De m/h bulb?

henry hill · 03/07/2008, 07:29 PM

I have a bulb that has been getting worse by the day!(It keeps flickering like a strobe light) Runs fine for a frw hours then starts flickering. I want to get a new bulb but im not sure which one to get. My fixture is a cuurent outer orbit with 250 watt Hqi m/h de with the t-5's. Do I need the one for the m-80 ballast? Or the f something. Not sure? Thanks ahead of time for any imput. I hope its the bulb and not the ballast! Its only a 6-8 month old fixture. What do you think?

seanb1 · 03/07/2008, 09:27 PM

i doubt its your bulb.

try getting a new capacitor for it first, much cheaper.

ILoveReefer · 03/07/2008, 11:02 PM

I have 2 current sundial's (250 watt HQI). The one started to have the strobe light effect when it was about 4 months old. It was the hqi bulb. When this happened to me my lfs guy told me that this is not uncommon with current bulbs "their not the best quality." It can still be your ballast but theirs a good chance it's the bulb. Good luck

03/07/2008, 07:29 PM	#1
henry hill Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Shelby Township, MI Posts: 73	De m/h bulb? I have a bulb that has been getting worse by the day!(It keeps flickering like a strobe light) Runs fine for a frw hours then starts flickering. I want to get a new bulb but im not sure which one to get. My fixture is a cuurent outer orbit with 250 watt Hqi m/h de with the t-5's. Do I need the one for the m-80 ballast? Or the f something. Not sure? Thanks ahead of time for any imput. I hope its the bulb and not the ballast! Its only a 6-8 month old fixture. What do you think?

03/07/2008, 09:27 PM	#2
seanb1 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: bettendorf, iowa Posts: 668	i doubt its your bulb. try getting a new capacitor for it first, much cheaper. __________________ he who knows how, will always work for he who knows why..... David lee Roth. Current Tank Info: 125 reef/29 gal sump/29 gal fuge 3- 175w 20k xm mh/4 65w actinic, octopus nw-200 skimmer3 k-4s mag-12. 2 returns. 2 phosban reactors, GFO/carbon.

03/07/2008, 11:02 PM	#3
ILoveReefer Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Cheektowaga Posts: 851	I have 2 current sundial's (250 watt HQI). The one started to have the strobe light effect when it was about 4 months old. It was the hqi bulb. When this happened to me my lfs guy told me that this is not uncommon with current bulbs "their not the best quality." It can still be your ballast but theirs a good chance it's the bulb. Good luck