MH bulb blew up.

[Volitan]

what a joke. The timer turned the MH on today and after it got fully heated up and as bright as it gets.. it blew up.. had to pick glass out of my tank. this bulb wasnt even that old. it is a 175 watt Single End Aqualine. there was no water splashing up and hitting it.. so not sure why it blew up... do you think it will get covered under some type of warranty?

[epidemic]

bummer, that sucks!!

[Volitan]

ahhhh... are my corals going to be fine? the light blew up and was still burning for a little while till I realized what happened.. I know without the outside protective glass there is UV rays.. did this kill my corals? they are all closed up now.. I hope not.... :( :( :( :( :(

[Fish'InMN]

The corals probably did get a mild sun tan, but you turned it off shortly thereafter so they will recover. It might take a while though, and I would actually leave all the lights off for a day or two, which gives you more time to find a new bulb, as the lack of light will not hurt anything at all.

Marty

[sea monkey]

you touch it with your hand when you installed it ?

I have heard that a MH bulb gets hot enough that the oils from your hand can heat up and cause something like this to happen.

just a theory.

[kjdeut]

you touch it with your hand when you installed it ?

I have heard that a MH bulb gets hot enough that the oils from your hand can heat up and cause something like this to happen.

just a theory.

I have heard this also in regards to HQI bulbs.

Ken

[JnS]

that sucks!

[Loralie]

I am scared to death this will happen every time I replace my bulbs. When we made a new DIY hood, my husband was so jumpy around the halides when they fired...

[Volitan]

I did touch it with my hands when I installed it.. I didnt think it mattered with the single end bulbs as the outer glass is there to protect it.. my HQI bulbs I didnt touch anything other then the porcelain, if they blow up they are behind a sheet of glass so all the shards wont go into my tank.. hmmm.. the old worn out 20k bulb I have in there now I have touched a hundred times and it never blew up.. so hopefully I can get a warrantly replacement..

[Volitan]

Doesnt sound like Aquamed is gonna replace the bulb for me... "never heard of that happening before" So I guess just because they never heard of it before.. that must mean I am dreaming my bulb is shot..

[sea monkey]

maybe i am wrong about that , was just something i thought i heard : )

[BiochemRobyn]

Don't feel too bad- I just broke my new one trying to get it in the unit

First I, :ac39: then I, :bawling:

[David Grigor]

Of probably 20+ Radium 400W bulbs, I had that happen once. It was like that for just a few hours. Mine was about 6 weeks old at the time. I noticed it right away when got home from work. Hard to miss a MH glass shell in your tank. Mine didn't shatter though, it was a clean crisp break even all the way around. In my case, I'm sure it was a weak seam or something for it to be such an even clean break.

Corals never skipped a beat. I always have new bulbs as spares so I replaced with no downtime. Premium Aquatics replaced it for me free of charge. Just 1 more reason they are my preferred online vendor.


Silver line though: Now your can check out the 15K Iwasaki 175W bulbs. They seem to be the bomb for both output and color and perform better than many 250W MH bulbs. They have been out for over a year now so pretty save bet to try now.....

[epidemic]

Don't feel too bad- I just broke my new one trying to get it in the unit

First I, :ac39: then I, :bawling:

Dont feel too bad. I once dropped a brand new pheonix 14K 250W bulb on the carpet...and it broke

[Dirk Griffin]

MH bulbs just occasionally break. Not sure if it is heat and weak glass related or something else. About once a year I know of someone this happens too. Just one of those things, no company has a warranty for it.
As far as touching, hqi is a total no no. The oils from our skin create hot spots and usually will blow a bulb.
For MH, the only thing I have seen/heard is touching is fine, the temp is less than hqi bulbs. However, fingerprints and natural occurring oils from us if it gets onto a MH bulb can and will burn the oil onto the bulb. This will block, deflect, and/or change the light pattern coming off of the bulb. With this happening right at the source for our lights, it is a minor issue but still important enough to minimize.
Best to wipe all MH bulbs off to remove excess fingerprints

More importantly is to keep the nub/nipple of the inside part of the bulb facing up and away from the tank. Certain bulbs are worse than others. This changes light output and patterns into the tank.