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MH Bulb Replacement

John

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John Master Reefer

John

I have a 250W MH Ballast made by PFO Lighting (AQ 1-250)...I tried to replace the bulb with a 250W Icecap 14000K style bulb this morning, but it will not illuminate

 

I did notice the new bulb is about an inch shorter than the previous bulb, so I'm guess a new bulb is in order, but what am I missing?

 

Thanks

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Coral Hind Neptune Reefer

Coral Hind

I have a 250W MH Ballast made by PFO Lighting (AQ 1-250)...I tried to replace the bulb with a 250W Icecap 14000K style bulb this morning, but it will not illuminate

 

I did notice the new bulb is about an inch shorter than the previous bulb, so I'm guess a new bulb is in order, but what am I missing?

 

Thanks

 

When you turn it on do you see a small arc between the two probes at the base end?

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John Master Reefer

John

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So, I'm an idiot...There was no problem with the bulb/ballast matchup...the bottom plate of the socket was not making contact with the new bulb...I had to pull it forward a little bit and then the bulb fired up no problem...

 

Therefore, a PFO Ballast works well with an Icecap Bulb (SE)

 

Sorry for this thread! :)

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John Master Reefer

John

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I would like to also add an interesting observation.

 

I was running a MH daylight bulb before and my button polyps (zoanthids and palythoas) would stand tall with long stalks...with the new 14k bulb, they don't stand as tall...maybe the old bulb had lost its intensity (I don't know the age of the bulb) or maybe its the change in color spectrum, or both...

 

Anyway, I found that to be very interesting and thought I'd share it with everyone!

 

Thanks!

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Coral Hind Neptune Reefer

Coral Hind

Just in case you don't know...Since this new bulb is stronger then the older and weaker bulb you will want to reduce your photo period by about two hours for the first week and then increase it say a half hour a week until back to normal. This will prevent you from burning the corals.

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John Master Reefer

John

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Day two the new Icecap 14k MH bulb would not illuminate no matter what I tried, so I was off to do more research...I found that the ballast I have is really a PFO AQI 250 EYE, which means that it can only use the Iwasaki 250W 6500K bulb, which is the bulb I was trying to replace. This ballast is a Mercury Vapor Ballast and can only use Iwasaki bulbs, and the only bulb offered in 250W is the 6500K bulb. The following thread is where I found the info:

 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting...uble-check.html

 

Thus, I am now looking for a normal ballast to run my new bulb...I just hope it's not blown after 8 hours of running on a MV ballast. I'm shocked it started up in the first place seeing that it needs an electronic or magnetic ballast.

 

Anyone have an suggestions on a 250W ballast to run a single SE Icecap 14k bulb? Was leaning toward Icecap so that the bulb is paired with the ballast.

 

Thanks,

John

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