Need Ballast Help - Connector Questions

[ducatimikep]

I have just bought all new equipment from Marine Depot
for my cube project.
Lighting equipment.....
Galaxy 250w / 120v (single) ballast
LumenMax Reef Elite reflector
XM 20K / Radium 20K / BlueLife SPS 20k (all moguls)


EXACTLY 4 hours 10 minutes from the time the light
turns on, it shuts down.
If left plugged in it will not restart. If I unplug the ballast
& plug it back in it restarts instantly & will run for
another 4 hours 10 minutes.
There is no timer in the loop.
The ballast is not physically hot, hardly even warm.
The light is normal temp. I have tried a selection of
bulbs & this has not corrected it.
I have talked to Sunlight Supply & they recommend that
I buy a second Galaxy to use while this one is being
checked / repared / replaced.
Yea right
I am planning to buy another brand;
My question is what brand / model ballast can I buy
& have it plug in to my Reef Elite reflector without
cutting plugs?
Thanks.....

 

[DarG]

None that I am aware of ...

The Sunlight supply pendants and ballasts all use the same connectors and no other company in the hobby uses the same type as far as I am aware.

That said, it is NOT a big deal. Many of the electronic ballasts come with wire leads, no plugs. You can buy the sunlight supply connectors seperately for 4 or 5 dollars each and wire them into any ballast.

BTW ... the Galaxy ballasts have a good reputation overall. You just happened to get a bad one. Sunlight Supply on the other hand isnt know as the gem of customer service.

So what are you going to do with the ballast? You may as well send it in for warranty service. Wont Marine Depot take care of it for you? Or are they forcing you to deal directly with the manufacturer?

Ballaswise.com has electronic ballasts for around 60 or 70 dollars for an electronic 250 watt ballast. DIYreef.com sells the sunlight supply connector, or atleast they used to. If you dont want to wait on repair of the Galaxy and Marine Depot wont take it back and send you out a new one so your down time is only a few days ... you can pick up the Ballastwise ballast and the connector and use it as a spare or permanently and sell the Galaxy when you get the replacement/repair.

Otherwise ... Icecap ballasts are popular, and Lumatek ballasts are popular in the hobby. So are Coralvue ballasts but I wouldnt personally buy one. They are all more expensive than the ballastwise. ARO ballasts are also an affordable option. Very basic looking but good ballasts.

Besides DIYreef having the connectors, reefgeek may also sell them and horticulturesource.com definitely does. Its 3 wires to solder or wire nut, and you're done.

 

[ducatimikep]

I talked to Sunlight Supply & they told me that
Marine Depot has to handle the RMA, which is fine.
I am just looking for a non-Sunlight Supply, plug & play
ballast while this one is being reviewed for its defects.
I can't go lightless for the 3 weeks or a month that
this could drag out for.

 

[Entropy]

They sell both the female socket and the male cord, so I would just look in the For Sale section for a IceCap ballast or maybe a ARO new. Figure $100 or so I would think. I have seen the IceCap ballasts go for right around that mark quite a bit.

 

[Toddrtrex]

I have a Galaxy ballast for just under a year now, and has been working great the whole time.

Not the best ballasts in the world, but the Hamilton ballasts (( at least they used too )) have the same plugs. That was one of the main reasons I went with the Galaxy ballast --- I have a Hamilton full hood and didn't want to cut any wires when I upgraded from 175 to 250.