Hamilton bulbs failing prematurely?

[goldpony75]

OK Heres the deal. I do custom tank design and install as a hobby. i Did a 210 gallon install the first week of January 06. I installed 4 250 watt ARO Electronic Ballast with spider reflectors and 250 watt Hamilton 14k Bulbs, They are not in a canopy yet because the client is having cabinets made to match his built ins and the lights are about 14 inches above top of tank that has glass tops on it. Well about a month ago he calls to inform me that one of the bulbs has gone out so i send him one of my spare bulbs i have for my own tank and now he called me today to let me know a different bulb has burned out. So is anyone else had this problem with these bulbs failing prematurely? or do you think it is a different problem?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT! Is there any fans moving the air and trying to cool it off?

[goldpony75]

Thank You for the Welcome! No there is no fan circulating air past them but they are also not in a canopy of any sort just mounted in the reflectors (the fans(250cfm worth) are going to be in the custom canopy) so basically the reflectors are mounted on to a frame along with the ballast and the hang in the air 14 inches above the tank.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!



have not used Hamilton bulbs in a long time. could you send them a bulb from another manufacturer to see if goes out quickly also? could be the ballast is overdriving the bulbs and causing premature burnout. it could also be a bad batch of bulbs.

sorry, not much help here i bet.

G~