Burnt out MH bulb or toasted ballast?
 

What are the symptoms of a burnt out bulb, as oppose to a toast ballast?

Last night I noticed that the light output from my 70w Viper 2 was much lower than usual. I thought that perhaps the fixture overheated or something so I shut the light off and let it cool off for an hour. Now when I turn the light on, the bulb refuses to light up, but I can hear the ballast humming and clicking (I assume its clicking because its trying to light up the bulb?). FYI, I bought this thing new 2-3 weeks ago, there's no moisture damage that I know of. The ballast is stored under the tank, and the whole setup is in the basement, so I doubt excessive heat is the problem.

bring it back under warranty?

That would be difficult to do since I got it from Vancouver. It'd probably cost the same for me to ship it as oppose to buying a new bulb.

Aww man, sorry Rich. Maybe Josh can help you out at Marine Aquaria....

Wow... Rich is back.
Sorry to hear the crappy luck though bud. :sad:

I was planning on stopping by there after work to see if I could plug their display lamp into my ballast... hopefully its just the bulb =\

I've been back for a little while now, just lurking... I blame Dez for my return :P

You didn't have to come over :)

Hahahaha. I'll make sure to stay away from your place for awhile then Dez. I can't afford to jump back in just yet... :razz:

Actually, we're planning on having an open house with all our fish friends in the fall and you're on the list, so beware! Rich, Harvey, Russ, you....all of the old gang.. My tank has to mature a little bit first and I have to finish plumbing my system before this happens though. (Rich started out with a tiny nano and he's already upgraded).....the addiction begins again....ha ha ha.