metal halide question

[brighteyes_cm]

my husband went out of town to pick up a 250w MH ballast.
they have the M58 and some others... is there a better ballast to get? he intends on running a Ushio 10000k bulb which he heard will run on the M58 but doesnt want to be limited to this bulb only.

any help or suggestions would be muchly appreciated

[Reefer Addict]

The M58 should also run certain Coralife and Iwasaki bulbs according to hellolights.com's compatibility chart. It's not a huge selection, but it gives you a little mobility should you decide you don't like the Ushio color.
Personally, I just put in an Ushio 10K 250w bulb here a week or so ago, complemented with 240w of PC Actinic lighting, and I'm just loving the color... icey-blue white.
I think you'll be happy with the Ushio...
One thing that I'll mention is that the magnetic ballasts get hot... I put mine in an old hydrofarm ballast box (a commercial one) that I had laying around and it gets quite warm toward the end of the day.
HTH

[brighteyes_cm]

ok, Ushio 175w and 400w bulbs run on a pulse start ballast...
but the 250w runs on a probe start ballast.

??? call me slow but i dont get it????

would the 250 run better on a pulse start like the 175 and 400?

please help clear this up for me...

[bamann345]

Just get an icecap electronic ballast and you will be able to light almot any bulb. I think www.Championlighting.com is having a sale on these right now. They are easy to wire and dont get HOT, HOT, and they wont weigh an arm and a leg!

[Reefer Addict]

It depends on the bulb design as to whether or not it needs a pulse or probe start ballast... I don't understand it much myself, but I think it depends on how much voltage the lamp requires to light.
The probe starts don't need as much starting voltage, so they can use a different ballast that doesn't require a 'striker' to light the bulb (the 'pulse').
I was worried like you are that I was purchasing a ballast that would only run a certain type of bulb but I'm glad to say that I'm happy with the color I got.
If you decide you want to change to a pulse start bulb in the future you could always sell the ballast to another reefer.
Or, there's always the icecap route that bamann345 mentioined, but the ballasts are about $70 more expensive through hellolights, and you'll be able to run any 250w bulb with it.
HTH

[brighteyes_cm]

Bamann, i appreciate the idea, but money is a consideration in this (read: im not made of money)
not to mention the fact that my husband is a staunch DIY type "why buy what you can make for half the cost"

thanks for the feedback RA

[bamann345]

ahh
yeah!

Then just read about the pluse and probe start stuff....i have NO CLUE!

[brighteyes_cm]

Well, its settled,
Brandon is bringing home a m58 and an Ushio 10000k. i hope we like it, if not, some other reefer may want to take it off our hands

thanks guys