ANthing I should know about Ushio 250 mogul bulbs?

[Moe_K]

I got an Ushio bulb replacement 250 watt MH bulb. It's a mogul socket.
It looks just like the bulb I took out of there today, although I have no idea of the make of the old bulb.

Funny thing is the Ushio didn't fire up when the lights came on.

Put the old bulb back in and it fired up just fine.

What gives?

 

[reeferpj]

i'm not a pro but i'd dring it back and try a new one

 

[nichols]

Ran Ushio 250 moguls till I switched over to de's. Still run one on my frag tank. Nice crisp white light. Never had a problem. Sounds like you got a bad bulb. Can you return it?

 

[wrassefan]

what kind of ballast moe?

 

[JayM]

Moe, if you want to swing over tomorrow when I get home, you are welcome to borrow either the blue wave ballast, or the new lumatech still sititing in the box to see if the ballast you run doesn't like your new bulb

 

[Moe_K]

Ran Ushio 250 moguls till I switched over to de's. Still run one on my frag tank. Nice crisp white light. Never had a problem. Sounds like you got a bad bulb. Can you return it?

Yeah, I'll give 'em a call.

 

[pillowfish]

Moe is it possible that the bulb is not sitting properly in the socket? I know I ran into this issue when I switched over to my Ushio's but they are also DE-and is more of a common problem with DE sockets from my limited experience with lights

 

[JohnK]

Yup, the three possible explanations;

1- Bad bulb
2- wrong ballast (IIRC ushios don't like to run on standard magnetic)
3- the center contact in the socket is bent in (because some bulbs fit looser/screw in farther than others, if the old bulb fit looser the center contact could be pushed too far in to make good contact.)


I would guess that the likelyhood would run;
3,2,1 with the bent contact being most likely.

 

[nichols]

Moe is it possible that the bulb is not sitting properly in the socket? I know I ran into this issue when I switched over to my Ushio's but they are also DE-and is more of a common problem with DE sockets from my limited experience with lights

Ya good question. Can you screw in a light bulb Moe?

 

[nichols]

Ushios will run on an m58 magnetic ballast. If you end up needing a socket LMK. I have a few of them kicking around.

 

[Moe_K]

what kind of ballast moe?

Ugh, forgot to look. I'll update in a bit.

 

[Moe_K]

Yup, the three possible explanations;

1- Bad bulb
2- wrong ballast (IIRC ushios don't like to run on standard magnetic)
3- the center contact in the socket is bent in (because some bulbs fit looser/screw in farther than others, if the old bulb fit looser the center contact could be pushed too far in to make good contact.)


I would guess that the likelyhood would run;
3,2,1 with the bent contact being most likely.

It is a magnetic ballast.
I do have a spare Icecap ballast kicking around, but it's not wired, nor do I have the wiring.

 

[biggyclops]

Fwiw I ran my ushios on an icecap

 

[wrassefan]

http://www.seaquestmarine.com/IceCap_250_Watt_Metal_Halide_Ballast_p/ic_250mh.htm

Moe, if it is this style of Ice cap, there are only 3 wires to hook up to the fixture unless you have a pfo plug. Let me know if you need help or if you want to test out the bulb.

 

[Ifferfish]

Moe, I had the same issue for years when I would replace with new bulbs. I had to play with the contacts inside of the mogal socket and then they were fine after that. Not very often that there is a true problem with those bulbs as far as having a bad bulb. They just need a little love....

 

[Dave McReeferson]

It is a magnetic ballast.
I do have a spare Icecap ballast kicking around, but it's not wired, nor do I have the wiring.

I agree with what has been said here so far. FWIW, I have run ushios on mag ballasts with no problems, but, if you have an icecap hanging around, get that thing wired up, you are just throwing away KW's unnecessarily otherwise.

 

[Moe_K]

Sweet success!

Took the old bulb out again, bent out the little contact plate at the bottom, added the new bulb and screwed in really tight - now the new bulb works.

 

[KSC]

Actually, the Ushio 250 is more efficient on a magnetic ballast. It puts out more than 30% more light than on an Icecap according to Sanjay's tests, http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

Icecap- 85 ppfd
Magnetic-118 ppfd

 

[Ifferfish]

glad to hear it! I would have been surprised if it really was a bad bulb.

 

[Moe_K]

Thanks for the suggestions!