small Xenon XBO lamp

This is a small Xenon 180W XBO lamp normally used in medical equipment. These are specialist lamps and not related to car headlamp, so called xenon lamps which are actually halide lamps. Although new it wouldn’t work. On investigation it looks like it was connected in reverse bias causing the cathode to be damaged instantly. This has changed the lamp’s operating specifications to the point it wont work. I decided to try and get some life out of it so that I could look at the spectral output. Warning if using head phones: the high voltage spark gapped igniter used in the video produces loud spark.