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How do I tell if my bulbs are too old? I bought them used and am not sure the accuracy of the usage I was given. What would be some tell tale signs of an aging bulb?
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Maryjane

What kind of bulbs :question:

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250w MH, Not sure of the brand...
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Headshops

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Is there not something? I mean there must be a reason you change them. What happenes in the tank to tip you off?
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LovelyWendie99

The effects will probably vary from bulb to bulb. Typically the intensity may be noticeably less than a newer counterpart, and the overall colour may shift and appear slightly different.

I suppose other things could be things like sudden growth of nuisance algaes that can't be attributed to other things. Hard to say, though.

Personally .. if you don't know the age of the bulbs then the assumption I would make is that they're "old" and should be replaced as soon as budget allows. You can hang onto them as spares of course. With the only exception being Iwasaki bulbs, I have always noticed a slight differnence in the bulbs at 6 months, then again around 8 months, then again around 12 months. On my Iwasaki's I've been running them for two years now and I will be taking them off as soon as time (and some other things) allow because my concern is that as they approach 10,000 burn hours (I'm at around 8500 or so now), I'm not sure what to expect. Failure to start? Or even worse, like, a breakage. But I actually haven't noticed as bad a spectral drift or subjective-overall-intensity from them as I have on other bulbs (10000K, 14000K, 20000K). Generally speaking the higher the Kelvin rating, the sooner they need to be replaced, but of course every situation is always a little bit different and it really depends on what you notice happening whether you should consider a replacement or not (ie. don't replace a bulb just because so-and-so said you should do so every 6 months, but DO keep a watchful eye on things at 6 months and then make your own decision).

I've had a bulb break on me once, the outer envelope cracked and the globe part partially fell off. This was a new bulb mind you, it had nothing to do with age of the bulb. But of course the thing was still lit, and I actually lost a couple acros that were right underneath the bulb to the resulting UV burn that they got.

I suppose if you have access to tools like an intensity meter or a PAR meter you could take a measurement but the problem is if you don't know what the numbers would have been when the bulbs were new, then you don't really have a basis of comparison.

I don't know if any of this rambing is helpful. ... Um .. good luck, whatever you decide.

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Thank you, exactly the type of info I was looking for...
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA DOCTOR