CoralVue ballast, XM bulb problems

[cainchristy]

I switched from a CoralVue bulb to a XM bulb and for some reason the ballast won't always fire the bulb. As far as I know there are no issues with a ballast like this and XM bulbs. Here's the oddest part to me, I have 2 ballasts and 2 bulbs both in the same power strip, either both turn on or neither on turns on, it's never just one bulb turning on. I am confused, any ideas?

 

[cainchristy]

OK I was wrong, now one turned on, after the 7 minute refire "saftey period" the other one is off. I'll see what happens in another 7 minutes, man am I confused.

 

[tkeracer619]

hope this isnt an issue, I was about to order 5 xm 20k's to run on CV E-ballasts.


How is your electrical load? I turn on one halide at a time, they pull more current on start up.

 

[cainchristy]

Now there both back on, perhaps they were too hot? I unplugged them both because the tanks getting a little toasty and I'm trying to acclimate the corals to the new lighting. I have 4 layers of fiberglass screen on top of the tank to block some of the light.....long story short I was going to take a picture (decided to do this after I had turned them off) and when plugging them back in they would not turn on. This second problem was most likely a heat issue after reading the ballast instructions......says they will not turn on if bulb is still hot. Anyway any ideas on why they won't fire on the first attempt would still be welcome. Thanks.

 

[d4a2n0k]

I had the same problem with XM 10k's a few years back. I had both the older silver CV ballasts and the newer blue CV ballasts and both had the problem. It would sometimes go away for a few months and then start acting up again. Sometimes they wouldnt fire for days on end. I sent them back to CV and they replaced them but the replacements had the problem as well.

I ended up changing to Reeflux bulbs and they fired every time.

It seems not everyone has these problems with XM's and CV ballasts.

 

[cainchristy]

Well honestly if they don't both fire on the first try it's not a huge deal, as long as they turn on within a hour or so. I just have never heard about any issues with this bulb and ballast combo. I'll let you know how it goes. I may email coralvue about this as well?

 

[cainchristy]

Well I'm not sure I wanted to hear that but thanks. I have both newer versions of the ballast, one is brand new the other is a year old. I guess I'll wait and see what happens?

 

[cainchristy]

Well knowing coralvue sent you replacement ballasts they are apparently unaware of any issues between the bulbs and the ballasts? I really do not want to have to order new bulbs or a ballast.

 

[tkeracer619]

edit: I sent a mail to the tech guy at CV. I'll let you know what he tells me.

 

[d4a2n0k]

He had me plug them into different outlets and bypassing the timers but it didnt make a difference, he said it might be overloading the outlet. I had them on dedicated outlets so they had more than enough juice and the timers were rated to 20A. He didnt say whether or not it was a known problem but did replace them without any difficulty.

I first bought the older silver ballasts and didnt have a problem for a few months. When one crapped out completely and the other was working on and off he sent me two new silver ballasts. Those worked for about 6 months and then all the sudden started to turn off during the day and sometimes wouldnt fire when the timer kicked on. By that time, CV came out with the new blue ballasts and sent me two of those. Those again worked for a few months but I was unhappy with the color of the XM's anyway so went with CV Reeflux 10k's and those never had and restart/fire issues. I never figured out what the problem was. I dont use those ballasts anymore.

I have to say that David at CV always returned emails and I was happy with the customer service just not so happy with the product. There are many people that run that combo and have no problems so try to contact CV and see what they say.

 

[tkeracer619]

yea, I'm looking forward to David's reply.

 

[cainchristy]

Thanks I will do that. I'll also pay more attention to this tomorrow when the lights SHOULD come on.

 

[bstreep]

As noted above, CV's customer service is great. I just got another brand new 400w ballast - and they've revised them again recently, now adding a fan back in.

 

[RichConley]

I have NEVER been able to get XM bulbs to fire consistently on my electronic ballasts. I have ARO and Icecap.

 

[cainchristy]

Well here is what he told me (Coralvue). He said he was not aware of any issues with their ballast and XM bulbs working together. He did say that XM bulbs have problems with some E-ballasts, mainly Icecap. I have no idea if they are now working properly or not, lights come on after I go to work, but they're on when I get home? Here is the trouble shooting manual he sent me to check over.

I need you to try and do some trouble shooting on the ballast.

Make sure the output cable from the ballast to the bulb is no longer than 8 feet which is supplied with the ballast. If it is longer you will need to cut the cord back to less than 8 feet total length.

Check that you do not have the ballast plugged into a surge strip. If you have too many electrical devices on those strips it will cause problems with the ballast.

Also make sure you have enough amperage being supplied to the ballast. The 400 watt ballast draws 6.5 amps on start up. If you have other electrical devices on the same outlet you need to figure out the load amount. The ballast must have constant voltage being supplied to it at all times. If you are close to maxing out your circuit load it will cause the ballast to shut off and then come on again when the lamp cools or it has enough amperage to fire up again.

Another thing to check for is that you do not have more than one electrical device plugged into a timer. Do not put a three way into a single timer and try to switch more than one electrical device.

 

[cainchristy]

About the trouble shooting. I personally have 2 ballasts plugged into a strip outlet hooked up to one timer, perhaps that is part of the problem. I'll figure it out this weekend.

 

[d4a2n0k]

Its something to try but from my experience, it didnt matter if I had it plugged into an overloaded power strip or direct into a dedicated 20 amp outlet. It would shut off at all different times and have startup problems one day and be fine the next. Spotty is how I would describe it and very annoying.

At least in my case, it cant be a defective ballast because I tried 6 of them and they all did it!

I would run through the steps David sent you and go from there. If the above doesnt work, Im sure he will setup a repair/replacement if its under warranty.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[cainchristy]

I will do that and thanks. I do wonder if it's the bulbs and not the ballast? Maybe XM bulbs have a issue with E-ballasts like he said?

 

[AZDesertRat]

I used two different sets of XM 10k bulbs for a year each and none of them ever fired the first time on my Coralvue E ballasts. They all lasted a full year with no problems so it must not have hurt them any. I now use the Reeflux 10k bulbs and more often than not they fire the first time?

 

[cainchristy]

Well this seems to be a trend. Apparently they (CoralVue) are not aware of this problem, or he simply told me the truth about the XM bulbs not working well on E ballasts.