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MH Lighting (1 Viewer)

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G

Guest

YOU ARE BIDDING ON A MAGNETEK ,UNIVERSAL 120/208/240/277 VOLT 250 WATT METAL HALIDE BALLAST.

I bought 2 of these on ebay. I wasnt sure if this would push the same amount of wattage as an electronic ballast and thats why my tank was so dark with just the MHs. Along with these ballasts I bought a 14K hamilton from one person and a sun aquatics 14K from another on ebay. Both said the bulbs were new. When I had my VHO blowout all I had were the MHs and it was pretty dark in the tank and my anemone died. Since both bulbs came from completely different places and they both burned exactly the same even though they were completely different, I was wondering if I have the right ballast? Do magnetic ballasts burn the bulbs as bright and if not, could you really tell that much that your corals shrivel? Last, I was wondering if I can buy any MH SE bulb with these ballasts such as the XMs or etc. Thanks

Eric



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G

Guest

Generally, the answer is no. Ballasts can be pulse start or.....I forget the other, but bulbs will be designed to handle one or the other. if you mix the bulb and ballast, you'll shorten the life of the bulbs. Magnetic versus electric is just an issue of efficentcy.
If my memory is correct, XM's were designed with the hobby in mind, so they are more universal.
 
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G

Guest

So what you are telling me is I probably just got 2 old bulbs then.

Eric
 
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G

Guest

Could be that they are old. Could be that they are underdriven, which I doubt. Or it may be a perception issue. I have two 175s on my 75 gal with 2-54w T5's and the tank looks darker with only the MH on.
 
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G

Guest

Reefed-out what kind of dark?
My 10K 150 is blinding almost on my 29 gal tank.

I might have to stop buy to see this.

I can't believe 2 of them would not make your tank look bright.
 
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monica

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I bought some brand new 400 watt 10K XM bulbs pluged them in to my magnetic ballast and the bulbs had a yellow tint, Then I bought a bluline electric duel 400 watt ballast, when I switched the bulbs to the new ballast the bulbs yellow went away and the bulbs seem to be way brighter. And too the ballasts dont run as hot as the magnetic.
 
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G

Guest

You have the wrong bulb/ballast configuration...that is probably why they were selling it.Most 250 that are running higher kelvin bulbs do need a pulse start ignitor to fire the bulb but since they are firing i would assume the ballast is not a compatible match.You should be able to run a 6500k, maybe a 10,000k.Magnetic ballast can drive lamps above or beyond there capabilities.Its hard to say what is wrong without seeing it.
 
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G

Guest

Narkon,

You are welcome to come by and take a look. I would appreciate it. Let me know and we can set up a time. Thanks

Eric
 
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G

Guest

In fact how about all of you come over and see my configuration!! :) Whatever gets those halides going brighter! At least I have the 440W of VHOs on the tank as well, but the halides combined make it look pretty nice.

Eric
 
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G

Guest

Reefsavers:

Could you re-write your statement again a different way. I am kinda confused. Maybe also tell me how to fix the situation. I still want Narkon to come over though. Thanks

Eric
 
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G

Guest

Reefed-out-
Sorry for the confusion, let me give it a go again.
1. You bought a dual 250 watt Metal halide with two bulbs(different types&origin)
2.You fired the bulbs and they appear to be not performing correctly.
3.You were asking if you have the wrong ballast/bulb compatibility

Assuming this is correct, here are some possible problems:
1.Both bulbs have a higher then 10,000k rating and generally require a pulse start ignitor to fire correctly.Check with manufacturer of the light bulb and ask.
2.The only other possibility that i can think of is a weak power supply.Check your power supply with a volt meter. :)
 
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G

Guest

Thanks reefsavers, that helped. One thing is it is not a dual ballast. It is 2 seperate ballasts that are in the same box. You might have meant that but I am just making sure we know that. Each bulb has its own switch. I do have 2 different types of bulbs: Hamilton and the sun aquatics which are both 14k. I did not know that over 10K you had to have a pulse start ballast, I believe I have seen those as magnetic ballasts but thought they were the bad kind to get. Lol. Anyway, I am assuming with an electronic ballast you dont have to worry with all this. So what we need to do is make a donation to the Reefed-out foundation so I can get 3 electronic ballasts- one for my 40 gallon also. :) Thanks guys and Narkon, whenever is good for you, I am always home staring at the tanks from 5:30 on.

Eric
 
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jamesw

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What do the ballasts say on them, do they say "M59" or similar? Let us know.

What you bought are 250w cap and coil MH ballasts. These are basically the "guts" that come inside a black box when you buy a MH retrofit, etc.

There are at least 2 kinds of cap and coil 250w ballasts. Some were specially made to fire the Iwasaki lamps which have their own ignitors.

Let us know the model number/designation.

HTH
James
 
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G

Guest

Thanks for the response jamesw. Here is the link to the ballast that I bought from the guy on ebay. He sent it to me, this is where I guess he gets them from. I had my father take the ballasts to his manufacturing plant and the MH lighting guy there put everything together for me so I dont have the boxes or anything anymore. I will see if I can get into the box he put the ballasts in to get the model number. Thanks

Eric

http://www.advancetransformer.com/products/5-tap.asp
 
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G

Guest

This is what I got off of the ballast, let me know if you are looking for a different number as I couldnt find anything else, but did e-mail the link I posted for the model number.

On the ballast:

M250MLTAC3M
(1) 250W M-58 or H37 Lamp
120/208/240/277V 60Hz OCV315
2.65/1.50/1.30/1.13A

Hope that is what you are looking for. Thanks, your help is greatly appreciated.

Eric
 
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jamesw

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You can buy ignitors - otherwise, I think the only lamp is the Iwasaki.

Cheers
James
 
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mushrooms

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Lighting > Ballasts > Ballast Ignitors



Ignitor,Ballast
Ballast Ignitor, Lamp Power Rating 35-450 Watts, Lamp Metal Halide, Number of Lamps 1, Length 2 1/2 Inches, Width 1 1/4 Inches, Round, 10 Feet Range, With Hardware, CWA, High Reactance Circuit

Grainger Item: 3V987
Price (ea) : $104.90
Manufacturer: ADVANCE TRANSFORMER
Mfg. Model#: LI533-H4
Ship Qty : 1
Sell Qty (Will-Call) : 1
Usually Ships : Today
Catalog 395 Page: 700
Click to expand...
 
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