175 MH ballast question

[trussmandave]

I was given 2 used lighting fixtures from a manufacturing facility. They are 175 watt Metal Halide with magnet and seperate piece (capacitor?) I guess this is a tar ballast like I hear about? It is very heavy. I was just getting ready to retro a 130 watt PC fixture with metal halides this size. My question is: are the ballasts used in the aquarium trade any different than a ballast designed for building lighting? The ballast is Advance 71A5700, if that means anything to anyone. 120 volt, 60Hz, 2.5 amp, 310VOC.
I'd really like to be able to install these on my 55 reef. Also, how far off the water is recommended for 175 MH?

[RobinsonFam1]

6" off water or more.
it depends if the ballsat will work.
i would find out what bulbs you want to fire M58 i think is the one for mogul base. call the manufacturere or search the web to find out if that ballast will fire your bulbs.

HTH

BR

[trussmandave]

These ballasts already have a mogul base. The bulb in them is a GE R175 Mercury, HR175dx39, Hungary 1099.

Thanks for the input.

[kayaker97321]

Are you sure you have the model number right? The number you gave 71A5700 shows up on the advanced transformer's web site as a 250 watt ballast (M58).


http://www.advancetransformer.com/ec...3203623991.pdf

You should be able to run any probe start lamp 250 watt on it.

[trussmandave]

maybe it is a 250 watt, though they had 175 watt bulb in it. The mogul says M58 on it. Also, the threads on this mogul didn't fit a reef lamp I tried screwing in at my LFS. The bulb says mercury on it. Could these be mercury vapor instead of halide? Will the ballast still work with halide?

Thanks

[trussmandave]

Also, model # appears in 2 places-71A5700.

[trussmandave]

Thanks, Kayaker. Opened up that link and it was very helpful. Is a metal halide ballast, 250 watt. Wish me luck with the retro!

[kayaker97321]

Hope it works for you. Guess you got a better deal that you thought. 250 instead of a 175. You should be really happy with the amount of light it puts out. There are some threads on this site that discuss different lamps. Might want to take a look. It should give you an idea what other people are using.

Tyler

[yardboy]

Yes, that ballast will fire an XM mogul bullb with no problems. An Iwaki will work too, which is a mercury vapor lamp. They should have the same size base. Sure it just was hard to get the threads started and so you were paranoid? Can't use Double ended bulbs with it, but that's no big deal. I use those ballasts (250W and 400W) on my propagation tanks. Only challenge is finding a case to put them in, unless the fixture has the ballast mounted internally, then your good to go.
Do you know that they weren't getting rid of the fixtures because the ballasts didn't work? (could of been because they had the wrong size bulb and it blew out!) If you're not sure, might behoove you to get a bulb from Lowe's or HD and try them first. They're a lot cheaper and if it doesn't work you'll know it before you invest in a more expensive bulb. Also, if they don't work, 99% of the time it's the capacitor and I can give you the number for a company that will sell you just the capacitor for $20. I scored two 400W MH's this way, and got the whole fixture for the cost of the capacitor.

[trussmandave]

Thanks yardboy. Yes, the fixtures worked as designed, just not bright enough for our mfg. facility. Already mtd in heavy case. I will only have to wire an extension on moguls and mt on canopy. Was told 14 guage wire should work fine, and I'm semi-handy. Just need bulbs. Saw some for $35 ea on line but they scare me. CRI of 65 among other things. You like XM?

[yardboy]

I've been using double ended Ushios on my display tank, but a month ago bought a 400W (fired by an M59 similar situation to yours!) XM and it seems fine so far. I've got it on a 70 gallon frag tank. I've got another one that I'll try an XM 20000K on, but I want to build a shallow tank to allow for the lower PAR of the 20000K light. I'm thinking a 24L X 24W X 10D to get all the benefit of the light. I'll report back how it goes.

[pmh]

I've been running this type of fixture on my tank for 3 years, no problem. I actually wired them so I could have the ballast in a remote location and the mogal in a canopy. worked great.


pmh

[trussmandave]

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm planning. The boxes they are in are heavy and large. I have a small closet next to the tank where I'll hide the ballasts.

Bulb advice? Guy at LFS (pretty good guy) has 'ESC' bulbs, which he seems to think are great for the money. ($75 ea. for 250s) Any opinions on these?

[trussmandave]

Oops. That pic was supposed to go under my name. Hope everyone likes it.

[pmh]

i've been running ushios, but I just bought xm's I'm told that they are equal to the usios and are only about 2/3 the cost


pmh