# pulse strart mh blowing bulbs



## raftdaddy (Jun 17, 2010)

Hello, I need some help here!! in a local dealership shop they had a couple 400 watt hps fixtures with 400 watt mh bulbs in them and of course they would burn out. I switched them to 400 watt pulse start mh fixtures and the bulbs keep burning out as well?? (they are ps bulbs)

now my questions are :
Is it the pulse start? they do get shut on and off,i have never used pulse start before, recommended by my wholesaler

Or do I just have say a bad joint on the neutral on two? I am contemplating pulling the pipe with new wire, or am I missing something completely?
both lights are on the end of pipe runs,i know all my joints are good!!I would just figure bad joints would cause it to cycle not just take out a bulb.

all I know is i'm a small contracter and rent lifts so this getting costly!!

any suggestions would be great!!


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

raftdaddy said:


> Hello, I need some help here!! in a local dealership shop they had a couple 400 watt hps fixtures with 400 watt mh bulbs in them and of course they would burn out. I switched them to 400 watt pulse start mh fixtures and the bulbs keep burning out as well?? (they are ps bulbs)
> 
> now my questions are :
> Is it the pulse start? they do get shut on and off,i have never used pulse start before, recommended by my wholesaler
> ...



First thing is to make sure that your lamps match the ballasts,the ANSI,Rating on the lamps must match the ballast.

Look here for the ANSI Designation .

Make sure there are no other loads on the circuit.

http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/lightinganswers/mwmhl/differenceprobepulse.asp



http://media.hydroponics.net/productdocs/HID_Pocket_Guide.pdf


Welcome to the forum.:thumbsup:






.


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## raftdaddy (Jun 17, 2010)

thank you for the response I will for sure read up on this. just trying to get a good idea before I spend another 300 on a lift. I will for sure double check the bulb and ballast match, my mistake I put in what they ordered and never checked!! I will repost my findings in a couple days. thanx again


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## jman814 (Sep 28, 2011)

You didn't mention any of the controls that could be messing up the fixtures/lamps. I've had bad Photocells cause fixtures to cycle on/off all night long and kill the lamps. Since you're seeing a similar failure in the new fixtures vs. the old, it sounds like the cause is independent of the fixture (lamp & ballasts).


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## stlchuck (Jan 9, 2009)

Make sure the correct tap is being used on the ballast, that it matches the incoming voltage, 
( assuming its a "multitap"or 'quad" ballast).


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## RHWilks (Jul 14, 2012)

It seems to me, the pulse start bulbs have a horizontal burn or a vertical burn. I don't recall all the details, it was on sports lighters. If the bulb/ballast match, and direction, I would set up a logger on the last fixture and see if there are voltage spikes or dips.


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## 10492 (Jan 4, 2010)

raftdaddy said:


> Hello, I need some help here!! in a local dealership shop they had a couple 400 watt hps fixtures with 400 watt mh bulbs in them and of course they would burn out. I switched them to 400 watt pulse start mh fixtures and the bulbs keep burning out as well?? (they are ps bulbs)
> 
> now my questions are :
> Is it the pulse start? they do get shut on and off,i have never used pulse start before, recommended by my wholesaler
> ...



It's probably heat related, as the MH bulbs can not cool fast enough.

Has nothing to do with wiring.


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## 10492 (Jan 4, 2010)

RHWilks said:


> It seems to me, the pulse start bulbs have a horizontal burn or a vertical burn. I don't recall all the details, it was on sports lighters. If the bulb/ballast match, and direction, I would set up a logger on the last fixture and see if there are voltage spikes or dips.



Bulbs do have an up/down...horizontal/vertical direction to them, and believe it or not, using these bulbs in their correct application, the bulbs last a long time.

Most folks just use U (universal) bulbs. They don't last as long as H/V bulbs do, but they are cheaper and readily available.


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## raftdaddy (Jun 17, 2010)

thanx for all the replies. As it turns out it was a manufacture defect!! replaced the pulse starts with regular mh fixtures and they did the same thing a few days later. after getting on the wholesaler they finally did some calling around and turns out they were having calls from other locations. after a call to the manufacture they had recalls out for certain batches of lights. still not done!! waiting for the new batch.the crappy thing is I probably lost a 1000 bucks during all this withlift rentals and time.


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## Bkessler (Feb 14, 2007)

raftdaddy said:


> thanx for all the replies. As it turns out it was a manufacture defect!! replaced the pulse starts with regular mh fixtures and they did the same thing a few days later. after getting on the wholesaler they finally did some calling around and turns out they were having calls from other locations. after a call to the manufacture they had recalls out for certain batches of lights. still not done!! waiting for the new batch.the crappy thing is I probably lost a 1000 bucks during all this withlift rentals and time.


That's terrible. I've had similar situations on a smaller scale.


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