MH Bulbs are a pain
 

I just installed new 250W bulbs and broke the flat ceramic piece on the bottom (where you would put your thumb to push them in) I hope this doesn't affect the performance at all. I think the contacts are too tight in my fixture, I broke the ceramic on the old bulb taking it out so of course I had to fish the pieces out of the tank. What a pain in the #@$%! Anyone broke a piece of the ceramic in their bulb? Any idea if this will have any negative effect? The contacts weren't damaged at all.

Done the same thing awhile back. Doesn't seem to affect the bulbs.

I finally changed out my 20K AB bulbs for Pheonix 14K, you just about have to wear sunglasses in my living room! I like it! I did have a few choice words when I thought I broke my new bulb.

In my opinion this is the single greatest reason to run mogul instead of double ended bulbs. However I run double ended too and yes I've even broken a bulb trying to push it in. The trick I've learned is to use some needle nose pliers and insert a small finnishing nail into the contacts to space them apart when changing a bulb.

I agree. I will NEVER purchase a DE fixture ever again. I've broken only 1 bulb so far, but that was enough to set my mind for good. Yes, I usually snap off pieces of the ceramic while installing them and that doesn't affect their performance.

Good tip with the finishing nail..I'll give that a try.

I guess a very relevant question now is whether the phoenix 14k SE is as good as the DE? That bulb has 'driven' many a person to use DE. I'm still in the decision stage myself...

just wait until the metals clips in the bulb holder don't work (don't hold the bulb, or have bent when trying to insert a bulb) and you have to tear apart you reflector to change them.

the same thing happened to both of my Ushio bulbs, no biggie. This doesn't affect their operation/performance.

No such thing as a SE Phoenix bulb (as far as I know).

I find that if I push the bulb in very slow & carefully, not too bad. Try to rush & you're gonna break that ceramic part.

As others mentioned, doesn't seem to affect performance.

Anthony

Last time I changed my bulbs I tried a tiny dab of electric grease, makes installling DE bulbs problem free.