Who's using a M58 MH Ballast (Hellolights)?

falconut · #1 12/31/2006, 09:42 AM

I have had one of these 250W ballasts for 2 years and the other 250W ballasts for 1 year on my 90 gal. reef. I run XM 10,000K mogel socket bulbs in each. I keep the bulbs in for 1 year. I alternate my replacements every 6 months.

Now here's where my questions come from. It seams that every time I change out the bulb, it burns yellow and I'm told by Advance Transformer (the Ballast company) that the capacitor is bad if the bulb is burning yellow. Every time they've sent me the capacitor under warranty, but it would be nice to figure out what is going on.

How could the capacitor be bad only for the new bulb? If I put the old bulb back in, it still is bright white, but the new one burns yellow. Has anybody had this problem before? Or does anbody that's electical minded, have any ideas what's going on? Could the capacitor be getting used to the old bulbs, that when the new bulb is installed it's basically confused?

epicentyr · #2 12/31/2006, 03:57 PM

Could your new bulbs need time to "burn in?"

falconut · #3 01/01/2007, 03:04 PM

That's what Hellolights.com always trys to tell me, but I've run them for 2 - 3 weeks and they don't get any whiter.

I assume that nobody else has this problem?

E-A-G-L-E-S · #4 01/01/2007, 03:08 PM

XM's have a BIG spike in the yellow spectral plot, that is why they appear yellow. On a mag. ballast, according to Sanjay's plots, the XM 10K runs it's whitest.

boxfishpooalot · #5 01/01/2007, 03:30 PM

what does the burn position say on the bulb? Some bulb have to be angled certain ways or they burn yellow. U stands for universal burn position. Is U printed on the glass bulb?

falconut · #6 01/01/2007, 03:31 PM

E-A-G-L-E-S - I am confused with your post. I am running a Magnetic ballast and they look really white, which is what I like.

But why would the new bulbs consistently burn yellow and require me to change the capacitor every time to get the white look?

E-A-G-L-E-S · #7 01/01/2007, 03:35 PM

ohh, i misunderstood sorry. i can't understand that, if it shorts the capacitor initially, i don't understand why a new one would be different??
Could you have a problem with your wiring? Probably not if you are replacing capacitors i'm sure you'd notice?

Hummmmmm

dragonforce · #8 01/01/2007, 08:14 PM

Those XM 10ks burn very yellow IMO. I switched over to a hamilton 12k and I'm much happier. But you really need to supplement actinics with the lower kelvin MH bulbs in order to achieve the look you want.

falconut · #9 01/02/2007, 07:21 AM

boxfishpooalot - I'm not sure if there is a U printed on the glass. But all the bulbs are the same and have the same print on them, so I don't think that would be the problem.

It really seams like the capacitor is getting used to the certain bulbs and when a new one is installed, it gets messed up.

jakano · #10 01/02/2007, 09:01 AM

I just bought some XM 250 10K's to run on my m58's. I have a dual pfo ballast that I just replaced one of the ballasts. The old ballast was made by venture and the new one I put in is made by sylvannia so I am worried they might burn the bulbs a little different. I will let you know what the bulbs look like when they arrive. I bought them based on sanjay's website since he says on a m58 they will actually burn at 12k which should be a very bright white light. I will be very dissapointed if they are yellow.

matthewdmueller · #11 01/02/2007, 09:44 AM

I've had to replace the cap's on my M57 a couple of times. It seems like they just wear out or something. One of my cap's acctually exploded one day and took one of my brand new bulbs with it. Advance is a good company though and had great customer service and have always sent me new cap's when I needed them. I really think it is just the heat from the ballast that kind of cooks the caps. It seemed to me that when I took the mounting box I had everything in apart, they ran a lot cooler and lasted longer.

yeame · #12 01/02/2007, 10:20 AM

my advise 250w icecap ballast costs like 80 bucks

30mini · #13 01/02/2007, 10:29 AM

I'm running an XM 10K with an M57 ballast on my 20! Here is just the MH bulb running... it does look yellow, very yellow! But, to compensate, I threw on some actinics! Like dragonforce said, you need actinics w/the lower kelvin bulbs!! Here's some pictures(don't mind the HA... it's getting worked on)
Just the MH:

MH and actinics:

falconut · #14 01/02/2007, 12:21 PM

30mini - That upper picture is exactly what my new XM bulb looks like. The bottom picture is what my old ones look like.

I spoke to Advance Tech Support and they are telling me that it's not the ballast or capacitor since the old bulbs still burn white. So, I'm having Hellolights send me a new bulb, we'll see how this works.

panmanmatt · #15 01/02/2007, 03:34 PM

This may sound crazy, but when I first put my XM 10k on my M58 ballast it was as yellow as could be. I removed the bulb, rotated it about 1/4 of a turn and reinstalled. After that it burned a nice crisp white.

Somewhere I read that a lot of folks had the same problem with the XM's on M58 ballast and that is how they corrected the problem. Don't know why it worked, but it solved the problem for me.

falconut · #16 01/02/2007, 04:00 PM

panmanmatt - I doesn't sound crazy, just weird. Don't the bulbs only screw in one way? Anyways, I'll try removing it and twisting it a bit and reinstall it.

panmanmatt · #17 01/02/2007, 04:04 PM

Yes they only screw in one way, but by rotating it 1/4 turn the bulb ends up in a diiferent postiton once it's screwed in. It may have something to do with the postition of the filament like was mentioned earlier.

falconut · #18 01/02/2007, 06:05 PM

I tried turning it 1/4, 1/2 and inbetween and nothing. I noticed that the nub on the bottom of the bulb looks a little different. I looks filed down a little on the new bulb. I wonder if that could be the problem. I guess when I get the new bulb in 2 weeks I'll see.

panmanmatt · #19 01/02/2007, 07:23 PM

Sorry it didn't work for you. Hopefully the new bulb will burn truer to what you would expect from it.

Please keep us updated.

I see you're also from NJ. I'm over on the coast about 45 minutes from you. I have to make a trip out you're way to hit Aquarium Center again.

jakano · #20 01/04/2007, 09:11 PM

i got my xm's today and i am very dissapointed in them. they are very yellow. i dont know if they need a 100 hour burn in or what but i am not very happy. on a m58 ballast these things are supposed to run at a 12k rating. at least that what sanjays web site says. i will call hello lights tomorrow to see what they think.