Is the problem my Lumatek electronic 600w ballast or bad bulbs?

I will try to be as detailed as possible here because I am lost.

A few months back I purchased a 600w HPS system/package deal. It contained a Lumatek 600w electronic ballast, a LumeSun reflector, and an Eiko 600w HPS bulb which I placed in a Sunhut. The setup is located in a spare room where it gets a little chilly in the winter but the bulb kept the room warm enough and I run a small space heater when it is off. Humidity hovers around 60%. My first grow with the system (prior to this I had just used 150w standard household CFL bulbs) went poorly due to some plant problems beforehand but the system worked fine and the bulb lasted through the grow and after. when I attempted my next grow I the bulb went kaput after a few days. It was blackened and looked a lot like the movie theater projection bulbs I deal with at work when they have been used too long. I ordered a new 600w GrowBright HPS bulb and installed it the day I got my clones and I fired up with no problem. That was a week and a half ago. The bulb has gone on and off on the timer with no trouble until tonight when I went in to check on the plants 3 hours after the light should have come on and it was off. I opened my hut to see the light barely glowing a faint blue and I unplugged the ballast and removed the bulb which was cool to the touch. Upon returning it to the reflector it would no longer even give of the faint blue. Looking at the bulb it doesn't appear damaged but since it worked fine I don't know why it would be the ballast unless it just suddenly conked out.

What I have done....

I checked the fuse (fine), got a voltemeter and checked the outlet which read 121v, tried to check the output of the Lumatek ballast but couldn't get the probes in well enough to get a consistent reading (kept bouncing around and sort of settled in the 50's), and switched outlets and retried the bulb.

I am hopeful that it is just the bulb and it has a one-year warranty so I can send it back but I thought I would see if anyone has any idea so I don't ship the bulb and have it returned because it works. I have included pictures of the bulbs. The uglier one is my first bulb that was obviously toast and the other three are of the new bulb. If you can't tell from the picture there is a slight foggy look around the base of the glass on one side. Any and all help will be much appreciated even if it's as simple as telling me to buy a better brand of bulb.

Your new bulb looks OK to me,it looks like mine do.I have heard that cold temps make them hard to light,that may be part of the problem.The ballast has three parts to it,the transformer,a ignitor and a capacitor.You might have hurt the cap or ignitor when trying to start the cold bulb.Wish i could help more,OPH.

old pothead said:

Your new bulb looks OK to me,it looks like mine do.I have heard that cold temps make them hard to light,that may be part of the problem.The ballast has three parts to it,the transformer,a ignitor and a capacitor.You might have hurt the cap or ignitor when trying to start the cold bulb.Wish i could help more,OPH.

Click to expand...

He has an electronic ballast, the ignitor and cap are on the magnetic type of ballasts.

I've read bad reviews on the lumatek...i.e. popping bulbs etc. Quantum ballasts claim to have fixed this problem with their dimmable ballasts!

i have the same problem pissing me right off might just need a new ballast because my one faints blue while the ballast is making a funny noise.

That's a bummer, isn't lumentek the most expensive ? When paying a premium price you shouldn't have to worry about all those problems. I bought a cheaper brand and it's worked without problems, can't imagine how mad I'd be buying the most expensive just to have a lot of problems.