Review on Sunlite MH50 MED 50 Watt Halide by Stephanie Thompson

When I first installed lights for my garden I bought a few of these because I needed a lot of them and they were a lot cheaper than big brands. Color rendering is as good as other major manufacturers' quartz metal halide lamps and the color temperature of 4100 degrees is almost ideal for outdoor lighting. The problem I have is that they don't last as long as they should. . With normal use from dusk to dawn, such an impulse start lamp should last five to ten years. Of the six lamps purchased, one failed within six months, four more within a year and only one is still working after three years with significantly reduced brightness. Either the quality control is terrible or it's so inconsistent that it's not worth the risk. Normally I would recommend a Sylvania brand lamp, but since they don't make 4000 degree lamps with this kind of wattage I ended up having to settle for the GE PulseArc. a lamp (item number 45670 MXR50/U/MED/O) that still doesn't have the desired color temperature, but at least lasts well. The GE bulbs have outlived all but one of the original Sunlite bulbs and I've used most of the Plusrite bulbs instead for the first time. The attached photo shows one of the lamps which has been out for six months. The tube of the arc burned black, and inside the bulb there is a yellowish-milky coating. It appears that in this case the cause of the failure is a leak in the glass-to-metal seal at the top of the arc tube. You might think I just got a bad batch, but if I can get a lot of bad lights with it, there's an equal chance you can too. So do yourself a favor and spend the extra $5 to buy brands like Sylvania, GE, Philips, etc. Even the cheap TCP brand seems to be holding up better than this one.