Is a pulse start ballast a negative? And what bulbs?

[mightytexn]

If I buy bulbs for a probe start ballast will they work regardless of the type of ballast I have?

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by mightytexn
http:///forum/post/2952681
If I buy bulbs for a probe start ballast will they work regardless of the type of ballast I have?
Yes.

 

[nigerbang]

Coming in late to the game here... But Have you decided on bulbs.. Im thinking to swapping to the new 20k Phoenix SE's..

 

[saltfan]

Originally Posted by NigerBang
http:///forum/post/2952793
Coming in late to the game here... But Have you decided on bulbs.. Im thinking to swapping to the new 20k Phoenix SE's..
Why? Those things are expensive man.

 

[nigerbang]

Nothing good in this hobby is cheap and nothing cheap is good...

 

[mightytexn]

I went to the LFS today and they had my ballast for sale on the clearance table. No markings were on the box to say if it was pulse or probe start, but an employee said it was pulse so I guess I am getting pulse start bulbs. Are there any brands that are only pulse start bulbs so I don't get probe start by mistake?

 

[scsinet]

If you have a pulse start ballast, it will fire probe start lamps so there is no need to worry about what kind of lamp you get.
If you have a probe start, that's when you have to be sure to only get probe start lamps.
I know that Ushio and Radium lamps are pulse, and I'm pretty sure that Sunburst is too. XM, Hamilton, and Coralife are probe. Others can probably chime in on other brands.

 

[mightytexn]

I messed up in my last post. I think my ballasts are probe start, not pulse. I know my LFS sells coralife bulbs and im pretty sure they have xm also so I'll probably get one of those. Thanks