MH Light Question

[backdraft]

I have a 250W SE MH and for some reason it does not want to come on. it worked all the time until i changed the bulb now it dosen't come on by itself I have to jiggle the bulb a little and it comes rite on after. I have put the old bulb back in and it fires rite up any thoughts of why this is? is it maybe because the bulb is ment for a pendant style ficture and not a horizontal ficture?

Thanks in advanced Rod

[EMUreef]

bad bulb maybe? thats all i can think of.

maybe the bulb isn't compatible with ur ballast.. but i doubt its that

[shovelhead91701]

what brand of new bulb did you buy? Some cheaper imported bulbs may have small inconsistencies on the base pin etc. This may be causing you to have to "wiggle" it to make good contact with the base. Also you might check the wattage of the bulb, Maybe they accidentally sent you a 400 watt bulb in the wrong packaging( maybe someone returned it to them with the wrong bulb in the package and no one checked it?

[John]

Hmm... check the small "springy" thing inside, it may not be attached. The jiggling may be causing it to fall in place. I've see it happen with a standard light bulb... not a MH though.

[backdraft]

what brand of new bulb did you buy? Some cheaper imported bulbs may have small inconsistencies on the base pin etc. This may be causing you to have to "wiggle" it to make good contact with the base. Also you might check the wattage of the bulb, Maybe they accidentally sent you a 400 watt bulb in the wrong packaging( maybe someone returned it to them with the wrong bulb in the package and no one checked it?

THe bulb is a 14k pulserite and it says 250 on it but everything else about it seems fine i'm thinking just a bad bulb

[shovelhead91701]

I did some research for you and found this on richard durso's site.............

Metal Halide bulbs have an internal nipple which usually must always face upward. If you fail to do this the bulb may not light, or it could flicker. This seems to be very important when using electronic ballast to power your metal halide lights. (Actually, the nipple itself does nothing, its just a reference. However, the glass bulb has an internal vessel that has a slope. This slope is upward from left to right if the base of the bulb was on your left side.)

http://s61059.gridserver.com/images/stories/hardware/lighting/bulbs/mhtip1.jpg

[jay13]

THe bulb is a 14k pulserite and it says 250 on it but everything else about it seems fine i'm thinking just a bad bulb

"plusrite" or pulseright or whatever you want to call them are ebay bulbs. sometimes you get what you pay for........

[backdraft]

I did some research for you and found this on richard durso's site.............

Metal Halide bulbs have an internal nipple which usually must always face upward. If you fail to do this the bulb may not light, or it could flicker. This seems to be very important when using electronic ballast to power your metal halide lights. (Actually, the nipple itself does nothing, its just a reference. However, the glass bulb has an internal vessel that has a slope. This slope is upward from left to right if the base of the bulb was on your left side.)

http://s61059.gridserver.com/images/stories/hardware/lighting/bulbs/mhtip1.jpg

thanks ill check it out in the morning

[backdraft]

"plusrite" or pulseright or whatever you want to call them are ebay bulbs. sometimes you get what you pay for........

I dont know about that as i did not buy from ebay. and if im not mistaken the trop sell pulserite brand in his store also. but if the are just cheap ebay bulbs i'll be looking for something better real soon.

[EMUreef]

I dont know about that as i did not buy from ebay. and if im not mistaken the trop sell pulserite brand in his store also. but if the are just cheap ebay bulbs i'll be looking for something better real soon.

Its true it is an ebay bulb and yes the Trop sells the same thing, people who sell them on ebay and the Trop probably got them from the same distributor.

They are not top quality bulbs.

So that is probably the issue, sometimes they're good sometimes not.