ballast firing issue Ice cap +xm 250

[tidalsculpin]

I have recently setup a 40 breeder that will house a pair of clowns and a bta. My lighting choice was a retro setup. 250 mh e ballast (ice cap) , pfo se mogul base and reflector, pheonix xm10,000k 250 bulb.

The bulb won't fire on it's own. It is setup on a 5 hour cycle timer. When the timer is triggered nothing happens 9 0ut of 10 times. I changed the receptacle, used steel wool on the prong connectors and there was no change. The only wat I can get it to fire is manually re-plug the light in. I assume this creates a surge which forces the halide to light up. Someone told me that these bulbs can be touchy with icecap electronic ballasts. Is that my issue? Should I try another bulb?

[Michael7979]

So if you take the timer off and plug it in, it works that way?

 

Maybe the timer is bad.

[tidalsculpin]

Like I said it works intermittently. The timer works for the fan I have set up to turn on at the same time as the light. Maybe the receptacle is corroded where I plugin the halide. I'll try a new timer to see if that works.

[reefboy]

if new timer dosnt fix it id see if you can get a used bulb to test it before buying new unless its time to do so.