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imaexpat2 
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 Topic: Mh info needed......
Posted: February 23 2004 at 5:40pm |
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I have a 400 watt PFO ballast (older coil/tar ballast) thats hooked up to a pendent with two PC actinic bulbs. This fixture has no Mh bulb. Can anyone "enlighten" me, on what bulbs I can run in the ballast? I am in a little bit of a "gray area" on if I need to use "pulse" or "probe" style bulbs in this fixture. I would appreciate any help I can get on this.
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300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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jfinch
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Posted: February 23 2004 at 5:55pm |
I would need more info. Can you look at the actual core & coil ballast? There will be a sticker on it with a wiring diagram and some descriptive words. Look for M59 or M135 somewhere on the label.
M59 = probe start ballast
M135 = pulse start ballast
If I were to just guess, I'd say it's a probe start, M59 since they are the most common...
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imaexpat2
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Posted: February 23 2004 at 8:04pm |
jfinch
I havent picked up said light from the guy selling it yet, that will be thursday. I was able to acertain that it has a mogel socket, and the previous owner was running 10k ushio's and ?k Hamilton bulbs in it.
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300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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jfinch
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Posted: February 23 2004 at 8:48pm |
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Well, the 400 watt 10k Ushio is a pulse start bulb, but many people run these bulbs on a probe start ballast so that may not help you. The guy selling doesn't know?
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imaexpat2
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Posted: February 23 2004 at 9:08pm |
Jfinch
He couldnt really tell me either which was a little suprising, when I asked if it was pulse start or probe start. At least that would have gave me a clue as to what kind of bulbs I need to be looking for. It doesnt come with halide bulbs so I kinda wanted to order some ahead of time so that they would get here shortly after picking up the fixture. I am really hesitant to order bulbs then find out they arent the right ones. I work with explosives so I am a "By the Book" kinda guy and dont care too much for the "well it works" mentality, or "Trick of the Week". I am not really too picky about the bulb I use, but I do want to use the correct bulb as the manufacturer intended. I am sure my insurance company would appreciate that too! I am kind of a newbie when it comes to halides. I realize thats not giving you a lot to work with...may just wait till I actually get it and have a chance to look it over thoroughly to see exactly what I got and put it in perspective. Either way its going to be a much needed step up in lighting for my tank.
Some of the bulbs that produced lighting that I thought looked nice were PFO 13k, XM 10k, Ushio 10k(pulse start), Aqualine Burske 13k and Coralvue 15k. Which one of these are Pulse start and probe start?
Man, I got way too many questions.....
I appreciate the effort though!!!
Edited by imaexpat2
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300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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jfinch
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Posted: February 23 2004 at 9:19pm |
400 watt bulbs (don't quote me on this, my memory isn't what it used to be)
PFO, don't know
XM probe start
Ushio 10k pulse start
AB 13k pulse start
Coralvue 15k probe start
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imaexpat2
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Posted: February 23 2004 at 9:38pm |
Thanks!!!
At least I got a couple of choices either way. I appreciate the schooling! That gray area is getting a bit clearer now.
Edited by imaexpat2
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|
300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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imaexpat2
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Posted: February 26 2004 at 9:34pm |
Humm, got the ballast and pendent but I am still unable to find anything that would idicate Pusle or Probe start set up. Here is some info if it would help advise me in detirmining which type of set up I have....
Dual PFO ballast in an brushed aluminum case model # AQ2-400 uses 4.0 amps and is firing an unidentified German manufactured 10K bulb in a pendent with 2 x 4 pin (square oreintation) PC bulbs in each pendent. This is all of the info I can pull off the ballast and the pendents.
Anyone have any ideas...?
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300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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jfinch
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Posted: February 26 2004 at 9:50pm |
PFO's website isn't the most informative, but here's a link that leads me to believe they're probe start. http://www.pfolighting.com/aqwebsite/aqimages/AqcatFALL00.pd f go to page 9 which shows the wiring diagram. From that diagram I'd say it's probe because there is no ignitor just a capacitor.
You could always take the end off the enclosure (probably just remove a couple screws) and have a looksy at the bare ballasts.
Edited by jfinch
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imaexpat2
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Posted: February 27 2004 at 6:09pm |
Yes jfinch, I did hit there site and wasnt that impressed, so I called. One of the codes they told me that followed the model number wasnt ther, must have rubbed off the plate or something. They told me they were resonable sure it was a probe start. Several others I talked to about this felt it was probably a probe start so those are the bulbs I ordered today. Guess I will find out Weds if thats the case. Thanks for your help there big guy!
Tried one of them out with an old 400 watt bulb and man what a difference it is over the 250 watt 6500K's currently on the tank!
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300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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