Metal Halide Questions

[zakstrong]

I have three Aqua Medic Reeflex Cube HQI Magnetic Ballast - 250W for my 210 peninsula. I want to run these remotely in a closet about 12 ft from the tank for humidity reasons. So ideally the ballasts would be in the closet and i would run the cords to the lamps behind the wall and out to the bulbs. The cord lengths would be 17',15' and 13'. My question is wether that is allowed. I have read that with greater distances you just need to use larger wire because of coppers conduction resistance. Its not a distance issue its a wire issue. Please help me clarify thanks zak

 

[zakstrong]

i called aqua medic (after misdialing a office supply store, that was a confusing minute of dialog, "sir we sell paper"). Aqua Medic said there should not be any issues, just just wire of a proper gauge to insure there are no heat issues.

 

[mcgyvr]

yeah I've just used 14/3 romex before to extend the wires..no problems.

 

[Lavoisier]

Sounds like 14/3 works fine. If you want to know for sure find out what amps the ballasts draw and google a chart. I can't imagine that you would need 12 gauge wire.

 

[uncleof6]

Hummmmm then we are faced with the legality of using romex to do this.

Many will not really care about that--till after the house burns down, or some other mishap that brings in the investigators. In short, it is illegal to run romex "outside" a wall, though stapling it to structural members such as in a garage is fine. It is illegal to run romex through a wall--from one side to the other. It is illegal to run romex through a doorway or other opening in the wall. Further legalities: It is illegal to use romex as an extension cord--not listed. It is illegal to run an extension cord through a wall, doorway, or other opening in a wall. It is illegal to use an extension cord in continuous use (over three hours.) It is illegal to run any voltage other than low voltage < 40VAC under any of the above conditions. Pick which ever poison suits the situation. I would bring in some UL regulations, however, I seriously doubt the fixture is UL listed, though the components may be--not the same though.

In short, don't bother using romex--it is going to be illegal. Just about any way you try to get the wires out of the closet to the tank is going to be illegal, unless you use conduit, and individual conductors. These laws exist for a reason, generally fire prevention/safety concerns. Violate them if you will.

If you want to extend ballast outputs, use 14 ga, or larger, SOW or SOOW (Service, Oil, Water Resistance or Service, Oil, Other Substances, water resistance) cord, and replace the entire cord from inside the ballast to inside the fixture--do not splice it--and before you do, know where the ignitor is located. At any rate, you will be very hard pressed to legally get anything out of the closet to the tank.

However, and I am going to assume the hobby meanings of HQI, double end pulse start, @ 250watts, and thus an M80 ballast. The max distance, with standard ignitor, to the fixture is 5ft. A long distance ignitor is not available. So unless the ignitor is inside the fixture itself, not the ballast case, you are hosed.

So the short answer to your question is NO it is not allowed, either by the ballast/fixture configuration, or the law.

 

[zakstrong]

Well the Code isnt my biggest concern at the moment. if special agent code enforcer wants to come and tell me to plug my fish tank light in properly ill smile and ignore him.

I bought 12-3 wire, pvc conduit and boxes. so i should be safe as far as fires go. Uncleof6 said what i have heard in the past. But i did call the manufacturer and look at the components of the ballast, the gentleman said he wouldn't think there would be an issue but he had only tried it up to 10', and the ignitor/ballast gave no max distance So Im gonna mock it up in the basement. Ill let you know in an hour how it went.

 

[zakstrong]

So it works. I plugged the ballast into the wall, and ran a 18 foot 12-3 awg wire from the ballast to the bulb. and it fired right up. Im not sure if the actual bulb used my vary the results. but to just to summarize I have

Aqua Medic Reeflex Cube HQI Magnetic Ballast - 250W
Ushio 10,000K 250 watt hqi
18 foot wire between ballast and bulb

I saw a thread claiming that m80 ballasts were expensive. But i paid 70 for enclosed ballast with fan, 65 for bulb and 50 for fixture. so Im at 185 total for each metal halide.

 

[uncleof6]

12-3 wires in a sheathing I am assuming. It is illegal to run that inside conduit. Fire protection. You can scoff at this stuff all you want, its OK, I expect it. However, that does not change the laws or the fines if "special agent code inspector" hands you a ticket that will cost you more than it would cost to have someone that knows what they are doing do the work. I doubt you would be ignoring him, as he will find other violations for which to fine you for--and you would be compelled to pay them. Of course, that would be after the fact, after the damage is already done.

As soon as you put up conduit, attach it to the wall, come through the wall, that wire, conduit, and light is now a part of the structure--so "fish tank" does not enter the equation. Arson.org is full of stories of those that scoffed at these sort of laws.

M80 ballasts are expensive, and becoming increasingly hard to find--since Advance (most widely used) stopped manufacturing them. Other than Chinese junk, the only manufacturer now is Orsam-Sylvania. Aqua Medic did not manufacture the ballast, they merely assembled the kit, and aimed it at the aquarium hobby. It may not even be an M80 ballast, which would not surprise me. It could well be an M58, which is considerably cheaper, but does not run the lamp very well. There are no standards regulating what the fixture OEMs are building, nor how the components are utilized.

The 5ft distance is from the data on an M80 ballast--from the ballast manufacturer (if it is an M80,) it is not something that was read on the internet. If the ignitor is in the ballast case, the max distance is 5'. If the ignitor is in the light fixture itself, it does not matter, however, since the ignitor must always be mounted with the ballast: 5' max distance. (From manufacturer information.) I really don't care what Aqua Medic says about it, and I never said the lamp would not fire. The M58 ballast does not use an ignitor, has a longer remote mounting distance, determined by wire size, however, it is not the proper ballast for this particular lamp--DE 250 watt Ushio, or what is erroneously called HQI, within the hobby.