Light system

[Guest Princedj]

I am looking to upgrade my system to metal halides.  Can someone give me some advice.  I have a 75g tank with corals and fish.  I have been looking on ebay and found a dual 250 watt retro fit system for about 230.  This includes sockets, ballast, and reflector from cooltouch lighting.  Are these guys reputable.  Any feedback would be great.

 

Thanks

Nathan

[michaelg]

Wait to hear from eddi on that.  I think this is the company that he has been having problems with the ballasts blowing fuses or something.

[Lee Stearns]

Eddie has had difficulties whenever he changes bulbs- I think the cool touch lighting ballast are geared towards a specific bulb and have difficulty driving other more common bulbs properly- Just a guess-

I lean toward 250 DE HQI's- but simple mogul lighhts are easy to find and easier to set up as a retro- becuause you almost have to have the HQI's in a pendant for the UV protective glass they requie which make them a bit more difficult to mount in an existing hood. If your hood is not a tall one- then they can be mounted on top of the hood only about 6-8 inches over the water, which is how I mounted mine in an existing hood.

[eddi]

I would not choose cooltouchlighting again if I had to do it all over.  Yes, I have had problems when changing bulbs but I have not been able to find the cause so I can't put the blame on the ballasts.  

 

The main reason I would stay away is because they regularly blow a capacitor due to overheating.  They are easy to replace and not very expensive ($10 + shipping), but they are the only ballast I know that has this recurring problem.  I have talked to the company and tried to get an explanation, but all they tell me is that it is normal.  All my lights are run by their ballasts and in three years I have had to replace 8 capacitors.

 

If you end up going with them save yourself a lot of heartache and buy several capacitors in advance.

[Guest Princedj]

Thanks for the help eddi, Now that I know who not to buy from, Can anyone suggest who I should buy from. Also, eddi, it could be your problems are comming from the use of a different wattage bulb. With those systems you must use only the bulb they recommend. ie, 175 watt ballast needs 175 watt bulb. If you mix a 250 watt bulb with 175 watt ballast you will overheat the system. Another option is to buy and electronic ballast, with these ballasts you can switch them from say 175 or 250. Only drawback is you can't use a timmer.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for yours,

 

Nathan

Edited February 19, 2005 by Princedj

[Guest maestro774]

I would check www.oceanencounter.com for their metal halide retrofits, they're cheap and get pretty good reviews. As for the wattage, you can't mix a 250 ballast with a 175 bulb and vice versa.