halide units

[jon h]

Hi all
I was just wondering if all halide units are the same ie ballst unit,screw fittings etc.Becuase at work today we were having mhi fitted to w/shop and i asked electrican how much they could get units for.He said i could have a 250w lowbray unit for £30 trade:D .The ques is could i put any 250w bulb in there and that would be it,or are balsts diff in industrial fittings,and are all screw threads standard on bulbs.
appreaciate any thoughts on this,its a lot cheaper than arcadia units for same thing at the end of the day:eek:

thanks jon:)

[slappy]

Lowbay units are generlly designed to be used as a flood lamp or warehouse lighting.

If your electrician can confirm that the ballast inside the units are definately Metal Halide or SON then you should be fine.

The bulb fitments on lowbays are usually E40 fitment (single screw).

[kim]

You do not want a mercury vapour ballast....a halide or sodium ballast should be okay.

Most screw fit lamps are interchangeable, but there are a couple of major thread sizes. It's up to you to check that the lampholder fits the lamp you want, or that it can be easily changed (lampholders are pretty cheap, just you'd need to DIY it). E40 is the most common over here.

Most (all ?) Arcadia units are double ended lamps, most industrial jobbies are single ended lamps. Those lamps aren't easily swapped.

Obviously, you'll almost surely need to buy the lamp itself from another source, unless your supplier has appropriate versions.

kim

[dan-the-man]

http://www.1-hydroponics.co.uk/grow-lights.htm

So, would these things be ok then kim? If you changed the bulb of course?

Cheers,
Dan

[jon h]

Thanks for comments
So basically need to choose bulb i want then make sure it fits in unit?
are screw thread and double enders any diff in quality of light terms?

[kim]

Dan,

Lots of people use those and similar units. Just bear in mind that they are designed to shed light over fairly large areas, so you need to enclose then in a hood or similar to avoid glare, and don't use them above a nano !

Jon,

That's it ! Single ended and double ended lamps really don't show any relative advantage. Just not all makers produce both, so not all choices are available for all fittings.

kim

[wayne in norway]

DE are a bit more efficient than SE - a 175 watt SE is reputedly dimmer than a 150 DE.

There is a stack of info on reefcentral about mixing ballasts with bulbs, plus of course you can make plots from Sanjay Yoshis websites. Not all ballasts are the same, and different ballasts on the same bulb will affect output and spectra.

However whether a 10% loss is worth it for a 60, 70% saving in cost is a different question ...

This is a starting point ... http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=624185

So I would ssay start with the hydroponics fixture and see if you like it - at least you know if you don't you haven't wasted much money, most of the bits can be recycled, and know you have options

[Tristan]

Old thread i know, but, i have heard that magnetic balasts arent any good for marine and you need electronic, can anyone help me on this?

[designsonline.co.uk]

I thought that electronic balasts were lighter and cheeper to run, but both could be used....

Joe

[simon garratt]

The only major issue with ballasts is ensuring you have MH/HPS ballasts and not Murcury Vapour ballast (as usually fitted in commercial Lowbays). MV ballasts dont control the power to the lamp correctly causing it to waver in and out of the correct spectrum. this causes large dips and peaks in UV output that will damage corals.

regards

Si.