today i went to a local hardware store and picked up a regent 175 watt clear merc,i connected it to the ballast and the following happened.

the lamp ends flashed pink for about 20 seconds before the discharge stabilized.

the arc swirled viloently at start up(Almost like a MH)

the lamp seemed to warm up a tad bit slower than a lamp that been burned for a few hours.

the lamp only took 1 minute to restrike(in my other regent Mercs i measured 3 Minutes)

is this normal for a brand new lamp?

From what I have noticed with new merc lamps is they will act funny when they first fire up. I guess all the mercury is getting settled. Of course the newer the lamp the faster it will re strike. I would say there is nothing wrong with the lamp you bought.

i also forgot to mention,the starting electrode is a little closer to the main electrode than normal...the start up is much more stabilized now that the lamp has been burned a few hours,maybe the rough start up was due to excess Emitter being blasted off the electrodes.

Also, sometimes new lamps have trace impurities that have to burn off.

My regent lamp that came with the yardblaster do that at start up. I am burning it longer than usual now that I have the thing fixed next to my desk. Ballast in it doesn't get hot, just warm. (Before the heat of the lamp start heating the whole head.)

Gonna see what will happen when I put a few hours into the lamp.

The whole head get really hot to the touch that it's nearly burnt my hand. (Made the mistake of grabbing it. Didn't expect it to get that hot, that's what you get when you light the HID fixtures for 15 minutes or less. )

yeah those Regent Yardblasters can get pretty hot..