DE HQI bulb life

[G13]

I've been using the same bulb (phoenix 14K from PA) since November of last yr.....Which makes it about 11 months.

 

[BreadmanMike]

Mine lasted 6 months and then color shifted on an 250 HQI ballast. I hated those bulbs.

 

[G13]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8257769#post8257769 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aquaticman74
Mine lasted 6 months and then color shifted on an 250 HQI ballast. I hated those bulbs.

][


Interseting, first time I've heard something bad about the bulb.

 

[Sullyman]

I've heard 6 months.

 

[G13]

Is this only on the phoenix bulbs or DE HQI's?

 

[Sullyman]

Just the Phoenix 14k's.

 

[BradL.]

Mine are goimg at least a year

 

[NewSchool04]

From what I've read, the PAR decreases dramatically after about 6 months if you are using a HQI ballast. I think it's about the same for all 14K through 20K bulbs.

Sucks, I just found out about this myself.

 

[prugs]

I believe that the problem lies with the magnetic HQI ballast, not the electronic HQI ballast.

 

[Don Berry]

I like the Phoenix bulbs, but on an HQI ballast they really need to be changed after 6 months. Like the other person said the PAR really drops. I'm sure you could go longer on electronic.

 

[blackdak]

Mine lasted about 10 months on an ARO e-ballast. I liked the lamp especially compared to the XM 20k I had before but it did seem short lived as far as growth but my color was still good. I am going to try the Reeflux 10k here in a couple of days (on order) so that should be fun.