe because this thread is a little "played out". I talked to the company, and the guy said the 12k's have a tendancy to take a while to come on, then they can go off for a while. He did not seem to want to take the bulbs back, but I did not ask. I told him I would try to leave the bulbs on for a while, and see if it fires. If I do have problems though I will return it.
I have 65k's now and 2 55w actnic pc's, but the colors just don't seem to show up. I purchased a green sinularia (sp?), and it looks brown in my tank, as with a few other corals.

 

[Green Mariner]

I agree with both Matt and Bob, I have been running them for a year and would never recommend them. I like to color but they lose a lot of intensity even compared to 10,000k and IMO the color shifts very very quickly. Call the vendor you bought them at and see if they will allow you to return them for 10,000k, explain that you are not happy with the quality of these bulbs and want to exchange them.

HTH