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#1
12-28-2007, 04:27 PM
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Odd lighting discovery, Any thoughts?
I run 3X 400W MH 10K XM. on Blueline e-Ballasts. All bulbs were changed at the same time roughly 4 months ago
through troubleshooting an unrelated issue I swapped the middle bulb with the left hand side bulb. the bulb now on the left hand side was 1000X bluer than the other 2 bulbs. So the next step was to switch the ballast. So I swapped the middle ballast with the far left. So the far left bulb and ballast where back to the original configuration as before I started but they are still way bluer. Now before I started switching positions I didn't notice any colour temp difference between bulbs. Any thoughts? J 
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#2
12-28-2007, 04:38 PM
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I've often wondered if the ballast/bulbs behave differently if they are the 1st or 2nd item to draw power from a particular circuit.
I'm not sure that this comment helps you in any way, but your question made me think about it again.
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400 gal reef. Established April, 2007. 3 Sequence Dart, RM12-4 skimmer, 2 x OM4Ways, Yellow Tang, Maroon Clown (pair), Blonde Naso Tang, Vlamingi Tang, Foxface Rabbit, Unicorn Tang, 2 Pakistani Butterflies and a few coral gobies My Tank: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=28436
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#3
12-28-2007, 04:46 PM
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That could have been the case. When I switched ballast I did not change the input of the ballast only the output. So the plugs to the power bar are the same. + the light was not different prior to my switch.
Thanks though. J
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#4
12-28-2007, 04:48 PM
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could me a bunch of different things, wiring, quality of the connections, reflectors, bulbs aging, balast differences, even down to the design of the tank and what is under the bulb causing different reflections.
Steve
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 *everything said above is just my opinion, and may or may not reflect the views of this BBS, its Operators, and its Members. If cornered on any “opinion” I post I will totally deny having ever said this in a Court of Law…Unless I am the right one*Some strive to be perfect.... I just strive.
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#5
12-28-2007, 04:50 PM
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i used to run 3X 250 watt 10k xms in a similar configuration on ice cap ballasts and noticed the exact same thing. I thought I was going crazy! good to hear someone else noticed the same thing. I switched out every ballast and every bulb and continued to notice the same thing - the order that the ballasts were plugged into the power bar definitely changed the perceived color of the bulbs. strange phenomenon and I thought it was just my setup...
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#6
12-28-2007, 05:13 PM
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I did wire the reflectors myself. Still crazy that that the light was the same across all 3 bulbs before I started to change things.
It is definitely different light output. I am able to swing the lights out from above the tank and used a light meter on all three bulbs using a grey card. The difference is significant J
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#7
12-28-2007, 05:38 PM
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Maybe the fact that the bulb got shook up, moved around a little when taking it out and back, somehow affected the arc tube? Maybe we need to make it a point of routine to shake our lamps a little every couple of months?
 Wait, is it better now that it's different, or worse?Or ... hmmm, wait, yeah you said you're using electronic ballasts. I wonder if a lamp just gets "used" to a particular ballast, and after switching them, they have to sort of re-burn in? Maybe it's just enough of a difference that even switching back to the original ballast is still different enough now that it still needs to go through the re-burn-in phase? (Just grasping at straws here really ... it's rather quite a bizarre observation!)
__________________
-- Tony My next hobby will be flooding my basement while repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall and tearing up $100 bills. Whee!
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