Mh question

[Ryan7]

Lately my 400w MH takes longer to fire up my bulb, up to 20min, what does this mean?

Bulb is about 4 months old.
Ballast is over a year old.


thanks

[Aquattro]

Hmm, never heard of that one. What type of bulb and ballast?

[Delphinus]

What kind of bulb? What kind of ballast? Do you know the ANSI designation?

Unfortunately this could be an indication you're running a bulb that runs best on a pulse-start ballast (i.e., Ushio, Radium, I'm sure there are others but I don't know offhand) but on a probe-start ballast.

If your ballast is ANSI M59 then it is a 400W probe start. If your ballast is M135 then it is a 400W pulse-start. Pulse start ballasts have three components: transformer, capacitor, starter aka ignitor. Probe starts have only transformer and capacitor.

If you indeed have a mismatch (i.e., probe-start ballast but bulb that wants a pulse-start) then this might be something you have to live with (I have this problem myself, I don't really have the budget to replace my ballasts though). You can try double-checking all your connections, make sure their solid, try swapping the wire leads to the socket, etc. Hopefully the problem goes away.

[Ryan7]

Looks like I have a mismatch. Ushio bulb and M59 ballast. I think however I will just have to live with it. As this has just started happening recently, I will double check all the connections.

Thanks for the info.

[Aquattro]

Looks like I have a mismatch. Ushio bulb and M59 ballast.

I've run 400w Ushios on M59 ballasts for a long time. They work fine. A standard PFO ballast is a M59. That isn't your problem.

[Delphinus]

I don't know, Brad. I never had problems until this year. My old lamps start fine, but the new ones ... nope. Starts, stops, starts, stops. This can be anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes, in some rare cases up to 20 or 30 minutes (but very rarely, as in maybe only 2 or 3 times in six months). I have tried them on a borrowed pulse-start and also an electronic ballast and on THOSE ballasts they start perfectly. So it could be something else, sure, but, it could also be this, I wouldn't discount it just because you don't have problems. If you take a look at http://www.ushio.com/files/Aqualite%200802.pdf it says the recommended ballast for 400W is M135, "pulse type ballast with ignitor."

[Aquattro]

Tony, I had a bulb that wouldn't fire and I agree, it isn't the "right" ballast. But they do work. Now the way I see it is the problem is the bulb is taking longer to fire. Nothing was said about starting and stopping. Maybe I misunderstood the problem? I thought he meant that it turns on, and takes 20 minutes to fully fire up. If it is going out a few times, then yes, a M135 would solve the problem.

[Delphinus]

When your lights turn on, how much noise do your ballasts make? Man, mine sound like I'm trying to crank start an old F150 or something. I wonder if my capacitors are old or something. Who knows..

[Aquattro]

When your lights turn on, how much noise do your ballasts make?

The M59? hardly any at all. I think as long as they are mounted securely in the case, they would be quiet. When I hit power, I can hear a slight buzz for a moment.

[Ryan7]

Mine makes no noise at all. I notice that when I turn it on the ballast takes time to heat up. When the ballast gets hot, then the bulb will fire up. Once it fires up, it does not stop and start.