Halide Q & A
- Thread starter BlueCorn
- Start date
PFO has been out of business for a while so finding those exact ones will be luck. Joe doesn't use those lights on his tank anymore. Hamilton still has a fixture similar to that and yes you will need four MH bulbs, and to run the Radium correctly, use the M80 ballast, which Hamilton also has or you can get the AquaMedic Reeflex Cube for a lot less than the Hamilton ballast. I prefer VHO but you can use T5 as well for actintics.
djnelson00
New member
That link you posted was very helpful. After doing some reading and quite a bit more research, I think I changed my mind and am wanting to go with some HQI doubled ended bulbs. They look like they all run on the same M80/HQI ballast which would make it easier to change bulbs if I wasn't crazy about the color. They are also all pulse start which makes it a bit easier as well. I have seen people saying that the Phoenix Electric HexArc 14,000K bulb is a really good one. Do you have and experience with this bulb? Or do you have any others to suggest? And I think this info will help with the selection of a ballast. Sorry for the long post.
Question:
I have a 3 hear old Hamilton MH setup. 250W Mogul based electronic ballasts. I am using the inexpensive plusrite bulbs since I have 3 bulbs in the fixture and would rather spend $40 bucks than $200 bucks for three bulbs every year. My corals seem to do fine with them. Over the past year, when the power in the house dims or goes out for a second or so, the bulbs seem to fry. I was actually in the room when it happened, the lights in the house dimmed, did not go out but enough maybe to trigger the ballast to re-fire the bulb. I heard buzzing then a sizzling which was the bulb frying.
This has probably happened to about a dozen bulbs at this point. I have the heavy duty timers on a surge protector and the fans for the fixture are on a battery backup so it is not heat related.
Wondering what the underlying issue is,
1)Bulb/Ballast incompatiability?
2)Timer possible doing something strange?
3)Plusrite downright are not usable?
4)Better off going back to Hamilton Bulbs?
5)Ballasts are no good?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Joel
I have a 3 hear old Hamilton MH setup. 250W Mogul based electronic ballasts. I am using the inexpensive plusrite bulbs since I have 3 bulbs in the fixture and would rather spend $40 bucks than $200 bucks for three bulbs every year. My corals seem to do fine with them. Over the past year, when the power in the house dims or goes out for a second or so, the bulbs seem to fry. I was actually in the room when it happened, the lights in the house dimmed, did not go out but enough maybe to trigger the ballast to re-fire the bulb. I heard buzzing then a sizzling which was the bulb frying.
This has probably happened to about a dozen bulbs at this point. I have the heavy duty timers on a surge protector and the fans for the fixture are on a battery backup so it is not heat related.
Wondering what the underlying issue is,
1)Bulb/Ballast incompatiability?
2)Timer possible doing something strange?
3)Plusrite downright are not usable?
4)Better off going back to Hamilton Bulbs?
5)Ballasts are no good?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Joel
Most likely the problem is the bulb trying to restart while the bulb is hot. You could look into something like a delay timer.
Thanks for the idea. I think you are correct. It did burn out right in front of me when the power went out for a second. Then the bulb fried.
I just ordered a couple 15min delay timers when prevent "Hot Starts", hopefully that does the trick.
Here is the link to the one I ordered. Specifically designed for a heavy duty wall plug 120V and to prevent hot starts. Many of these seem more complicated to wire up.
I hope this does the job...
http://www.thehydrosource.com/cap-hlc-2e-hid-lighting-controller-delay-on-timer.html
They are rated for 15 amps, looks like a 250Watt MH bulb draws about 3amps. I plan on using 2 delay devices, one for each timer. I have the center bulb on one, and the two end bulbs on another so I think I am well within the limits.
Thanks again for your help.
Bryanlefever
New member
I have a 14 gal biocube modified with MH. this was my buddy's tank that he gave me.
It comes with a plastic cover to protect the lamps, now he cut out the plastic cover and glued in a piece of glass for UV. Now his fans burned out causing the plastic to melt, which is why I'm replacing the plastic cover. should I cut the plastic out again for the glass or is it okay to just glue the glass over top of the plastic.
And yes the fans are being replaced. Anyone know why the fans would stop running in the first place?
Any help would be great
It comes with a plastic cover to protect the lamps, now he cut out the plastic cover and glued in a piece of glass for UV. Now his fans burned out causing the plastic to melt, which is why I'm replacing the plastic cover. should I cut the plastic out again for the glass or is it okay to just glue the glass over top of the plastic.
And yes the fans are being replaced. Anyone know why the fans would stop running in the first place?
Any help would be great
HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
Are there any fully assembled M59 ballasts anywhere? I was thinking of running a 400W Ushio, but can't find the recommended ballast.
Do electronic ballasts run these to spec?
Do electronic ballasts run these to spec?
HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
Good god, there are different ballasts even within the same brand, temp, and wattage? What a mess.
Honestly, I'm not sure which I'd use. What are the differences between the bulbs?
Honestly, I'm not sure which I'd use. What are the differences between the bulbs?
I understand all too well that is can be a confusing mess, not unlike most things in the world, nothing is really standardized. The Colorlite is a probe start bulb and needs the M59 or electronic. The Aqualite is a HQI and needs the M135/M155 or electronic capable of HQI. The easy solution is an electronic ballast with both 400 and 400 HQI settings. I only suggest these ballasts because it will run a variety of bulbs and if you get a M59 and decide to switch bulbs later you will be restricted to probe start bulbs.
Hi,
I'm running 2-250w 14K Hamiltons on a dual 250w Galaxy ballast. Both lamps fire up OK, but after an hour or two the right lamp goes out (the left one stays on). This is a problem that started several months ago as a every now & then sorta thing; to now it's an all-the-time sorta thing. I know it can't be the bulbs, because it was doing this with my old bulbs as well. Also (every great now and then) it's the left lamp that will switch off while the right one stays light. I'm thinking it's the ballast. What do you guys think?
TIA
I'm running 2-250w 14K Hamiltons on a dual 250w Galaxy ballast. Both lamps fire up OK, but after an hour or two the right lamp goes out (the left one stays on). This is a problem that started several months ago as a every now & then sorta thing; to now it's an all-the-time sorta thing. I know it can't be the bulbs, because it was doing this with my old bulbs as well. Also (every great now and then) it's the left lamp that will switch off while the right one stays light. I'm thinking it's the ballast. What do you guys think?
TIA
Not the answer I was looking for (LOL) but..... Can you recommend a (good but inexpensive) ballast that would be compatible with my 250w 14K Hamiltons? The lamps are almost brand new.
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