10K XM bulbs

[SMS76]

I swtiched to 10K 250Watt SE XM bulbs from 10K AB that i had a month ago, mainly due to low cost and just wanted to try something new. When i bought these bulbs, i knew that they still had problems with bad bulbs and many members had mix opinions.
I still bought them and so far i am very happy with it. I think it has really good PAR among the 250W SE bulbs. Initially when i fired them up, for the first week, one of the bulb was turning very yellow but after first week, it's burning purely white.
Just wanted to give my opinion on these bulbs, for their price i think they are the best bulbs.

 

[Greg Hiller]

Mine seem to be holding their color, and intensity pretty well after many months. I turned off my VHO's last night as a test, and I must say, the XM's look great even without any actinic.

 

[Greg Hiller]

It's too bad the double ended form doesn't consistantly light with the Icecap ballasts.

 

[starrfish]

This is good news for me...I plan on going with 10K 250w SE XMs on my new tank. Thanks for the info Shoeib.

Daire

 

[Pinkskunk]

I have terrible experience with those bulbs. But that was when the bad bulbs were going around like flu season. Not sure about the present time. If the quality has been drsatically improved, i will consider them again.

How many reefers have them running now and what do you think of their quality?

 

[wrassefan]

I'm also running the XM 250w 10k SE bulbs....so far so good.

 

[marco67]

Just a FWIW on the XMs,
I've sold well over 300 of these lamps in the last 2 years, I also use them at home and in the store, I love the crisp white color an the price the most popular style is the 250 10K M base, unfortunately the 250 is also the style they had problems with. As I understand it there was an issue with attaching the UV tube to the screw base. When tightened in place it was possible to over torque the lamp and cause a short in the arc tube. In many cases this caused the lamp not to fire at all and in some it caused a color shift. BTW every one of these "bad" lamps (that I was made aware of) was exchanged with no questions asked and no charge for shipping.

One word of warning about the DEs it is widely reported (and my experiences back it up) that the double ended lamps sometimes do not fire well with some of the electronic ballasts. At one point there was a long thread about this going on RC where I believe IceCap actually added a disclaimer that they did not recommend their ballast for this lamp.

 

[stang8s]

I have a pair of 175w 10k I got from Marc, no complaints. Probally coming up for replacement time soon. Marc any idea when you did that 1st group buy on these? Im thinking it was the steve Tyree meeting in waltham when I got them, cant remember how long ago that was...

 

[wrassefan]

Just a FWIW on the XMs,
...One word of warning about the DEs it is widely reported (and my experiences back it up) that the double ended lamps sometimes do not fire well with some of the electronic ballasts. At one point there was a long thread about this going on RC where I believe IceCap actually added a disclaimer that they did not recommend their ballast for this lamp.

IC still does not recommend them on there ballast

 

[marco67]

I think there were 2 last year late winter/early spring then again in May.
Maybe it's time for another?

 

[marco67]

"IC still does not recommend them on there ballast"

I have found that once "burned in" they sometimes fire good on the electronic ballasts. This can sometimes be done by just leaving the ballast powered up for a day it will continue to cycle and try to restart. Once it does and seasons the bulb some it ay just be good to go. You can also do this by firing it on an HQI magnetic ballast for the first day.

 

[stang8s]

I think there were 2 last year late winter/early spring then again in May.
Maybe it's time for another?

What do they/you recommend for intervals on the bulbs? I think I have heard 12-14 months?

 

[marco67]

I think your right.

 

[Pinkskunk]

If you all experience good quality from these bulbs lately, i will sign on for another group buy for 2-400W 10K.

 

[clamm]

i like them but I want more purple...i think i need more actinics and 2 55w t5's arent cutting it.

 

[JustDavidP]

i like them but I want more purple...i think i need more actinics and 2 55w t5's arent cutting it.

Funny...I'm trying to find a happy medium. I had the SE 175s 10K and found them to be yellow ..almost green even with my dual URI atcinics. I ended up replacing them with CoralVues. They, in turn are too purple when combined with the actinics. I was real happy with the asthetics AND coral growth when I had the dual Ushio 175s and URI actinics.

For now, I have one XM on the left, and one CoralVu on the right. I'm testing to find if my coral problems I was having (loss of purple rims, browning of blue and purple corals) was due to the bulbs, or other factors. I did have a problem with dying clams, and a nitrate spike. All is better now. Hopefully, with all the extraneous variables removed (as many as possible) I can figure out my lighting needs in a more economical and visibly pleasing way!

Dave

 

[Chuck Spyropulos]

Has anyone used the SE 10K 400W bulbs with Champion's Blueline Electronic Ballast?