MH blubs problem

[Victoria]

Hello
I have an Orbit 24" fixture with 150 Watts MH + 2 65 watts. The fixture is a little over a year old. I have replaced the bulb about 2 months ago. Lately its been shutting off. I called the company I bought it from (the fixture and blub) and they said it's possible it could be a blub / ballist commpatibility problem. I had just called the company day before yesterday and had them overnight 2 more blubs. I have not changed the blub yet as I want to return the blubs if they are wrong for my fixture. The blubs cost 89.00 each. The question I have is should it be the responsiblity of the company who sells them to know if its the right blub? Don't get me wrong they are working with me to solve the problem. I hope my tank does not have any problems because of this. The 2 PC are working fine. It could also be a ballist problem, In that case I would have to buy another one @ 120.00. I seems that a fixture should last longer than a year. Insight would be welcomed.
Victoria:-?

[Rob]

well thats tricky..
its ultimately your responsibility to buy what you want.. but the company should be helping you...

that said, if you ask for help and they give it to, they should say "we are not positive" if they dont have the facts...

but to me, a ballast/bulb mis match does sound possible

[fat walrus]

if the bulb has already worked for 2 months, incompatibilty does not seem to the issue. it might just be a bad bulb. a faultly ballast or resister could also be the case. my lfs stopped selling current brand stuff because of high failure rate. i hope this is not your situation.

[Victoria]

They are calling both Current and Ice cap. I sure hope its not the ballast. Maybe I should cut my loses and get another fixture?? I'm into blubs almost to the cost of the fixture and it just a little over a year old(13 months). But I will try another blub in order to rule out the ballast. If it does not work and it is the ballast what would you do? buy another ballast or get a different fixture?
Victoria

[fat walrus]

if the ballast don't work, i'll get a new hood. i've seen and heard of too many problems with current at my lfs. i would try to avoid hoods with the electronic ballast mounted over the halide inside the hood.

[Victoria]

Up date: I called back agian and the MD said they were still checking if the blub was ok. I got tired of waiting so I e-mailed Ice Cap. They said the blubs were fine with that fixture. (I gald) So I tryed a new blub. The first day everything was fine. It started doing the same thing day 2.

I called MD back and order another ballast. Just a different one. I got an Ice Cap external instead. I'll just wire it in. I really did not want to buy another fixture at this time, as I'm going to up grade to a larger system in a year. But when I do I will not get an Orbit. I'll just make my own lighting system.
Victoria