400 watt MH on CL

[bored4long]

There are some 400 watt Metal Halide fixtures for sale on Craigslist. They include ballast, reflector, mogul and bulb. The reflector is junk and bulb should probably be replaced. But do you think the ballast can be wired to be remote and the mogul installed on a good reflector so it can be used for our reef tanks? The price is awesome, so thought it was at least worth considering.

Can't post CL links on RC. Just search for "METAL HALIDE 400w fixture -WITH LAMP"

Here is what they look like:

 

[kevin95695]

Those look like old baseball field lights.

 

[bladeruner143]

I think something like this was posted before. Steve (funman) I think said it could be done, but you should probably ask him yourself because I may be wrong.

 

[ThunderDog]

Most of those won't have been used on 120 Volt in their prior life. More likely 277 Volt so you would have to make sure the ballast was multi-tap and usable on 120 or they probably wouldn't work for you.

Oops I looked on CL and they will work on 120.

Some ballast can't be used remote but I don't know how to tell which ones. Maybe Steve knows.

 

[funman1]

Yep these would work pretty well, excpet for the fact they WEIGH a TON. They can run 120 so you are fine there.

Any ballast can be made to run remote, you just may need to increase the wire size to the mogul from what was used in the fixture.. As for remounting the current mogul, I'm not sure, but you could always get another mogul, they aren't very expensive.

Hope that helps some.

 

[bladeruner143]

I told you, Steve YOU ARE THE MAN!!! lol

 

[boviac]

Some one up here had the same type. He plugged them in and flooded the entire garage with light!

I think algea growth on glass will be just one of the many problems you would have if you used the same reflectors.