MH Bulb question (1 Viewer)

[wendy32693]

I have a 3 bulb 250w MH fixture, one of the bulbs wasnt powering on all the way so i ordered a replacement, on the bulbs they all showed 250w 14000k, so thats what i ordered but the new bulb i ordered is a bright white color when the 2 other 14000k bulbs in my fixture are more blue-ish. I would like to buy another bulb but i want to make sure thats its the blue-ish colored one. Is there different 14000k MH bulbs? i just figured they were all the same but apparently not. is there something different i should be looking for?

 

[Ostentum]

Every brand is different. I have a whole box of brands and spectrums over here. If you like the bluer look go with either xm 20k radium20k or reeflux 12-14k. The reeflux 12 almost look like 20k bulbs. I have even seen 14k that look like 10k. Every manufacturer is different. FYI in the radiums. They are by far my fav bulb. Just most ballasts won't fire them

 

[wendy32693]

I bought the fixture from fjw so if he knows where he had bought those bulbs that are currently in the fixture from and i bought from there then the bulb color should be the same? I dont really know much about MH so i have no idea what all of those bulb colors is like.

 

[Ostentum]

Can you take a picture of the bulb you had and the bulbs you bought? There should be some etching on the glass of the bulb

 

[wendy32693]

the bulbs that i already have all they have marked on them is "250w 14000k", the bulb i bought has "250w 14000k". I will get some pics of it later

 

[Ostentum]

Yeah you have to know who the manufacturer is in order to match them. I can show you many examples of 250w 14k bulbs that look extremely different since each brand has a different idea of what 14k should look like

 

[wendy32693]

This is what I was talking about with the old bulb not being as bright. Its the one on the left end.

 

[dayton]

As these guys already said they are all different. I have a different fixture than you but I do know the one you have ( I was there when you bought it) When I replace my bulbs I replace them all at the same time so that I dont run into this. Not the cheapest way but that way I know when to replace and that they all match.

 

[wendy32693]

Alright, il just deal with the unmatching bulb till I can decide on a bulb color to replace all the bulbs with. Thanks

 

[Ostentum]

Below could be a whole different problem. I have ran bulbs for over a couple years and never had a "Dimming" bulb. I have had them completely die, but never been visually dimmer. Either A) That bulb is extremely old, or B) your ballast isnt firing the bulb properly. I would first tank the new bulb you got and switch it with the one on the left and put the other one in the middle. This will do 2 things. 1) it will let you know which problem you have, 2) The crossover effect from the other bulbs will make the difference less noticeable for the time being.

are those dual end bulbs? If so I would use phoenix 14k bulbs. I think you will be happy with the look of them.

 

[wendy32693]

Yes I already switched around bulbs in the fixture, its just the bulb that isnt lighting up all the way, maybe its a different bulb then the other 2? Im not sure. Guy at fjw said the mh bulbs were only 4 months old so it cant be because of being an old bulb. Yes they are double ended . Is there a good place to buy the pheonix bulbs from?

 

[steveb]

If you where closer I'd let you borrow one to see if that was it.

 

[toefu]

wendy, 4 month bulbs should still be very bright, if not blinding to look at. Sorry if this question could potentially insult you, but did you let the lights stay on for a couple of minutes? Halides take ~60 seconds to hit their full brightness.

 

[wendy32693]

the halides stay on for 6 hours a day..