why won't this bulb work?

[calvin]

I ordered a Current USA 70w MH 14000k bulb to replace my current Astralux 14k bulb. I couldn't get the CurrentUSA bulb to fire, so I thought I just got a dud. the replacement came in today and it won't fire either, but my old Astralux bulb still works fine. Anyone got any ideas why Current USA bulbs won't work for me? ( I have an Aromat ballast)

[calvin]

UPDATE:

 

I wound up emailing Ike at CurrentUSA and told him my problem. He suggested I leave the bulb plugged in for a long time. It worked! (why didn't F&S suggest this?) It took almost an hour, but it finally fired up. If this didn't work, Ike was willing to pull a bulb off the shelf, test it himself, and then send it to me. NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE!!

[pico1]

I bought 2 sunpods and one takes about 15 minutes to fire while the other fires instantly. Also one bulb looks bluer than the other. I guess their products just vary.

[calvin]

interesting. I finally got my bulb to fire friday, but Saturday it never would even though I left it plugged in for most of the day. so, the old Astralux bulb has gone back in. I'm sure Ike will make it right, though.

[supersecretshinto]

Is your ballast getting on in years? The time it takes to fire up a bulb can increase as the ballast ages, although I've never seen or heard of it taking fifteen minutes to an hour to light on newer equipment. Might try and use a new bulb the same make as the ones your ballast will fire right away. If it still takes a quite a while longer a weakening ballast may be to blame.

[divemaster]

Is your ballast rated for the bulb?