How often do VHO bulbs catch fire?

[MrScuito]

About an hour and a half ago my 48" VHO actinic bulb caught fire! The odd thing is a couple couple months (six weeks?) ago my Super White VHO bulb did the same thing. Thank God I was home and next to the tank both times. Does this happen often? Both times it was the same bulb/ballist combo I cant remember bulb brand but I kept the box 110W VHO x2 on a Workhorse 7 ballast.

 

Also can my tank survive up to six weeks with only 1 Super White VHO until I can afford to buy a new bulb and end cap?

[jgf86123]

what kind of corals do you have in the tank? If you don't have any, no worries, if you do, you might want to find a sitter til you get new gear.

[reefcam]

look in your end-caps.. you might not have good connection and is causing hot spots in the connectors... I'm assuming its the ends that caught on fire. If you put a new bulb in the connector, listen for cracking sounds... that's a good indication it does not have a good connection.. I had some T5 connectors that melted due to poor connectivity.

[andy]

Might also be salt creep in the endcaps. Check the seals, make sure they're nice and tight.

[MrScuito]

the end cap is black and chared I cleaned them (the bulbs) like I always do on sunday and they appeard fine and not loose at all.

[reefcam]

can you take a picture of the end caps.. there's only one type of end-cap that I trust in a wet environment.

 

[andy]

Yup, those are the good ones

[MrScuito]

yep those r the ones I got, need to get new cam batteries

[lewisriverfisherman]

i have a used white actinic bulb you can have that i took out of a set up i got used 1 month ago,honestly i couldn't tell you how old the bulb was but you r more than welcome to it. at least it would be something to use. i no it works but i don't no what the par rating is at on it. i had a T5 also do this on me, melted the whole end cap and the metal inside of it.

[reefcam]

if you use the white ones, then i'm concerned why they are black and charred. Might be a connection issue in the caps..

 

As for bulbs, I have used ones,but they are 6ft long each. If that works for you, they are yours. Or they will find themselves to the hazadous waste station.

 

Jim

[lewisriverfisherman]

oh sry forgot to post a length mine are 46.5"

[ciao]

As I understand it, the VHO actinic bulbs really don't do much for growth and having them on or off doesn't really impact your corals significantly. The main source of usable light is from either you MH or T5 bulbs. I know a lot of people that don't bother either changing their VHO Actinic bulbs as recommended or don't turn them on unless they want to show off their tanks

[MrScuito]

oh sry forgot to post a length mine are 46.5"

 

hey that will help, it was my blue that burned this time,the last time it was my white I replaced it with a new one from kayes. I bet there was nothing wrong with the last ballest either to bad I already tossed it.

[reef165]

To answer your question " how often do VHO bulbs catch fire?" Well I'd say only once then they are toast.

 

Anyway sorry for your luck, I've got the same endcaps and have used them for quite some time without issue. So glad you were home and caught it! Wish I had an old bulb or two for ya.

[MrScuito]

To answer your question " how often do VHO bulbs catch fire?" Well I'd say only once then they are toast.

that makes me LMFAO

[MrScuito]

Thanks for the Bulb Lewisriverfisherman. I still need an endcap if anybody has one to trade or give up.