Burnt CF?

[scarf]

Hi,

Just have a qn about my CF fixture from Coralife.

According to the stickies, I think that CF are designed to handle around 2+ years of life?

FYI, before I go any further, my bulb is for the quad strip 96W Coralife fixture.

When I have been turning it on recently, I notice at times that only 2 out of the 4 strips turn on initially. It is not until a bit later that the remaining 2 strips begin to work. I am wondering, is this still ok to operate? Or should I be looking at replacing the bulb?

I have been running this for about a year now. Daily operation generally involves 2 "lighting periods" during the day, one in the morning and one at night (the times that I am at home so I can enjoy looking @ my aquarium).

Mainly wanting to see if there is any potential problems, either to electrical hazards, or possible damage to the ballast. If some1 could provide some insight, would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[dapellegrini]

Do the lights blink more than normal when they do finally start to come on? Any hot/burnt electronics smell? Have you tried switching the bulbs around to isolate the problem to a bulb or balast?

I hear a CF bulb's effective life is around 18 months. It will normally continue to light up for much longer than that, but should be replaced. You may want to contact Coralife if you determine that it is not the bulb(s).

 

[NoSvOrAx]

I believe that slow to fire up is a ballast problem, when a bulb goes bad it gets dimmer.

 

[scarf]

Thanks for the replies.

The bulb generally just turns on without blinking. Oh u meant the ones that don't start up initially. Not sure, I'll check 2mr.

I can't smell any burnt smells

Haven't tried switching bulbs.

Well all the bulb strips are currently functioning without a problem. I haven't looked again at start up if it is still doing this. I'll check 2mr. If only 2 out of 4 start up initially, I'll try switching bulbs to isolate whether it is the ballast or bulbs.

Thanks