Warning, my eyes got UV burned!

Nuuze · #1 05/12/2007, 04:08 PM

Hi All,

I just wanted to remind everyone running double ended halides to make sure you have the protective glass on before firing the lights on.

I just got my 250w fixture yesterday and was testing everything after unpackaging it. Dummy me, I forgot the glass and fired up the bulbs. I only had the bulbs on for about 10-15 minutes and maybe looked at the bulbs for a few split seconds several times to make sure it was firing correctly. That did it! If any of you are familiar with flash burns when welding without a mask its pretty much the same thing. My eyes felt irritated all night like burning after reading lots of forum pages. Then BAM, woke up this morning about 6 with tears pouring out of my eyes like someone just poked and threw sand in my eyes. Went to the Dr's and got anti-inflammatory/antibiotics with a mild sunburn on my eyes. After resting from returning from visiting the Dr it seems to be getting better, I can at least keep my eyes open and do some chores around the house. So be safe and don't forget the protective glass!

aninjaatemyshoe · #2 05/12/2007, 04:14 PM

Damn, thats all it takes? Thanks for the warning. That's also a good example of how leaving the glass cover off can be seriously damaging to the livestock.

Nuuze · #3 05/12/2007, 04:16 PM

Yep, it was quick. Since I bought the Sfiligoi fixture with dimmable ACLS units the 250w bulbs weren't eve at full power when I was testing. I can't even imagine what it would of done to fish and corals.

tigeroscar · #4 05/12/2007, 04:30 PM

ya, i weld as a profession... flash can cause some serious damage! what it is, is pretty much sunburn directly on your eye.... the sand you feel at night etc. are actually small blisters forming and irritating your eye. some people say cold patatoe slices help the burn alot.

DarG · #5 05/12/2007, 04:39 PM

Same thing happened to me a few months ago as I was putting the live rock back in the tank after I swapped to the new tank.
That was with 4 new VHO's. The light reflecting off the water did it. My exposure was for a while too as I'm sure you all know how long it can take to pile in 100+ lbs. of LR in a new set-up. It was a real mess because I was in the end stages of a cold and got a secondary infection in my eyes because of the eye burn. Had to use an antibiotic eye drop from the Doc and still took a good 5 days to clear up so that no more crud was running out of my eyes and gluing my eyelids shut every morning.

So be careful fellow hobbyists.

Icefire · #6 05/12/2007, 05:50 PM

vho wont cause flash, it's 420nm+ long wave.
MH emit UVC which is short wave, that cause damage.

hawaiianwargod · #7 05/12/2007, 06:17 PM

Wow...sorry to hear that. Thanks for sharing and we need to warned once in awhile as sometimes we forget that this hobby can be dangerous sometimes.

DarG · #8 05/12/2007, 06:18 PM

Tell you what, stare into a water filled sw tank on and off (mostly on) for 2 hours with 4 VHO 20" or so overhead, no acrylic/glass shield on the fixture (I do wear and was wearing eyeglasses though). 2 X 110 watt Super actinics and 2 X 110 watt 50/50's to be specific. Then tell me that you don't have photokeratitis, or whatever else you wish to call it, as a result. Maybe that's different than "flash" but my eyes got toasted. I'm not trying to discredit your short wave/ long wave knowledge, just telling you that I lived it, my eyes were burnt.