Icecap ballast on Odyssea fixture

[gothunder3022]

I've got one of those 700-so-odd watt MH/PC Odyssea all-in-one fixtures. 2 250W HQI MH's, 4 PC actinics and some moonlight LEDs. Any issue with using icecap ballasts instead? I tried one out, and not surprisingly, it's WAY brighter! Like maybe 3 times as bright.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

should not be a problem as long as it same ballast is being replaced as in HQI = HQI one for the other.

 

[noworries]

No problem using that ballast instead. I actually have a modded odyssea ballast that burns closer to the 250w (where most oddysea ballasts burn around 170w I believe) and compared it to an icecap I have and it was fairly close.

 

[blk822822]

I have the newer Odyssea fixture with 2 MH ,4 T5's, and 6 dual LED moonlights ,I just replaced the ballast with icecaps and there was hardly any difference. Maybe the newer ballast are better than they used to be?

 

[gothunder3022]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

So how did you mod the odyssea ballast...that's pretty cool.

 

[noworries]

I bought it already modded, but you can find the diy on several other reefing sites, just search oddysea ballast mod I'm sure it will come up. Works great, gonna be dissapointed when I sell it soon, but won't have a need for it.

 

[gothunder3022]

I bought it already modded, but you can find the diy on several other reefing sites, just search oddysea ballast mod I'm sure it will come up. Works great, gonna be dissapointed when I sell it soon, but won't have a need for it.

Got it...I'll definitely check into it.

 

[gothunder3022]

I have the newer Odyssea fixture with 2 MH ,4 T5's, and 6 dual LED moonlights ,I just replaced the ballast with icecaps and there was hardly any difference. Maybe the newer ballast are better than they used to be?

Yeah, I don't know. The fixture I have came with the silver ballast boxes...and they "supposedly" haven't been run for more than a few months. I say supposedly 'cause it was a craigslist purchase, so you never know.

Anyway...I have a PAR meter and the difference between the icecap and the odyssea ballast is dramatic...like 3-4X more light.

That was the main reason I started this thread...it's so much more output that I was worried the fixture couldn't handle the power of the icecap.

 

[blk822822]

My ballast are black. So maybe they upgraded them from the ones that had problems.

 

[gothunder3022]

My ballast are black. So maybe they upgraded them from the ones that had problems.

Here's a link to one modification: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=174113&st=0

The very last post on page 6 actually mentions how the newer Odyssea ballasts (the black ones like yours) are performing much better than the older ones like mine.

 

[Cwazy Clown]

im pretty sure the ones that people mod are the silver ones like the one in the link. but odyssea just replaced all their ballasts just last year. I have the 150watt + 2-12watt t5 and its quite comparable to the 150watt pendant I had a couple years ago, which was had an icecap ballast.

 

[blk822822]

Yea I felt kinda stupid when I put on some of the new style icecaps and its not even brighter. I'm now trying to sell my odyssea ballasts.

 

[Cwazy Clown]

hahaa all for the name of science right

 

[noworries]

Yea I felt kinda stupid when I put on some of the new style icecaps and its not even brighter. I'm now trying to sell my odyssea ballasts.

If not much difference in output, try selling the icecaps, the name recognition will get MUCH more interest in the sale. Just a thought.

 

[ac7av]

I just ordered up some of the transistors to try out but no one has them in stock. Don’t know how long for the backorder will take but hopefully not to long. It would be nice to get the full 250 watts out of this thin. I new they were a little dim when a got a 175 watt pendent with a magnetic ballast that put these 250s to shame.

 

[gothunder3022]

I just checked my Odyssea ballasts on a kill-a-watt meter. One is 170W, the other is 158W (What a POS!). The icecap I bought yesterday is running 266W!! Of course, even used, the icecap ballast was over half what I paid for the entire Odyssea fixture w/ballasts.

ac7av...let me know if you find those MOSFETS, I'll keep searching too.

 

[gothunder3022]

I found a place in the UK that has these mosfets in stock if any one is interested.