[pretzelb]

OK, this may be better in the lighting forum but let me start here.

I have a 10g tank setup in my garage to experiment with some stuff. I had an old light over the tank but I wanted to try a new light. I had a 30w "shop" light that I bought from Home Depot that I wanted to put over the tank. By shop light I mean the cheap flourenscent white metal lights that you typically put in a workshop. I bought a cord for the fixture so I could plug it into a timer.

Everything seemed fine after I setup it up last night. This morning the light was freaking out and pulsing. It almost looked like an old barber shop pole in that it looked like a streak was circling the bulb from left to right. I was very shocked and immediately disconnected it and put my old 20w back into place. I did plug the shop light back in but it didn't do the pulsing but I didn't want to leave it in my garage alone until I knew what the deal was.

Anyone have an idea of what this might be? The fixture said 30w and I picked up a 30w bulb. The bulb seemed to be seated securely in the sockets. I think the cord I bought was rated for mid sized appliances in a range from 10-25 (going off memory). The cord was pretty basic to install and I made sure to secure everything inside the fixture. It was unused prior to this so I don't think the ballast that came with it could be bad. I'm not sure what to think, but it scared me.