zoomed T5 HO uvb longevity issues, poor uvb readings

[npgeorgeuw]

A few months back a post caught my eye on issues with the zoomed reptisun T5 HO and terrible uvb intensities well short of the replacement window. It caused me to revisit my lighting and bulb rotation. Long story short, all of my six month old bulbs were emitting less than my new 5.0s by six months at that time so I bought one Arcadia and a few new zoomeds from different retailers. 3 months later all of the zoomed 10.0s are 60-80% lower in readings! Arcadia has dropped modestly, Maybe 10%. Also noticed the Arcadias were spot on compared to each other once warmed up wheras the zoomeds were +/- 20% from each other new out of the box.

Obviously we should all test but getting a new adopter to buy a $200+ meter is asking a lot. But I was a bit surprised to see a seemingly strong recommendation to buy the zoomed T5s even with non-isolated quality issues. Am I missing something here.

 

[kingofnobbys]

So much for claims that the issue of a dodgy production run had been resolved see this thread
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=236122&p=1815225#p1815225

I'd vote with my wallet and send a signal to the manufacturer by at least temporarily abandoning their product , the company claims it's products are top quality , this shows otherwise.

The biggest concern is how many keepers have bought these dodgy tubes without being aware of the issue ( I don't recall seeing any public announcement by the company or more importantly a product recall ) , how many reptiles are now sick as a result.