# Help!!! Bright sun uv lamp



## Anne171 (May 16, 2016)

Hi guys I'm new here but really need help 

I have a tortoise and his light stopped working so brought a new one still won't work it flickers like it's going to come on but dosent I have now brought a new bright control unit and it still won't work spent £130 so far on equipment and still can't get it working any help or advice would be great


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## lilacdragon2007 (Dec 2, 2006)

Hi, Anne.

If it is trying to ignite, i.e., it is flickering, sometimes with a crackly noise, when you first switch on, but never actually ignites, then the most likely problem is a faulty connection.
Metal halides need really high voltage for the ignition spark, and if there is poor contact anywhere along your cable or inside the lamp holder, this happens.
(I'm assuming that you have bought the right wattage controller for your lamp?)
Disconnect the controller from the mains. (You really do not want to be electrocuted  )
Take the bulb out of your fixture, and inspect the end of it, is there any brown or black discolouration that looks like rust? This is oxidised material and won't let the electricity through. Rub it away with fine sandpaper.
Look inside your lamp fixture. Is there any on the terminals in there? These will be two little knobs or strips at the sides of the screw-thread part, and one terminal in the very middle - a metal bar that touches the bottom of the bulb. Rub these over with the sandpaper, too, to remove any oxidised material.
Replace the bulb, and re-connect to the mains and switch on.
If this still doesn't work, disconnect it again, take out the bulb and see if you think the middle metal bar inside the fixture just might have got pushed up by your first bulb, and is now bent too far up to make contact with your new bulb when you put it in. If so, then VERY gently (you don't want to break it) catch the bar with a fingertip and pull it down just a tiny bit - only a few millimeters - so that its tip is slightly nearer to the end of the bulb when it's screwd in place.... and see if that works.......This has happened to me quite often.
If this does not work, then if you are very confident with electrical wiring, I suggest you unplug everything and investigate the wiring inside your lamp fixture. If it is a Lucky Reptile Ceramic Fixture it will unscrew. It is possible that one of the live or neutral wires has come loose inside the fixture.
If you are not very confident with wiring, ask an electrician to check this out for you... metal halide lamps operate with a 4 Kilovolt pulse so you don't want to get this wrong


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