XM bulbs and electronic ballast

ellisz · #1 08/22/2007, 04:23 PM

Are there any issues with XM bulbs and using them with electronic ballasts? I was trying out a 250w XM 20k bulb on my tank and I use Coralvue electronic ballasts. I put the bulb in one morning and when I got home, the bulb was not lit. I tried a different bulb and it would not light either. I swapped to a back up ballast of the same type and I did watch it fire. Next day and I notice the bulb is not lit. My other bulbs are firing fine. The ballast I have are an older version of CV ballast but I have been using them for over 4 yrs.

Not sure if I have 2 dead ballasts now

Thanks

serenity · #2 08/22/2007, 04:27 PM

I use the older version and the newer version of CV and they light my 20k xm's just fine. Maybe a dead ballast, email dave at cv maybe he can look at them or fix them, from what I know he is a great guy.

ellisz · #3 08/22/2007, 04:39 PM

I have no complaints against CV for sure. I have emailed him on the problem. It is just weird that I appear to have lost 2 ballasts in 2 days just from running one new bulb!

I had a ballast fail earlier in the year due to some stupidity and I know it could not be repaired as Dave said they lost some of the old components in Hurricane Katrina. So 1 ballast I know for sure is dead. The other was a backup I got from a buddy. It is a little newer as it has a power cord slot and has 2 fans in the ballast.

I have a newer CV ballast and a ARO ballast but would be hesitant to run the bulb with them as I only have 2 bulbs firing over my 6ft tank right now ...
Thanks

d4a2n0k · #4 08/22/2007, 04:47 PM

There are a number of us that have had issues with XM's and CV ballasts. Rather than rehash my experience, you can read this post.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hlight=reeflux

ellisz · #5 08/22/2007, 05:03 PM

Thanks for the heads up. I would be fine if I could put my Reeflux bulb back in and have light. Neither one of my silver ballasts(2 diff styles) is working now at all.

d4a2n0k · #6 08/22/2007, 05:09 PM

Do you have the versions with the fan or no fan? The first e-ballast they made was silver with no fan. Then they came out with a larger ballast with a built in fan but was also silver. The latest version is blue with no fan.

I only had the first silver one with no fan and went through 4 of them and they all had the same problem but some were worse than others. The ones with the fan were not out that long, maybe a year before they were replaced with the blue one which is the current one. Note that this is for the 250w versions only. I think the 175 and 400w versions are different colors.

There are many people that have no problems with this combo as well so its strange that its hit or miss.

ellisz · #7 08/22/2007, 05:20 PM

I have one silver w/o a fan and one with a fan. These are 250w.

ellisz · #8 08/27/2007, 08:36 AM

I noticed the ballast with the fans had a fuse that was blown under the power cord. I replaced the fuse and got a nice pop when I plugged it in. Looks like I am out 2 ballasts just for swapping a bulb

David at CV offered to sell me a new ballast at a discount. Any reason to not get another CV ballast? I have a ARO ballast that is doing allright so far. These are fairly cheap as well.

Thanks

ellisz · #9 08/27/2007, 10:17 PM

Anything better? Not sure what makes some of the other ballast cost $30+ more than ARO or CV?