250 watt mh bulb not starting up

[jbrand]

i just bought a brand new Hydrofarm Sunburst (connected ballast) and a new mh bulb from lowes this weekend. it is a 250 watt sylvania bulb standard mh.
When i went to turn it on for the first time it made a little noise but would not start up. i looked at the bulb and all i seen was a little blue reacting light in the bulb. Does anyone know if this is a bulb issue or a reflector/ballast issue. or am i just doing something wrong. any help would be much appreciated.

jbrand Reviewed by jbrand on 02-08-2010. 250 watt mh bulb not starting up i just bought a brand new Hydrofarm Sunburst (connected ballast) and a new mh bulb from lowes this weekend. it is a 250 watt sylvania bulb standard mh. When i went to turn it on for the first time it made a little noise but would not start up. i looked at the bulb and all i seen was a little blue reacting light in the bulb. Does anyone know if this is a bulb issue or a reflector/ballast issue. or am i just doing something wrong. any help would be much appreciated. Rating: 5

[Rubberbubbler]

how long did you let it run? It has to warm up the blue in the arc tube haves to heat up the gasses before it will ignite. It should only take a minute. If that don't work check the socket make sure the contact tab is not smashed down to much if you do that its a real good idea to unplug it before you mess with it. When I buy a new bulb from the grow store they score the bottom of the bulb that could be it to? Did you make sure its switched to mh and not hps?

[jbrand]

I let the little blue light go for about 10 - 15 min, and nothing happen. I did make sure it was on mh and not hps. Should i let the blue light go longer? Mind oyu this blue light was very small and could only be seen by looking directly at the bulb. I have the fixture plugged up to a timer which is plugged to a surge protector. I did try unplugging from the timer and straight to the surge protector. could it be the surge protector? should i go straight to the wall with the timer?

[Rubberbubbler]

No if you seen the blue light its got power I would not let it run that long it should have fired up within a minute . most likely its the bulb but not sure without it sitting in front of me. What wattage is supposed to be in the light is it supposed to be 250 w mh? even if its a 400 w it should still fire up the bulb as long as you do not exceed the ballasts capability's.

[Rubberbubbler]

You got me thinking and I had a mh some years ago that did the same thing and I remember I put a glove on and hit the bulb while it was trying to start up and it did start up. don't hit it hit it just kind of tap it. If it starts up then you know its a bad connection between the contact tab and the bulb.

[jbrand]

you know i had tried tapping the reflector a couple of time to see it that would work. I will try tapping the bulb tonight.

you know i was so carfull putting everything together. i used my wife white gloves to put it all together. i was so disappointed when it didnt work. specially after spending 800 bucks on tent nutes and all.

Thank you for your help sir.

[Rubberbubbler]

I know what you mean. I have been their before many times. Everything will work out in the end if you keep at it:thumbsup:

[jbrand]

well it was the freakin bulb. it was burnt out. i took it back to lowes and got a new one, and it started up fine. thanks for your help sir

[Rubberbubbler]

Good to heir you got it going:thumbsup:

[Dutch Pimp]

HID bulbs have a high failure rate; if the factory doesn't pre-burn (test) them...:wtf: