Why is my x990 casting a yellow light?

sorka

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Just opened up my x990 which was delivered last week. I was of course on vacation when it came to my work /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Charged the batteries up today. Tonight when I got home, I fired it up. Within about 10 seconds, the light was a blinding white. Even brighter than I expected. Wow!

But then about 5 minutes later, it got dim. I thought I was imagining it. I changed the battery thinking that was it. I started it back up and it got real bright instantly and then within a few seconds turned yellow again. Compared to a stock Thor 10MCP light and it was about as bright when before it had been at least 3 times as bright and was perfectly white.

Upon opening up the flood, I noticed strong yellow at the bottom of the beam. I turned it off and looked at the bulb. There is some sort of yellow ooze like liquid that moves around if I rotate the light and then stops when the light cools off.

Does anyone know what's wrong?
 

MaxaBaker

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I don't know why you're losing so much output from the light, but I can tell you that the yellow ooze in the bulb and the yellow at the bottom of the beam is normal. HID lights have metallic salts in the bulbs that have to be burned away (those salts are also the part of the light that makes them so efficient). The yellow ooze will dissapear after running the light for about 50 hours ( I believe it was 50 hours for the x990). The light should loose both the yellow ooze in the bulb and the yellow at the bottom of the beam the more you use it.

I'm sorry I can't help you with the huge drop in output. Maybe there was just too much of the salts put in the bulb?
 

sorka

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25079664-L.jpg


Here is a beamshot. The entire beam is yellow similar to the thor actually. The lower part is a dark yellow. If I rotate the light 180 degress, the dark yellow moves from the the now top to the now bottom in about 10 seconds. If I turn off the light and look into the bulb and rotate it, I can see the yellow ooze moving around.
 

Sway

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Sorka,

Your picture is normal for this type of HID lamp it looks OK to me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif When you first turn the light on the color temperature will be a blue white for the first 20 or 30 seconds while the lamp is heating up. After the lamp has reached proper operating temperature the color will be white with a tint of yellow in it again this is normal.

It may appear to the eye the light is brighter when you first turn it on but it's not. The high color temperature is playing a trick with your eyes full out put is not reached till the lamp has reached proper operating range this takes 20 to 30 seconds depending on the light.

Hope this helps

Later
Kelly
 

sorka

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I must disagree. It is dimmer and yellower than my stock thor. I was far far brighter the first 5 minutes and cast a nice white light that easily illuminated a tree 400 yards away. Now it can't even reach the same tree. I've seen beam comparisons between stock Thors and the x990 and the x990 is white and much brighter. Not dimmer and yellower.
 

sorka

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Also, I haven't seen any beam shots of an x990 that was yellow on the bottom like this.
 

MaxaBaker

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Well, I still can't account for the dimming. The only thing I can think of is that the ballast is dropping the voltage to low after the initial strike so it isn't bright as normal.

I assure you though, the yellow on the bottom is completely normal. Run the batteries through it a few times and you *should* start to see a difference.
 

Kiessling

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As already pointed out ... the color effect following rotation of the unit is normal ... I have a KenRad metal halide 35W dive light and was also startled when I first noticed it, but now it won't bother me.

During start-up you have a pure Xenon-Arc with out the salts having dissipated which is pure white and will gain it's distinct tint seconds later.

However ... such a drastic reduction in output you are describing seems indeed strange. Have you asked the manufacturer?

bernie
 

mattheww50

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I'd charge it up, and let it run for about 30 minutes.
HID lamps aren't always all that well behaved until they are 'burned in' a little. I had some applications with 175 watt Multi-Vapor II lamps, that would occaisonally produce a red flash while operating, especially just after start up. It went away as they aged a little.

If you still have a problem after you have burned the lamp in a little, then the lamp probably is defective.
 

NikolaTesla

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Keep slowly rotating your X990 around and around with handle set straight. The bulb takes about 8 to 10 hours of use to break in. The halide salts will get more even with time when spread around inside the bulb. Try running out the battery as well- keep the light on for 60 minutes at a pop to get it broke in well.
It WILL get better with time. Mine sure did.
 

sorka

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Thanks for the advice. I will try that. Hopefully the brightness issue is just a break in issue.

I just can't believe how much brighter it was than the thor when I first broke it out. For 5 minutes it was blinding white and now it's just a dim yellow /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 

SidekickChuck

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The more you use it, the less yellow the beam pattern will be. This is commonly known as colorshifting the bulb. Some bulbs can take a long time to shift but it will eventually be a brilliant white with little to no trace of yellow.
The fact that there is no underbelly shield like those on automotive HID, means that the yellow is not blocked at all and may always be there to a certain extent.
 

Kilted

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I also have a fairly new X990. I have <10 hours on it. It starts out bright white dims and turned yellow. It is an over all color it does not have one part more yellow than the other.

I bought my X990 used. The previuos owner only used one battery, Do NOT do that charge and cycle both battreis equally. Number each battery and keep run time info on each. I found one battery has 60-70 minutes the other 40-50 minutes. Difference was caused by the one battery setting idle and had never been charged.

=D~~ kilted
 

larryk

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Sounds like you have more of a problem than just braking in the bulb. I have had many HID spotlights including the X990, and all of them were whiter and brighter with no break in time than my incandescent spotlights, even the Collins Dynamics that is overdriven from the factory with a 9 Amp 14.4 Volt NiCad Battery. I wound contact the vendor. Larry.
 

sorka

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It's had about 30 hours of use now and still no change. It's still dim and yellow. Overall, I guess I'm very unimpressed with the x990. If it could only be as bright as it was the first 10 minutes I used it, it would be very impressive. I've shown a few people who've never seen an HID light before. Unfortunately, they weren't that impressed and didn't understand what all the fuss was.

Anyone want to by a slightly used x990 with case and two batteries for cheap?
 

xpitxbullx

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I think it's a defective X990. Since it's happening with both batteries, you may have a screwed up ballast.

Jeff
 

Xe54

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I am inclined not to buy one since hearing of these unresolved problems.
 
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