View Full Version : Help My MH's take forever to turn ON!
Muleball39
01/23/2006, 01:51 PM
I have 2 175w mh wired togather. When I turn them on the right side starts after about 5 mins while the left side takes about 45mins. Does anyone have any ideas why?
Bebo77
01/23/2006, 02:13 PM
it should take a few min for them to turn on 5 is fair but 45 min... what bulb & ballast are you using....
Muleball39
01/23/2006, 02:28 PM
I am not for sure about the ballast but the bulbs are Hamilton I am wondering if the ballast is going out. Or maybe it is a dual 150 instead of 175 if that is possible. They both start to come on and then flip off then the right comes on after 5 min and the left goes on and off for 45 min before firing up.
Zaphod
01/23/2006, 03:37 PM
Try switching the bulbs and see if the problem is reversed. It is a quick way to find out if it is a bad bulb.
Muleball39
01/23/2006, 04:12 PM
I tried that already, the same thing happens when I switch them just on the other sides. So it could be the bulb but it eventually comes on. I wish I could figure out what ballast I have but It is a custom job.
electric130
01/23/2006, 06:32 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6567366#post6567366 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Muleball39
They both start to come on and then flip off.... that's not normal. either the bulb or the ballast is going bad. you said:
I tried that already, the same thing happens when I switch them just on the other sides.
so does that mean that the same bulb takes 45 minutes or the same ballast takes 45? what bulbs and what ballasts (open the ballast case and look for the ANSI code) are you running?
dougchambers
01/23/2006, 06:40 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6567042#post6567042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Muleball39
I have 2 175w mh wired togather. When I turn them on the right side starts after about 5 mins while the left side takes about 45mins. Does anyone have any ideas why? Just for clarification... When you say "wired together" you mean there are two ballasts or a dual ballast wired to the same timer right? I know it sounds strange, but I've actually heard of a guy that tried to run two bulbs off a single ballast output.
How is the intensity of the bulbs once they fire?
-Doug
electric130
01/23/2006, 07:03 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6569284#post6569284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dougchambers
Just for clarification... When you say "wired together" you mean there are two ballasts or a dual ballast wired to the same timer right? good point.
PaulErik
01/23/2006, 08:46 PM
It may be a lamp/ballast mismatch. One of the 175-watt Hamilton bulbs is made by BLV in Germany and is designed for use with a Pulse Start (ANSI M137/M152) ballast (a ballast equipped with an ignitor).
If you have the German made lamp and you are using a standard magnetic ballast the lamp can have trouble igniting/starting overtime and reaching full brightness (cycling on/off/on/off). A standard ballast usually does not provide high enough sustaining voltage for proper warm up and the ignition voltage is below specification limits for many European 175-watt lamps.
You really need to find out which ballast you have. A 150-watt MH ballast can cause a 175-watt lamp to cycle on/off. A 150-watt ballast will overdrive a 175-watt lamp sometimes to the point where the arc becomes unstable and extinguishes. After the lamp cools the arc restarts and goes through the cycle again.
lousybreed
01/23/2006, 09:23 PM
did you wire the ballasts seperately???? or are they in series
Muleball39
01/25/2006, 04:39 PM
My two ballast are Magnetec M57 I believe they are magnetic. It took me forever to find them on the internet. To answer some questions they are both wired into one plug. The web site I was on said any M57 bulb would work on them. I believe the Hamilton was on that list. The intensity of the one that comes on in 5 min. is outstanding but the other seams dull but when I turn the rest of the lights off except the MH's The one on the left brightens the tank more but is more yellow. The bulbs are the same type. The ballast are a little rusty too. If that makes a difference. Is it the bulbs or the ballast?
tkeracer619
01/25/2006, 05:46 PM
If you switch the bulb to the other side and the non working issue follows, the bulb is most likley bad. It just makes sense.
Clean any rust out of the bulb contacts. Fine sandpaper is good.
Check for any wirenuts and see if there is rust on the wires or heavy corrosion. I solder, heat shrink individual and one more heat shrink around all 3 wires. Keeps the moisture out and electricity in.
Muleball39
01/26/2006, 07:49 AM
Are Hamilton bulbs pulse start? They have the m57 on them so I thought they would work in any M57 ballasts but someone mentioned that they were a pulse start and a magnetic ballast would have problems starting one?
electric130
01/26/2006, 07:21 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6591737#post6591737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Muleball39
Are Hamilton bulbs pulse start? They have the m57 on them so I thought they would work in any M57 ballasts but someone mentioned that they were a pulse start and a magnetic ballast would have problems starting one? don't know about recently, but the bulbs hamilton used to sell as 10k's were the same bulbs Ushio sold as 10k's. the Ushio's were pulse start and i know a lot of people said the hamilton's acted the same way. i want to say that both of them were actually made by BLV, but don't quote me on that. i'd search for it, but it won't let me. M57's will struggle to run Ushios and usually stop working all together (happened to me) unless you know what you're looking at, it's a little tough to tell if a MH bulb is probe or pulse start. pulse starts will have basically just the inner envelope and some metal bracing. probe starts will have the starting probes built-in below the envelope. if you look on JBNY's lamp page http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm you can see various bulbs. most on there are probe starts (they're 250's though). the radium is a pulse start. the 250w ushio 10k is a probe start, so don't confuse that with the 175 version that's a pulse start. HTH
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