Bad XM10K?

[taftonomos]

ORdered 3 10K XM's for my 75.

Fired them up this AM, gave them a few hours to fully light up/burn in. One side of the tank is a nice crisp white, the other a not so white/dullish/yellow.

I thought I might have a ballast problem, so I let them cool down for an hour, swapped bulbs, and fired them back up.

2 hours later, the problem is still there, and it switched sides (It's the bulb).

SOmething I'm doing wrong here?

 

[taftonomos]

Just seems weird that the one side is a nice white right out of the box, and the other isn't.

I'll give it a few days. Probably nothing the vendor is going to do about it anyway...

 

[dannybradley]

I've had Hamiton 10,000ks show up as different colors. They offered to replace the bulb if it didn't level out after the burn in period. Check with the manufacturer, as bad bulbs do exist.

 

[taftonomos]

What is considered enough time to qualify for as the "burn in" period?

On another note, 500watts of MH over the 75 is BRIGHT! It's nice to get back to MH's

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ya, after about 100 hours of burn time they might level out. But the 10K XM should not have been "White" in the first place. I would call where you got them from ASAP and talk to them about it though!

 

[drnecropolis]

+1 to brandon....I was about to say the same thing...

 

[taftonomos]

It's not supposed to be white now either?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

TAftonomos;183651 wrote: It's not supposed to be white now either?

<span style="font-family: Arial;">Nope... 10K XM bulbs are VERY yellow... Wait till you see the color after about 300-500 hours of burn. I just replaced my XM 10K wait the I</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">wasaki bulbs and I did not remember how yellow the XMs were till I saw them side by side. Granted my T-5 Actinics washed alot of the yellow our but it still was bad side by side with the iwasaki. I am almost regretting that I had my TOTM pics taken with my old bulbs. I wish I could talk Jin into coming back out because it looks so much better. (Even though I replaced the XMs with OLD Iwasakis.) I can not wait to order my new Iwasaki 175W.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So just a warning, the color that you see on the "Bad" bulb is prob what the color is going to look like in the long run!</span>

 

[taftonomos]

Hmmm...I'll see about getting them swapped out then, I don't want "yellow" lol.

Since when did a 10K bulb appear yellow?

Suggestions on a different 250 watt bulb?

 

[taftonomos]

I've got another 10K as a backup, I'll see what that one looks like tomorrow.

http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/">http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/</a>

I don't know everything, but I thought the 10K XM was one of the whiter 10K's out there. I've got some VHO stuff laying around, so I could add some actinics to it if need be, but I'd rather not.

 

[ralph atl]

I like the AB 13K bulb

 

[xyzpdq0121]

TAftonomos;183714 wrote: I've got another 10K as a backup, I'll see what that one looks like tomorrow.

http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/">http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/</a>

I don't know everything, but I thought the 10K XM was one of the whiter 10K's out there. I've got some VHO stuff laying around, so I could add some actinics to it if need be, but I'd rather not.[/QUOTE]


LOL, Ya, I made the same mistake... What wattage are your bulbs? My Actinics did a good job of washing out the yellow but you still saw the yellow in the shadows. Maybe if I get time, I will switch bulbs out again and put the XM and Iwasaki on each side to take a picture to post. When you see them side by side, it looks like someone drew a line down the center of my tank to put yellow film on the XM side.


[QUOTE=][B]mysterybox;183715 wrote:[/B] I like the AB 13K bulb[/QUOTE]

I was looking at those too. They put out better Par then the Iwasakis according to Sanjay's site (Just by a nudge) but it shows that the color is almost identical to the XM bulb!! XM bulb show us as 10.1 Kelvin, AB shows up as 10.5K and the Iwasaki shows up as a true 15K bulb. Both bulbs beat the par of the XM hands down!
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend> [IMG]http://atlantareefclub.org/boards/data/uploads/attachments/183765=11159-XM Vs AB.bmp_Thumbnail1.jpg>

class="gc-images" title="XM Vs AB.bmp_Thumbnail1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

>

class="gc-images" title="XM Vs Iwasaki.bmp_Thumbnail1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[taftonomos]

These are 250's not, 175's, so I'm not sure how much difference that makes.

M58 ballasts.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

TAftonomos;183770 wrote: These are 250's not, 175's, so I'm not sure how much difference that makes.

M58 ballasts.

Oh, that makes a big difference. I do not know why I was thinking you said you had a 150W or 175W. :blush: Ok in that case, it should not be near as yellow but still a tinge.

 

[taftonomos]

What, you didn't have your Psychic cap on when you read my post! How dare you .

It's my bad, I don't think I ever mentioned it

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Shoot my crystal ball is in the shop. Well the 250W XM 10K is prob the best bulb in a 250W. The color is that of a 12K which SHOULD be white with a ting of yellow. With that small amount of yellow, it is nothing that Actinics can not take care of. Sounds like you got a bum bulb (which happends) and you should send that back and run your "back up" one you bought.

 

[taftonomos]

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I swapped out bulbs this AM, and sure enough, the left side is a bit bluer.....and after 5 hours of running it's turning YELLOW again....WTF.

 

[rockdog]

you are right I think it is a bad bulb. send it back...

 

[slayer]

i had the same problem with a 10k xm i brought last year... 1 bulb was real yellow.. i brought mine from sam at aqua buys,,, he didnt even flinch once about replacing them. The replacement worked great...