Ok. I called the shop to tell them they were getting the bulb back and they, once again, told me to try it because they were certain that that bulb was it. So yesterday I had the chance to try it while I was cleaning the growroom and the plants were elsewhere.

I screwed the bulb in and plugged in the ballast and jumped behind the bed waiting for the bulb to blow up. LOL. It fired up normally and after 5 minutes was at full output. I left it on for over an hour.

So now my question is, what happens to a standard MH bulb that is energized with a HPS ballast? Will it still light up but then a few months down the road blow up or loose intensity? I'm just trying to figure out if the guy was right and I DO have a new style of conversion bulb or if a standard MH will run in a HPS ballast for a little while.