# Mislabeled bulbs?



## marke14 (Mar 27, 2007)

SCAPErs, sorry for the cross-post ...

I need some experienced help here, but I have a hypothesis and I believe I'm right.

You may recall my previous post about upping the wattage on my 65 gal. It came with 2 X 55W 50/50 10,000K blue actinic CF bulbs (one tube in each bulb is blue, the other white). I replaced these with what I was made to believe were two 55W 6700K white bulbs from Neptune's Reef in Torrance, CA.

Well, that was about two months ago (April 28 to be exact). Today, I came home from work to find that one of my bulbs was burned out, or so I thought. So I opened up the hood, removed the lens and the dark bulb, all the while cursing that this $32 CF bulb only lasted me two months. When I got the bulb out, I found that one of the terminals in the endcap was singed and slightly deformed:










Likewise, the corresponding pin looked discolored as well:










This is when I noticed that there was a crude "96" etched into the end of the bulb, beneath the pins. I thought I was hallucinating or something; surely this couldn't be a 96W bulb! The package definitely said 55W, as did the printing on the bulb itself:



















Curious, I pulled the other bulb to check ... lo and behold, it had the same damn crude etching - "96" - as the other one did!










Clearly these were mis-printed and mis-packaged. Someone at the factory, or perhaps another customer who returned them, realized what the hell was going on.

I immediately replaced the two bulbs with the nasty 55W 50/50 actinics it came with. I was hesitant to replace the one side, but I did to see if it still worked and it did, so far so good. I am sure you guys will tell me to remove it until I can rewire it with a new endcap and I probably will do that after I post this come to think of it.

My questions are:

a) should I be mad at Neptune's Reef, where I bought the bulbs from?

b) should I be mad at Hamilton Technology, the manufacturer of the bulb, particularly given that they are in Gardena and within "striking distance" of my pissed-off ass?

or

c) both of the above?

What I would like to have happen is for either entity to a) replace the bulbs with actual 55W 6700Ks, and b) frankly rewire the entire setup, preferably with the 96W setup that I was hoping to put in anyway.

Does anyone have any advice here before I go Chuck Norris on Neptune's Reef, Hamilton Technology, or both?

I have the AH Supply page open to the 96W kits. Including shipping and the bulbs, the 2 X 96W kit will run me just about $200 plus my own work wiring the damn thing. Or should I just wait and see if one of these institutions might be willing to compensate for their defective product?

Thanks in advance,

-Mark


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

This should be easy to figure out. 
55 watt bulbs are around 21" inches long and 96 watt are 33" inches long.
Now why it burnt out, I'm not sure. But it does sound like either a defective bulb or end cap. 
Any chance water or condensation got in there to short it out?
Otherwise I dont know why it would burn like that.


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## Yeaulman (Jun 23, 2005)

the 96 on the endcap could be an inspectors number maybe?


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## trackhazard (Sep 20, 2006)

I vote for the hood. Jebo tanks are decently built but their electricals are a bit suspect (do a google search for Odyssea/Jebo fixture failures). My wife has a 55 gal Jebo tank thats setup for reef use (looks very much like yours) and she's had zero probs with the tank itself but the hood had a similar failure. She's since switched light fixtures to a Current Nova T-5 which is better for her application anyways.

I 2nd measuring the length of the bulbs and figuring out the actual wattage from there. 96w bulbs are 33" as stated above unless you are talking about a quad tube arrangement for 20" fixtures (which you clearly do not have).

-Charlie


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## marke14 (Mar 27, 2007)

trackhazard,

Holy Crap! Thanks for the warning man ... I bet you are correct.

And yes, the length of the CF tubes I have in there is only about 24" or so - def. NOT 33".

-Mark


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