DIY HQI

[Guest cbo]

I am getting one of the HQI ballasts from Prevyet, mentioned in a previous post, which is the impetus for this effort.  They are the advance ballast number 71A5480, which is a 150W M81 magnetic ballast.  I ordered both the deluxe and reguler HQI sockets, and a 20,000K ushio 150W HQI bulb from Lampsnow.  

 

The deluxe looked like the sockets used in the PFO fixture, which I have heard bad things about , seems the sockets disintegrate after about a year or so, the Reef Tank no longer recommends PFO HQI pendants.  But the deluxe sockets looked a lot beefier so I ordered both and will decide which to use once I can see them.

 

I plan on looking at Homedepot for a pendant type housing with a reflector and glass shield, then just rip everything out and screw in the new sockets.  Fabricate a housing for the ballast and give it a try.  The cost for the initial items is below.  I will update as I go along.

 

Advance 71A5480 ballast   $Free,  thanks prevyet

regular HQI sockets           $9.00

deluxe HQI sockets           $16.99

ushio 20,000 150W bulb     $75.00

 

cbo

 

** below is a note on the bulb and HQI in general from Lampsnow

 

 

Do not mount "double ended" HQI type bulbs without a UV filtering glass shield!! This bulb will put out UV radiation which can damage your eyes and skin, as well as your animals in the tank. The bulb MUST BE burned behind a protective glass sheet.

 

 

FAQ:

Q. What's the deal, I've never heard of a Ushio 20,000K bulb?

A. Ushio refers to this bulb as a "UHI-150BL". Color Temp (K) is a reference for aquarists to understand what the bulb would look like on a visual scale. Ushio's "10,000K 150 HQI" bulb is technically labeled "UHI-150 AQUA", it's the aquarium trade that refers to it as 10,000K. We like this bulb a lot, and the price is excellent too. If you are set on a Radium 20,000K (which by the way is referred to as a "blue bulb" from the factory), then we suggest going with what you are comfortable with. If you want to try a new bulb from a reputable company, then try the Ushio 20,000K.

 

Q. What kind of glass should I use to shield this bulb?

A. Most regular glass will filter out UV rays. Of course, we are not glass experts, so we recommend that you go to your local Hardware Store, Glass Shop or Frame Store to find out which glass will filter the most UV. You can use tempered glass, since HQI type bulbs burn at a very hot temp, but are not required to.

[Guest Scott324]

CBO,

 

If the tank is small, and you don't need great dispersion of the light, then you can use the brown Quartz fixtures sold at HD or LOWes for around 10dollars.  They even come with the lamp holders.  I also got the Ushio 20k from LN and put it in one of these fixtures.  I will try to take pics later.  It does take a little jerryriggin, but works rather well.

[Guest cbo]

Picked up a 500 Watt Halogen worklight from homedepot for $9.98.  Thanks Scott.  How do you have the fixture mounted, in a hood?  how is it attached?

 

For those that are interested the worklight from HD is labeled with UV shielded glass, so that should please anyone who was concerned about UV from the HQI bulbs.  

 

On the bulb front, scott how do you like the 20k ushio?  Are you running any other lights, PC's and the like and what temperature?  How blue is it and how bright is it. One page I saw seemed to indicate that the 20k bulb is not as bright as the 10k, any truth to this that you have seen??

 

cbo

[Guest Scott324]

CBO,

 

I mounted the light to a shelf above the tank, this fit my situation, but with a little modification, you can mount it in a canopy.  You have to modify the fixture a lot to get the bulb to fit.  I broke off some of the cast metal around the holders and cut half the spring off on one of the actual bulb holder.  

 

As for the color of the 20K, its blue, I didn't have any other light on the tank.  It is definately not as bright as the 10K, but what 20K is????

[Guest cbo]

I opted to get the worklight and not the wall mounted floodlight.  The main differences are that the worklight does not have any cast metal around the bulb sockets and since it was made for close up use (i.e. not mounted up on a wall) it has UV filtering glass.  Note, I read the HQI DIY threads on other forums and am not convinced that special glass is needed, other than just plain tempered.  That being said, it was a no cost option to switch to the UV filtered worklight and I figured better to be safe with little kids in the house, also I found it curious that the manuf. decided that special UV filtering glass was necessary on the 500W halogen that came in the worklight.  And since I had ordered sockets from Hello lights, see first post in this thread, I did not want any part of the fixture to interfere with mounting them.

 

I will post pictures of the light as the work goes along.

 

cbo

[Guest cbo]

Just a quick update.  Of the two fixtures I bought, the regent and the worklight, the regent is bigger.  I was able to mount the deluxe 150HQI sockets in the regent and the regular sockets in the worklight, but it was tight.  I have since seen a bigger worklight at Homedepot for $19.98 which I would probably have used if I where starting this project today.  Both worklights have glass labeled UV filter while the regent does not, $10 for the security of the UV filter would be worth it in my book, whether it is necessary or not.  The last think I need to do is mount the ballasts in some type of enclouse and I am done for the most part.  I have been looking on ebay at some metal project box's but they always end up over $10 which is my limit for the ballast box.  

 

If anyone has a suggestion for a ballast box I am all ears.  Will post some pictures of the fixtures in a few days when I get around to charging the batteries in the digital camera.

 

cbo

[Coral Hind]

If you have an old small metal toolbox you no longer use it might work.  Drill holes in it to run the wire in and out.