I literally only just unpacked this thing and set it up. It started to light up but didn't stabilize quickly. I figured the bulb might just be burning in, so I left it for a minute to see if it'd settle out. It got worse and started flickering, the spectrum went back to blue, then yellow and then dropped to next to nothing, just a soft, barely light glow. The end of the bulb had a lot of blue glowing and there was some right down towards the socket end around the supports.
A very big section of the bulb is now mirrored with mercury on the none socket end and that end of the quartz part seems to have burnt through the support that normally holds it in place.
The only thing I had to do to set this up was put a socket on the lamps cord for the ballast. I have it all screwed in tight and on the correct terminals.
Do you think this bulb was dead from the manufacturer?
A very big section of the bulb is now mirrored with mercury on the none socket end and that end of the quartz part seems to have burnt through the support that normally holds it in place.
The only thing I had to do to set this up was put a socket on the lamps cord for the ballast. I have it all screwed in tight and on the correct terminals.
Do you think this bulb was dead from the manufacturer?