How bad is it to touch a MH bulb?

[SOS]

I've heard and read about how I shouldn't touch a MH bulb with my hands, as it can ruin the bulb. I just recently brushed the back of my hand against my MH bulb by accident. This isn't so bad is it? Just making sure! TIA :)

[dattack]

Sorry never heard of such thing. How do you screw the bulbs in the mogul socket then? WIth gloves?
:eek1:

[reefrunner69]

I have actually heard the same thing, and I have no idea if it is true. I heard it has something to do with the natural oils from the skin getting on the bulb. I have always operated under the better safe than sorry principal ;), if you are concered, simply wipe the bulb down with a paper towel. :rolleyes: (and yes I use a paper towel to screw in the bulb)

[RichWise2002]

It might be true. I do know that when replacing automobile headlights and projector lamps, you should not touch the bulbs with your bare hands. It is due to oils from your skin getting deposited on the bulb surface and creating "hot spots" on the bulb which reduces it's life span. HTH

[phins]

When I was putting the bulbs in my canopy last week,my brother was here.I was screwing the bulbs in with my bare hands .He said you should never touch the bulb ,oils in your skin will shorten bulb life .He's a Highspeed photographer (figured he new something about lighting).He made me clean them off with alcohol and wrap a paper towel around them to put them in.

[Unresistible Blue]

I frequently hear the "don't touch it" approach when folks are discussing halogen bulbs - I would guess the same thing applies to MH bulbs for the reasons mentioned above.

[Mad Scientist]

Trust me, "keep yoru mitts off Mh bulbs." The alcohol wipe advice is right on.....

[Philip]

I dunno if MH bulbs get hot enough to worry about, but better safe than sorry, oils can create a hotspot, like others have said rubbing alcohol will clean it right up

[Physh1]

The oils and etc on your hands can get on the bulb. This can cause etching and hot spots on the bulb that can cause issues. f you do touch it just wipe the bulb down with some rubbing alcohol on a napkin or paper towel or something....

Better safe than sorry....

Cameron

[DgenR8]

I have heard this when talking about HALOGEN bulbs, for the reason stated above. I have never heard this about M/H, I think that The difference in size and bulb composition makes M/H safe from oils on our hands and I take no precautions. If it makes you feel better, cleaning the bulb with alcohol can't hurt, neither will using a paper towel to hold it while installing. I don't think it's necessary though.

[Mad Scientist]

I used to work at greenhouse where we had tons of mh (and hps lights), we had a 1,000w mh blow on us, luckly no one was hurt. Most mh bulbs come with a warning to keep your paws off them (this is tru of UV bulbs too). Be safe, it's no fun to have one blow and spew out UV.

[brandxman]

Keeping your hands off of the lights seems like a great idea but what about all of the crud that evaporates from the tank and collects on them. Sure fans would keep the air moving around them but I'm guessing something is still going to deposit on the lights over time. Would that crud be any worse than the oils in your hands??

[Mad Scientist]

I use a UV shield that keeps the bulb dry, the less "stuff" on it the better I would say.

You can always contact the manufactor and ask if it's ok to rub your hands and get salt spray on their bulbs. :D

[god_of_wolves]

Not like this need another post, but Keeping you hands off High temp bulbs like MH is sound advice. I used to work in a theater (stage type, not movies), and was resposible for lighting equipment. You do not want to touch the bulbs. Everyone else is right on the money with the natural oils thing.

Use alcohol, and some kind of pad, or mitt.
(I really don't reccomend paper towels, as the oils can soak right through to the other side.)

We used to keep a special glove for chaning bulbs, of course it was also temperature rated so that you would not get burned when replacing a extrememly hot burned out bulb in the middle of a show.


Just my .02

[SOS]

Thanks for the replies everyone :)

[Diodontidae]

I work in screen printing. We use mercury vapor double-ended bulbs for burning screens. You cannot touch these bulbs. They even come with a cotton glove. These bulbs, though not used now, used to be one of the many options of aquarium lights. I always thought that if it was a double-ended bulb you could not touch it with your hands because of the oils, etc. on your hands. I still don't touch my 250w iwasaki though, and it's a mogul socket type. It's just too much money for me to ruin based on what people think.

Just my .02 though!

[Frick-n-Frags]

Besides, all that stuff on the bulb interferes with the light transmission, so periodically wipe the salt mist off too. (I just use a kleenex to change bulbs, your skin oil doesn't go through a towel/tissue instantly)

[EdMcNierney]

It appears there's some confusion about the type of lamp you're talking about. SOME MH lamps are quite small, and resemble halogen lamps or the lamps used in professional photographic or theatrical lighting equipment. OTHER MH lamps contain this small element inside a much larger glass envelope.

You should be extremely careful never to get skin oils or anything else on a small MH lamp (the small ones are around the size of a fingertip or so). This will definitely harm the lamp and can cause premature failure.

If you have a large lamp with an external envelope, it is IMPOSSIBLE to touch the MH lamp, so you don't need to worry so much. You should still try to keep the envelope clean, but it can certainly tolerate salt spray, etc. The difference is that the surface operating temperature of this external envelope is MUCH cooler than the surface of the actual lamp inside.

You mentioned a mogul base - if you've got one of those, you have the latter (larger) type of lamp, with an external envelope.

This distinction also confuses some folks about UV radiation. This external glass envelope acts as a UV shield (no, it's not completely opaque to all UV frequencies) which means it doesn't need the same type of UV shielding the smaller bare lamps do.