I have seen the light!

Do we know the long term pro's and con's of this ballast? I don't want to go spend the money on it and then find out it burns bulbs fast or something. MY momma always told me, if it's too good to be true, it is. Hope she was lying.
 
David,

Any response to that email yet?


BJ,

hows the install coming along w/ your canopy? i also have to build myself a new canopy and was wondering how you are fitting everything in there. Any supplemental lighting?

Im just trying to get some last minute questions answered before the ballasts come in the mail this week.
 
PopeShawnPaul said:
Do we know the long term pro's and con's of this ballast? I don't want to go spend the money on it and then find out it burns bulbs fast or something. MY momma always told me, if it's too good to be true, it is. Hope she was lying.
Click to expand...

KW has been running this ballast for awhile now with no problems (at least he hasn't reported any). As far as the ballast burning out the bulbs too fast, the opposite is true. EYE recommends this type of ballast because it burns the bulb brighter, bluer, and longer than a MH ballast which technically shoudln't even be used for the Iwasakis (even though we know they work just fine). With regards to it being too good to be true, remember, we've already discussed the negatives of this ballast. If you go this route, you are limited to the Iwasaki 6500 bulb only. Also, even though it doesn't use more power than a MH ballast, it does draw more current (meaning you need to separate the ballasts from the rest of your reef equipment or put everything on a large breaker). If after contemplating these negatives it still sounds good to you, go for it.

Brian
 
therman,
I just looked up a ballast for 400W MV bulbs on Advance's website (www.advancetransformer.com)and it appears they don't have a HX-NPF type ballast in 400W for 120V use. You might want to call Advance or EYE to see what the best DIY MV solution is for 400W.

Mr. Sandman,
I've been working on my new hood for a few days now. I hope to install it next weekend. I'm basically building a big box. I was going to build something similar to Playfair's hood (with the light bulges) but since I got the deal on the Spiderlight reflectors I decided to mount the bulbs perpendicular to the tank. So I just made a big box that has a front that swings up to expose everything. I think it should give me pretty good access. For supplemental lights, I have an Icecap 660 and will keep 2 110W VHO actinics over the tank.

Brian
 
One little suggestion: The only part of the DIY plan that looks like it could cause a problem is the use of wire nuts to connect to the socket. I used to install some high-end car stereos and used heavy duty butt connectors covered by a good length of inner-wall glue heat shrink tubing in any place that may get wet. This gives a totally weather-tight union and looks better too. What do you guys think?

Murph
 
murphd3,

I won't be using wire nuts to connect to the socket and don't think it's the best idea to do so either. I would like to use some sort of quick release plug for that connection when I permanately connect those wires. If you know of any heavy duty quick connect plugs that don't cost a fortune, I'd be interested in hearing about them. The only things I've found cost a fortune.
 
This is a very informative thread. I am an avid DIY hobbyist and assembled all three of my MH's.

IME ammo boxes work great. I had access to them for free and quickly converted 2 of them to ballast cases. One can holds two 175W ballasts and the other holds one 250W. I used the wire bulkhead fittings to run the wires through the sides and drilled small holes along the bottom sides and on the top to create a convection current that would exhaust some heat. The part I like best is that it made it possible to ground everything through the box and it's very accessible since the entire lid is removable.

If moisture is a big concern for your setup, I believe radio shack sells wirenuts that are primed with silicone. I don't know for sure how much they are or even if that is the intended application, but I did see them there. It may be worth more investigation.

I did find an article by Sanjay Joshi that extensively details part numbers and applications for MH ballasts. For anyone in the purchase stage, I would recommend checking it out. I used it when I found a downed HID lamp after a Supertyphoon in Guam. By cross-referencing the ANSI numbers I discovered that it was a workable 250W ballast :)

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/s/b/sbj4/aquarium/mh/mhlighting.html
Just my 2 pennies worth, HTH.
Scott
 
For quick disconnects, I used some high quality plugs. Not quite as pretty or as easy to use as real quick disconnects but, they work fine.
 
I use wire nuts for connections inside the hood, and Molex connectors outside the hood. After all connections are made, I put silicon in the wire nuts and over the ends of the Molex plugs. Not long after wiring my current hood, I went down to check the tank and heard some hissing and crackling. Inspection revealed that I had missed one of the Molex plugs with the silicon. I unplugged, let it cool down and then put in the silicon. No problem since.

David
 
I just received a response from Eyelighting.

This is the e-mail I sent to them:

"A few questions about which of these Advance ballasts would be most appropriate for use with the MT250DL lamp: 71A3572 or 71A3802. If both will work, would you expect any operating characteristics to be different between the two ballasts? Will either affect the life of the lamp?"

And this is the response I received:

"Thank you for your interest in EYE lamp products. In answer to your
question, the better ballast for use with this lamp is
#71A3572(-001D)Advance mercury CWA. This will best maintain lumens and color
over lamp life.

John Petrak
Sales Engineer"


FWIW
David
 
Outstanding thread guys!!! This is definitely one for the archives.

Does anyone know which ballast would be appropriate for the 400W Iwasakis?

Rico.
 
I'm not really sure what the jargon is for these items, so I'll make-up my own ;) When you plug-in an electric devise you stick the "plug" into the "socket."

Well, I bought a plug and a socket for each wire that I wanted to be able to disconnect. Home Depot had some really nice ones for about $10.00 per socket or plug. It would probably be less expensive to butcher some extension cords and then solder the pieces in place and seal them with heat shrink tubing.

There is most likely a better way to do it, but the above is quick and easy.
 
David,

I wonder why it would best maintain lumens and color
over lamp life. Did the sales engineer say why? I personally just hate hearing something contradictory, without an explanation. Kinda like going into a auto shop and having the mechanic tell you that you need a complete overhaul "because it'll make your car run better".
 
I agree, but no, he didn't explain (and I'm not confident I would have understood if he had). The only other thing he told me a year ago was:"If you use a Metal Halide Ballast you run the risk of damaging the built in starter of the MT250DL. Due to higher open circuit voltage." I don't know if that built in starter has anything to do with it.

David
 
Hmm...i was totally under the impression that both the 71A3572 and 71A3802 were Mercury Vapor ballasts? Am i correct? If so then i guess it would be safe to assume that there would be no risk of damaging the built in starter of the MT250DL. Do you think you can post the engineer's email address so i can find out? I would really like to find out what the differences are between the two so i can weigh the benefits of each myself. Thanks!
 
David,
Thanks for the great follow up. That's interesting that an EYE representative would advise us to use that ballast as the instructions that come with the bulb specifically state not to use a CWA type ballast. At any rate, I guess his point is to use a ballast that is specifically made for an H37 mercury vapor bulb.

BTW, for anyone interested in learning more about the details of HID ballasts, there is a great pdf file on Advance's website that explains the different circuit types and everything. It's a good read for anyone planning on a DIY MH setup. The file is here: http://www.advancetransformer.com/techcenter/hid/HID.pdf

My hood is almost done (I just have to put polyurethane on it now) and I will be installing it this weekend. If anyone is interested, I can post some more pictures of the setup in operation.

Brian
 
I hope he doesn't mind. His e-mail is johnpetrak@hotmail.com
His name is John Petrak and he's been extremely helpful (and patient). The other e-mail I've used is sales@eyelighting.com.

Let us know if you learn anything.

David
 
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