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Mercury Vapor Bulb Questions

HecticLifeReptiles

HecticLifeReptiles

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I was wondering if anyone else had a similar setup to mine! I have 160W MVB's, but for some reason I can't get the darn things to last longer than 3 months! The bulbs are not constantly turning off, the cage space is great, I even did an experiment to see if they really need to be "flat"...turns out this is not so as my "flat" bulb in the fixture blew 2 days before my bulb that was laying on its side in a hood. Did I maybe get faulty bulbs? Or maybe my surge protector is short circuiting the bulbs? Not sure, I turned the one that was still working (up until this morning) on and it started to flicker, then it stopped and then it turned off completely! I waited 15 minutes, still it didn't turn on. I dunno whats going on here, but I'd like to find out why my bubs which are "suppose" to last 2 years with a change out yearly, are only lasting 3 months! My fixtures are all rated for up to 250W and have the ceramic fittings....which has had little to no effect on the 160W Professional Series Solar Glo bulbs from Exo Terra, has anyone else had this problem or maye someone who can offer some insightas to why this is going on and what i can do to better fix it? My high temps and basking temps are great with these bulbs and I really like them, but not if they only last 3 months!
 
I have the exact same problem. The very first MVB I tried 3 yrs ago was the one made by ZooMed and we had ordered it online for our Uromastyx. It lasted about 8 months before blowing (and it was not kept flat...I didn't know any better at that time!).

Every other MVB I've used since has been Exo Terra and out of probably 5-6 bulbs, the longest one has lasted has been about 6-8 months, if I recall. Thats all the petstores carry around here. I personally think its the manufacturer.

As crappy as it is, its still better than the alternative of having to order a replacement online and waiting for it to arrive when your current one has blown. Luckily for us, most petstores here are lenient and will just swap out the dud bulb for a new one as long as you got the receipt, even if its past the return policy a couple weeks or so.
 
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