Problem with MH bulbs

[jkiesler]

My MH bulbs wont stay on. When I plug them in they come on, sometimes fast sometimes more slowly. I have two ballasts and I've tried them both. On ballast A they stayed on longer, about an hour. On ballast B they only stayed on 20 mins or less, or never really got bright. They are both MH ballasts but I have one HPS conversion bulb. When I screw in the HPS conv bulb it starts right up and there is no problem. My first thought was that the MH bulbs are "done". But, would they both be done at exactly the same time? My other thought is: can there be a problem with my transformer? I brought these ballasts over from the US where the power is 110-115v. I checked the voltage coming out of the transformer and it's around 108 volts. Voltage coming in is 220 give or take 1-2 volts. One thing I noticed about the MH lights is as they are warming up and becoming brighter there are occasional flashes from the bulb of HPS colored light. I don't remember if this is normal from them or not cause it's been a long time since I actually seen them turn on. Last time I used them they would normally turn on before I was awake.

 

Thanks in advance for any replies

[smokinjoe]

they sound fornicated.

[jkiesler]

These would be my first growing bulbs to go out. Is this how they burn out? I mean they behave in that manner instead of just not starting at all?

[dsyfer]

How many grows have they done?

[jkiesler]

Three, and then packed in a box and shipped overseas to where I am now and they might have got bumped around a bit if that matters.