AHH! My MH bulb stopped working!

[d2mini]

It's an XM 10k (double ended) that's been running daily since January.
Can you tell by looking at it if it's blown or something?
I got home and the glass covering the mh section of my light was cold so i don't know if it even fired at all today.

 

[ccCapt]

I don't think you can tell a bulb is bad by looking at it, unless there is something obviously broken on/in it. I've seen bulbs that look brand new and not fire and I've seen bulbs all burned on the inside and fire up perfectly.
Is the ballast warm?
Maybe you can pop the bulb out and try putting a voltage meter on the ends to see if the ballast is putting out power.
If you have a Kill-A-Watt meter you can plug the ballast into it and see if it's drawing any power.

 

[d2mini]

i have a voltage meter but don't use it much. Any tips? Where do i put the two metal ends of the meter?

 

[ccCapt]

I'm no electrician but I would assume you put 1 lead on each of the end clips. Should be basically the same as if you plug it into a wall outlet to see if that had power.

 

[d2mini]

Ok, i got my new bulb today (geismann 14k coral) and it works.
So i guess the old bulb did blow.
FWIW, the clear part in the center, the inner tube that lights up, was brown all over and on the bottom was a circle of black.

 

[motorcyclereefer]

Ah so it was burned up. Yes I didn't remember if you said that it was brown and black. That is the way halides go when they are burnt up.

 

[d2mini]

Nobody asked. :shock:

 

[dcantucson]

I guess nobody important. :lol:

 

[ccCapt]

FWIW, the clear part in the center, the inner tube that lights up, was brown all over and on the bottom was a circle of black.

Did it look anything like this?

This is a working bulb...so how the bulb looks doesn't really tell if it's good or bad.