Metal Halide Help

[baden187]

Here one to tickle your fancy I have recently bought an Arcadia Series 3 150w x 2 MH 3 months old from my LFS for £200 which they had in on a part exchange the only thing is they were 250w and my lfs told me the guy who bought them had them stepped down to 150w because of running costs which goes beyond me but what I would like to know how to change them back to 250w as I'm not a sparky or have any knowledge I don’t know what has been done to them but when you look at them from above I can still see that its still has 250w ballasts in it and I can see that the bulb holders have been changed also the Ignitor is a Tridonic Ignitor ZRM6-ES/B and rates are HS/SON 100-400w and HI/MBU 35-400w but cant see the capacitor without removing the unit and opening
I have asked my LFS to ask the gent in question what was done to them when he sees him again but can some one please help me out on here I am sure its not as simple as changing the bulb holders and bulbs

Baden

Here is the best photo I can take of the Ballast I have high lighted where its marked 250W
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/2005_0908cycle00012.jpg

[Reef bloke]

Sounds a little strange to me.So to get this straight,it had 150 watt rx7 lamp holders but 250 watt ballasts?
Sounds like the chap had trouble with the lamp holders and tried putting 150 watt holders in instaed.
Id treat the unit with kid gloves as it sounds like the chap hadnt got a clue.Also do the ballasts state that they are Sodium vapour/metal halide and not mecury vapour as he could have replaced these for cheap ones if they were knackered.
I think your going to have to strip it down for a good look or just ask for you money back as they sound butchered.

[baden187]

They have all the original Arcadia fitting including Ballasts and ignitors its just the bulbs and bulb holders have been changed to 150w my LFS told me that the gent in question had them done in work by a qualified Sparky

I am using them at the moment and seem to work fine to problem to report

Baden :thumbsup:

[Reef bloke]

Wont the 250 watt ballasts overdrive the 150 watt lamps?Sounds a bit dodgy to me,perhaps someone more qualified would like to respond?

[baden187]

That’s what I thought I know on fluorescents you can run smaller bulbs but I don’t know about MH

Baden

[Reef bloke]

To be quite honoust mate id be very wiffy about running it like that.I know that if MH lamps are driven by an incorrect ballast they can go prematurely and emit high UV that can kill corals.Not sure what effect running a 150 watt lamp at 250watt might do.

[baden187]

I have taken them off and am now gone back to my T5's until I can find out more
Any Sparkies who can advise me please get in touch

Baden :thumbsup:

[peterp]

Baden.

I am a spark or so I am called some times?

Yes you can run a 150 lamp on 250 gear but it won’t last long.

The Igniters will be OK for 250w lamps as they will go up to 400w the HI on the igniters mean they are ok for halides.

The capacitor should be OK if original.

The ballast again if original should be OK and also should be marked suitable for use with HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM or METAL HALIDE or HI.

So in theory all you should have to do is change the lamp holders back to the original (FC2 lamp holders) you can get these from any good electrical wholesalers for about £7-8 each.
The job to change the lamp holders is easy enough to do the original fixing holes for the holders can be reused, just disconnect the Rx7 holders and reconnect the new FC2 holders. Be warned when you unscrew the 8 fixing screws on each of the side plates to get at the internals the fitting will fall to pieces (I know from experience) pain in the butt to get the fixing holes to line up again.

Hand on heart though let a spark or reputable dealer check it out live electricity hurts at best. Especially around water.
Pete

[baden187]

Thank you Peter for the reply its a great help :cheers: But I will also take your advice and get any work checked or even done by the right people once again THANKS M8

Kindest Regards

Baden :thumbsup: