Metal halide lighting can prove very effective.
However, before you do go out and spend money on such lighting there are certain things you need to keep in mind as this will help with ensuring that you get the lighting that meets your particular requirements.
Also you need to be careful when it comes to selecting such lighting as the metal halide ballast can prove dangerous.
Below we offer a few tips you may find useful to ensure that when selecting your lights you don't choose ones that have a metal halide ballast which is bad.
When a light stops working then of course you have a problem.
But determining what has caused it can prove a little tricky.
Sometimes it could simply be down to the bulb having burnt out but in other cases it may be because the ballast is no good.
In order to determine what the problem is should you have access to another light fixture that is able to accept this form of bulb then try it out in that one? If you place it in a fixture where the rating is different then there is a huge risk that you will actually short out another one.
If however you don't have another light in which you can fix the present bulb then look more closely at it.
If it is the bulb itself that is the problem then you will often see that the end of it has become darker.
But if it is the metal halide ballast that has burnt out then look closely at the socket as this will either look dark or have burn marks on it.
Although some people will recommend that you try to replace the metal halide ballast, replacing the bulb will probably work out a lot easier and a lot cheaper.
Of course if you then find after purchasing the new lights that they still don't work in the lamp then in all likelihood you will have to spend money on replacing the ballast.
Before you do actually start to remove the metal halide ballast from the fixture remember to make sure that they are not connected to the main supply.
Although you may think just turning it off at the main is sufficient, this isn't the case, as a small amount of current will still be running through it.
What you don't want to find yourself having to do is call an ambulance because you have received an electric shock from the unit concerned.