XM 10K Users: Bad/yellow bulb? Click Here for the solution!

[Nathan1]

Nipple Schmipple eh?!

Well to my relief, I fixed the problem of my yellow XM bulbs by slightly tweaking the nipple orientation! Now all of my bulbs are very bright and super white; no yellow at all! These bulbs have been burned in for one week at 10 hours per day on a PFO Standard Ballast (M59). The Center bulb is a 175W 10K XM on a generic M57 ballast (not PFO).

Here is what I did:

I simply gave the yellow bulbs a 90 degree twist so that the nipple was pointed sideways. I did this while the bulb was on so that the gasses would not solidify on the inner envelope. Immediately (within seconds) the colour changed from sickly yellow to a brighter intense white.

Here are some photos.

1. This is what it looked like before I did anything. My VHO actinics are on in this photo.
The LEFT side bulb was white, but the RIGHT side bulb was YELLOW! I thought I had a bad bulb and was about to return it.

2. Here is a view of the underside of the hood showing the bad bulb on the right.

3. I give the bulb a 90 degree twist while it is still on. (I should mention that I tried it while the bulb was off, and cool, but upon restarting it was still yellow; that's when I decided to rotate it when it was hot, and that seemed to do the trick).

4. Now both all the bulbs are the same. (Photo taken about 1 minute after the twist).

5. This is what it looked like after I rotated the nipple by 90 degrees. I let it run for an hour like this and then restarted all the bulbs to see if they would still be white after the restart. They restarted white with no yellow at all. I fired them up again this morning after being off all night and again they are white. This photo is taken without actinics.

I would not be surprised if some of the bulbs that some people have returned were actually GOOD bulbs, but were simply not oriented correctly. I have noticed in the past that nipple orientation may play a factor in colouration of the bulbs.

Here is my old tank with 400W 10K Ushios. The left has the nipple up, the right has the nipple down.

And again here is a 175W Venture bulb, one with the nipple up, and the other with the nipple down.

Well I am really glad that it was such an easy fix!!! I am really happy today!

-Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

Nipple Schmipple

L I B.

I thought the nipple orientation was hogwash.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

But isn't less light projected downward this way?

 

[spaulr]

Maybe Kratos can chime in. From the posts I've read he's a light guru....

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe Kratos can chime in. From the posts I've read he's a light guru....

Kratos is dead.


He has changed his name, cannot remember what though. I know he used to be Reefnutz.

 

[Nathan1]

Louey,

(What is LIB?)

Nipple orientation is not hogwash; that was a myth created by an article written some time ago. Personally I believe that for some bulbs, nipple orientation is critical to a correct burn, regardless of any article written "Nipple None-sense"...

ANEMONEBUFF,

Actually, now with the nipple to the side, MORE LIGHT is aimed down because that wire bar is now out of the way.

Regardless of your belief system regarding nipples, my experience should cause everyone to consider re-orienting their nipples if they have yellow XM bulbs. It's worth a shot anyway... saved me from having to ship my bulbs back.



-Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

Problem is you need an adjustable mogul socket, I would NOT recommend loosening the bulbs just to get a favorably nipple arrangement. And mogul bulbs usually have one orientation of "fully tightened" just due to the way the threads are.

 

[Nathan1]

Problem is you need an adjustable mogul socket, I would NOT recommend loosening the bulbs just to get a favorably nipple arrangement. And mogul bulbs usually have one orientation of "fully tightened" just due to the way the threads are.

I have a regular standard mogul socket that I bought from Marine Depot. At the back of the socket you will find a metal prong. Bend the prong outwards a little. Then screw the bulb in, but not to the point where it stops; you want to make sure that the prong makes contact with the base of the bulb. Just make sure you unplug your ballast before touching the prong.

I recommend this method to get the best burn out of your bulbs and I don't know why you would "not recommend loosening the bulbs just to get a favorably nipple arrangement"; since it is this "favorable nipple arrangement" which causes your bulb to burn properly.

-Nathan

 

[Nathan1]

Do any of you have yellow XM bulbs that you are disappointed in? Maybe someone else would like to give it a try?

All I can say is that it worked for me!

-Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

Nathan wrote:

(What is LIB?)

.

This is hick talk.

"L" meaning "well"
"I" meaning "I'll"
"b" meaning "be"

Well I'll be.

I tought everyone had heard of that.

Like this:

MR not Ducks

MR2 Ducks, CM wings?

LIB, MR Ducks.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Luckily mine are white and my nipples(hehehehe!) are pointed downward.

 

[Nathan1]

Louey!!! hehehehe....

I get the "Well I'll be!", but now I don't get the Ducks part!!! Do all people in Florida talk in code?

ANEMONEBUFF,

Fantastic!!! You are lucky! Glad to hear that it works fine for you with the nipples down.

-Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

Nathan, here's is the duck story spelled out in plain english:

MR not Ducks

MR2 Ducks, CM wings?

LIB, MR Ducks.

Them are not ducks.

Them are to ducks, see them wings?

Well I'll be, them are ducks.

This is not Florida talk. I think it is Mississippi talk.

Sorry for trashing your thread.

Louey

 

[Nathan1]

 

[Unarce]

Maybe Kratos can chime in. From the posts I've read he's a light guru....

Kratos is dead.


He has changed his name, cannot remember what though. I know he used to be Reefnutz.

Hardly an expert :wink:

Most of my MH experience was with double-ended bulbs, and there's only one way to plug in those.

I'm using single-end now, and haven't paid much attention to the nipple orientation. When screwed in all the way, the nipple of my Radium faces 3 o'clock. Fellow reefers are surprised it's a Radium, as it has more of a 12K appearance. I think it has more to do with the HQI ballast, but I may try adjusting the socket.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Nathan

 

[Len]

Very cool. I've found the same thing to be true for Aquaconnect bulbs. For some bulbs, nipple orientation seems like nonsense. For others, they seem to matter a great deal.

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe Kratos can chime in. From the posts I've read he's a light guru....

Kratos is dead.


He has changed his name, cannot remember what though. I know he used to be Reefnutz.

Hardly an expert :wink:

Most of my MH experience was with double-ended bulbs, and there's only one way to plug in those.

I'm using single-end now, and haven't paid much attention to the nipple orientation. When screwed in all the way, the nipple of my Radium faces 3 o'clock. Fellow reefers are surprised it's a Radium, as it has more of a 12K appearance. I think it has more to do with the HQI ballast, but I may try adjusting the socket.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Nathan

There he is! :wink: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Well I've had my XMs with the side nipple, and they were yellow.

As to why I would not suggest loosening the bulb to get the nipple arrangment it's simple, if it's a little bit off to get it, then sure go ahead, but if you have to turn your bulb a whole half or 3/4 turn you could potentially have a very poor contact with the contact in the back, that could lead to arcing, and ceramic or not you can easily burn stuff.

 

[Nathan1]

Well I've had my XMs with the side nipple, and they were yellow.

...could lead to arcing, and ceramic or not you can easily burn stuff.

Sfsuphysics,

Yes you are err'ing on the side of caution; which is just fine by me. I understand completely. Thanks for the hint/tip. It could save someone their home!

To make sure that my mogul socket is making good contact I bend the inner prong outwards (it also has a spring in it) so that I can make a good strong contact with the bulb. I do agree that it is important to make the contact nice and secure; but I also think that a little adjustment is fine and the bulb does not need to be "snug" in order to be safe (that's why there is a spring in there).



-Nathan

 

[sedatedforsafety]

Its strange that the color changed only when you rotated the bulb while it was on. If it were only nipple orientation then rotating the bulb with it off would have had the same effect no? I wonder if rotating the bulb while it was on caused something to change inside the arc tube, maybe something with the electrodes? Its logical to think that if the bulb was not burning at full intensity that the color would be off like the color shift of a old bulb but somehow rotating the bulb corrected this causing it to burn at full intensity. I have no idea what I am talking about but for a minute I almost belived I was intelligent!