Guest tgallo July 5, 2004 Share July 5, 2004 hope this info helps some when in the market for a ballast. all info comes from a friend on RC. 250 watt example: Probe start: ANSI: M58, core, capacitor Pulse start: ANSI: M138, core, capacitor, ignitor HQI: ANSI: M80, core, capacitor, ignitor EYE: ANSI: H37, core, capacitor, actually a mercury vapor ballast Electronic: ANSI: none, metal box with wires probe start will run american bulbs with ignitors built into the bulbs like coralife and venture bulbs. some german and euro bulbs will run fine on these, but without an ignitor, the bulb struggles to light and bulb life may be decreased. also reliabilty goes down. pulse start will run the german/euro bulbs (ushio, AB, radium, etc.) these bulbs don't have built in ignitors, so the ballast has the ignitor wired into the circuit. the ignitor provides the high voltages needed to fire the bulb. you can run probe start bulbs on these ballasts, but the two ignitors may try to fight each other and possibly cause a fire. HQI ballasts are similar to pulse starts in their wiring and ability to run bulbs. the output is a little higher which is meant to run the double-ended bulbs (commonly called HQI bulbs). people run mogul bulbs on these and they run a little hotter and brighter because they are being overdriven. this in turn shortens the life of the bulbs. EYE ballasts are mercury vapor ballasts. they are similar to a probe start ballast, but the only bulb you can run on these are Iwasaki 6500K bulbs (because these are actually MV bulbs, not MH bulbs like most think). the ballast will damage MH bulbs if you try to run one on it. Electronic. ahhh, the great electronics. these will run any bulb at the rated wattage: probe start, pulse start, iwasakis, DE (double ended-HQI). if you think you might change your mind in the future, get an electronic. you can change bulbs to whatever you want and not have to worry about the ballast being the wrong type. electronics run cooler (a magnetic MH ballast will burn your hand if you touch the coil after it's been running for awhile). they also use less energy. Additional info: 175watt: Probe start: ANSI: M57, core, capacitor Pulse start: ANSI: M137, core, capacitor, ignitor Electronic: ANSI: none, metal box with wires 400watt: Probe start: ANSI: M59, core, capacitor Pulse start: ANSI: M135, core, capacitor, ignitor HQI: ANSI: SON AGRO, core, capacitor, ignitor (this is actually a 430w HPS ballast used primarily in hydroponics) EYE: ANSI: H33, core, capacitor, actually a mercury vapor ballast Electronic: ANSI: none, metal box with wires ___ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kimo July 5, 2004 Share July 5, 2004 Good info Tony! Thanks. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo July 6, 2004 Share July 6, 2004 you're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 July 7, 2004 Share July 7, 2004 Just so the nano medium base and double ended folks won't feel left out 70watt: Pulse start: ANSI M98, core, capcitor, ignitor (medium base) HQI: ANSI: M85, core, capacitor, ignitor Electronic: ANSI: none, metal box with wires 100watt: Pulse start: ANSI: M90, core, capacitor, ignitor (medium base) HQI: ANSI: M140, core, capacitor, ignitor 150watt: Pulse start: ANSI: M102, core, capacitor, ignitor (medium base) HQI: ANSI: M81, core, capacitor, ignitor Electronic: ANSI: none, metal box with wires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo July 13, 2004 Share July 13, 2004 good info traveller. here is a top notch place to purchase ballast's. www.hidirect.com i purchased a 400 watt hqi ballast to run my radiums, cost with shipping per ballast $50.82. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mikesroth July 13, 2004 Share July 13, 2004 I have a question. What are 'Remote' ballasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo July 13, 2004 Share July 13, 2004 remote ballasts, are located away from the fixture, there not built in to the fixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest samc99us November 28, 2004 Share November 28, 2004 The M102 ballasts will also fire the 150 watt de setups without any problems, at least none that I know of. I am running one of those regent pendent mods w/ a coralvue 20k (hoping to switch to a xm 20k). It just doesn't "overdrive" the bulbs like the electronic and M81 ballasts do. Plus their fairly cheap on e-bay, like less than $50 shipped! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 November 28, 2004 Share November 28, 2004 Welcome to WAMAS Sam. I have not found M81's to "overdrive" 150wt double ended bulbs, but in fact they fire and drive them to specification. I have yet to find a working 150wt double ended bulb which will not fire or run with an M81(out of nearly 20 brands). As a general rule, 150wt electronic ballasts "underdrive" 150wt double ended bulbs and some ballasts have demonstrated they cannot fire or drive some bulbs. To best of my knowledge, the only electronics implicated in "overdriving" 150wt double ended bulbs are the 150/175, i.e. ARO, blueline, etc. They have not proven to be reliable with 150wt double ended bulbs and IMHO should only be used for 175 single ended bulbs. fwiw: The M102 is designed to fire a ED17 or PAR38 socketed bulb to spec. TheM102 frequently uses the same capacitor as a equiv circuited M81s, but has a slightly different core and an ingnitor of approx half specification when used on a double ended bulb. Side note: The M142 (t7/r7 variants) is very close in spec to the M102. If there is new data out there counter to the above please post it because, I'll need to test some new ballasts Thanks. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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