bk_market December 10, 2007 Share December 10, 2007 is it possible to tell how long the bulb been running? I see the white dust cover on the two side. does it mean anything? thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiCurtis December 10, 2007 Share December 10, 2007 I think most people say 1 year life with running 8 to 9 hours a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEEPBLUE December 10, 2007 Share December 10, 2007 I've always noticed a yellowish color in the bulb light or about 6 to 7 months. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 11, 2007 Share December 11, 2007 Depends on the bulbs themselves. Some last longer than others. It also depends on personal preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freezerburn December 11, 2007 Share December 11, 2007 I found out the hard way with a used bulb and angry SPS :( RTN and all. Eventually recovered the last club I was in we talked about getting a PAR meter for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav December 11, 2007 Share December 11, 2007 I think the question was: can you tell by looking at a bulb how many hrs have been used up and how much live is left. Don't think so... If there is a way, I don't know it. FYI new and non-members: we have 2 par meters for member use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk_market December 11, 2007 Author Share December 11, 2007 thanx Grav for clearing up my question. Let say if I was given a used bulb. I never use the bulb before and I dont have a exact same new one so i have no idea to compare. But by looking at the bulb itself can i tell how much time it been running? Example maybe overtime the bulb itself get cloudy inside with white dust??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 11, 2007 Share December 11, 2007 thanx Grav for clearing up my question. Let say if I was given a used bulb. I never use the bulb before and I dont have a exact same new one so i have no idea to compare. But by looking at the bulb itself can i tell how much time it been running? Example maybe overtime the bulb itself get cloudy inside with white dust??? The cloudyness occurs pretty fast after the bulb burn in period, I would use a par meter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fab December 16, 2007 Share December 16, 2007 I do not understand how a PAR meter helps to determine how much useful life is left in a metal halide. What makes a metal halide bulb no longer useful is a shift in the power spectrum it emits, not the total amount of light energy it emits. I thought that PAR meters simply measure total emitted energy. In order to know the distribution of power has shifted within the spectrum I would thing that you would have to have a device that measures the light energy coming from the lamp at different wavelengths. Does the PAR meter have a bank of wavelength specific filters to allow you to make such measurements? fab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Mammoth December 16, 2007 Share December 16, 2007 Another way you can tell, at least with my experience, you will notice a color change in your corals. Mine would start to brown out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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