Giesemann Lighting Club.

[dowtish]

I have icecap ballasts on my fixture and have never thought about dimming the T5 bulbs. you would definitely need a ballast capable and a VDM module for the APEX. I have a blue LED strip on my tank in addition to the spectra that is dimmable that I use for ramping up and down, so I guess thats why I never considered dimming the T5's.

 

[JPMagyar]

Just joined the club today. I love the lights, but my issue is I want a better dawn/dusk simulation than just turning off and on the front and back of the lighting. I feel that if I could rewire the T5 so that a pair of inner and then a pair of outer lights turn on and off that would be an improvement. Has anyone opened up the guts enough to see if this is doable without a major amount of electrical work?

Thanks to any and all that can help.

 

[moondoggy4]

anybody

anybody

Just joined the club today. I love the lights, but my issue is I want a better dawn/dusk simulation than just turning off and on the front and back of the lighting. I feel that if I could rewire the T5 so that a pair of inner and then a pair of outer lights turn on and off that would be an improvement. Has anyone opened up the guts enough to see if this is doable without a major amount of electrical work?

Thanks to any and all that can help.

The answer to that is Yes, I believe that answer is in this thread I believe, I have the Infinity model and I can do two T-5's at a time twice and the MH so three different controls.

 

[moondoggy4]

Wiring

Wiring

I would not replace it, I would upgrade it. When I had an Infiniti they used a step transformer to bring the voltage to 230V and ballast and ignitor were inside the fixture. Not sure what your setup is. I would opt for an E-ballast like a Lumitek and bypass all the Giesemann electronics. It's quite simple to do. Here is a really old thread I started.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=953202

Here is the thread on re wiring your Giesemann light thanks JL

 

[JPMagyar]

Here is the thread on re wiring your Giesemann light thanks JL

Thanks for the link! I was just about to search for it; I knew I had seen that thread before but I didn't bookmark it. Lucky for me the Spectra does come with pairing done front to back to I have some ability right now, but I'd rather have the pairing done inners and outers. I may yet give a try at rewiring, the primary question would be whether or not the wires are long enough to reach across. My guess is they are not so I would need to add some wiring. Not a huge deal, but still not super simple. We'll see. I'm taking down one fixture today to put Radiums in so maybe I'll have a look then.

Thanks again.

 

[JPMagyar]

Phew! :worried: Took way longer than I wanted, about two and a half hours altogether, but I managed to rewire the guts of one fixture so instead of having the T5s paired each side I now have the T5s paired outer two and inner two. I wanted actinics on for dawn/dusk but I didn't want to light just one half the tank with actinic. This way the light is spread evenly front to back or in my case side to side. Tomorrow I'll tackle the second fixture. Now that I have a better idea of what to do hopefully it'll go faster. A couple of things I don't like:

1) The double reflector. I'd rather have individual reflectors.
2) The reflector is not easy to remove. In fact I'm still not sure how they meant for it to come out. I ended up unscrewing the end cap and sliding it out, but I wish you could just lift it out.
3) No fans for the T5s. I took a heat measurement and the T5s are at 58 degrees C. That's way hotter than ATI fixtures. Makes for 6 month lamp changes versus 9 months.

Anyways that's it for today . . .

 

[moondoggy4]

Removing the reflectors are a PITA you have to get the measurement perfect so the T-5 will fit correctly,I have replaced the t-5 ballast on my Infinity so yes the wire is to short, nice to know that you can change it.

 

[JPMagyar]

Did it again today and this time it only took 55 minutes. Big difference when you have confidence, tools, and parts ready :rolleye1: Plus I figured out it is definitely a slide in slide out with the reflector. It's just a matter of getting the end cap screw down bolt as absolutely close to being under the reflector as possible while have the reflector free and moved over the absolute most you can. Not a great design compared to other fixtures I have disassembled. Most other fixtures simply allow for the reflector to lift right straight out.

Any ways here's my attempt at showing what I did for any that are curious . . .




Step one open 'er up.

Step two remove perfect German wire ties

Step three switch one yellow port wire from side to side using wire extensions

Step four cut the end cap short connections and put on wire unions

Step five add wire extensions and reconnect shortends inner to inner and outer to outer.

Step six switch sides with the blue wires one at a time using extensions

Step seven tie it all back up

Step eight put it back together!

 

[moondoggy4]

Looks great, thanks for the steps on how to rewire it. I can see why you did it, something Giesemann overlooked.

 

[moondoggy4]

Can you post pictures on how the light is actually attached to the hanging kit? I seem to be over thinking it.

 

[ssdawood]

Simple question. Can i take off the plastic over the t5s on spectra. Lights are 14 inches off water. The plastic cover that enclose the t5 have scratches.

 

[JPMagyar]

I used a infrared light gun to measure the temp and found the T5s to be running up around 60 degrees C when the metal halides are on so I pulled the covers out and am leaving them out. Of course one could turn the T5s off while the metal halides are running, but really I think the extra light is actually helpful with just 250s in my fixtures.

 

[JPMagyar]

Can you post pictures on how the light is actually attached to the hanging kit? I seem to be over thinking it.

Sorry for the slow reply. If you're having trouble my first guess is you might be missing the attachments that go on the top of the fixture. Once you have those screwed on the rest should be easier. Do you have the original hanging kit? Did you already get this squared away?

 

[moondoggy4]

I have the factory hanging kit. On my light there are two small squares that can move left or right the screw size is large compared to the one that is on the hanging kit hence the confusion. Do you just thread the cable through the two squares that can slide and then into the hanging kit? I hope this makes sense if not I will have my kid post pictures.

 

[ssdawood]

I used a infrared light gun to measure the temp and found the T5s to be running up around 60 degrees C when the metal halides are on so I pulled the covers out and am leaving them out. Of course one could turn the T5s off while the metal halides are running, but really I think the extra light is actually helpful with just 250s in my fixtures.

This is the reason I turn the t5 off when the halides are running. I wann keep them cool or they will loose life. The shield has scratches and may run t5 hotter since there is no active cooling.

 

[dowtish]

I removed the plastic covers immediately. Never had any issues other than the occasional splash from a wrasse. Just have to wipe them down periodically.

 

[Mark SF]

Matrix II owners, please chime in! I'm about to pull the trigger on a 8 x 39w fixture and wanted to make sure I'm making a good decision.

-From what I can tell, the reflectors aren't individual units like the ATi. Are the reflectors of similar quality/effectiveness? They don't seem to have the gull wing profile of the ATi reflectors.
-I am ordering with the active cooling, from the limited info I've seen on the original Matrix, the passive cooling didn't work very well and lost PAR.
-Does anyone have any PAR figures for this fixture?
-Should I get the dimmable version or is this a waste of bulbs longevity?
-Any problems?

-Mark

 

[tmc1313]

I just posted this question in a new thread and then found this one, so I will post it here to. I want to buy a 48" Spectra unit that does not come with the ballasts. I will be ordering two electronic ballasts, (either galaxy or lumatek). Will the Spectra cord be compatible (prongs match up) with either one of these ballasts or do I need to order something else?

 

[loweryster]

You will need to purchase a lamp cord, here in the US they are pretty standard across all ballast. PremiumAquatics can help.

 

[tmc1313]

You will need to purchase a lamp cord, here in the US they are pretty standard across all ballast. PremiumAquatics can help.

Good to know, thanks.