mh bulb broke in half

[sandmanrieast]

went to clean salt condensation from 175 watt
mh and noticed a crack,when I removed it to inspect it it came right apart....has this ever happened to you.....I`m afraid to replace it...that would be another 89.00
bucks....making it a grand totall of 300
bucks for light bulbs.....shoot me please..

the bulb is 8 inches of the water....could it have been defective or did it get a splash? its also using the correct balasts...what a bummer

 

[Bradbendr]

Salt will not evaporate with your water, thus "salt condensation" is a physical impossibility. If you have salt on your bulb, it is being splashed somehow.

 

[bashcraft]

What kind of bulb was this?

Certain brands are known for cracking and will be replaced by the manufacturer, depending on the age of the bulb.

Bob

 

[sandmanrieast]

ushio 175 watt 10,000 kelvin german
do these have a bad track record?

 

[bashcraft]

As far as I know the Ushio bulbs do not have this problem. It's the Sunburst bulbs that are known for cracking.

It sounds like the bulb was splashed...

Bob

 

[sandmanrieast]

nothing I hate more than a 100$ accident
my wife is gonna flip....

I wish she would crew up sometimes....

 

[Gatortailale1]

Sounds like you need to install some tempered glass or acrylic b/w the bulbs and top of tank to prevent splash. Be cheaper in long run than 89 a bulb for each splash.

 

[sandmanrieast]

I hear that, I will give it a whirl..before I got my magnet I do rember hitting the bulb with water from the scraper as I recall it was like frying a egg...dam neer made me jump for safety..at the time it didnt look cracked but a 2 weeks later I also noticed the color wasnt quite right....tend to be a little green,than blue....when I feel the inside of the bulb I feel salt...must have seeped in?

 

[sandmanrieast]

well live and learn.....Ill have to go bye another....mabe in a week or two

 

[delphinus]

I don't have a whole lot to add to what's already been said, but I had this happen to me a couple months ago with a brand new Hamilton 10K 175W. The bulb was still lit but the cover glass had split in two and slipped off the end a bit -- part of the glass was touching the arc tube and had actually melted a tiny little bit at the contact point. Wow, that's hot.

I had an acropora colony right under that light that washed out within hours and completely died within a day. I don't know if there was a current or whether it was the sudden increased UV that did it in.

Don't know what brands are worse for this, but I thought I'd mention that it can happen with the Hamilton stamped bulbs.

 

[sandmanrieast]

delphinus thank you for sharing your experiance with me I glad Im not the only one..

 

[TampaReefer]

Sound like you just need to buy a new bulb