My New Metal Halides

[Krish]

Photos will be up tonight

Well, I finally got my PFO metal halide retro kit with ballast, reflectors, mogul sockets and 20K XM bulbs. OK...That ballast is HUGE No way that will fit anywhere so I guess it will have to sit outside of the stand.

Anyways, I will post photos tonight of everything and how I will attempt to mount it in my canopy along with (2) 5 inch fans that will run off of the same timer as the lights. That way, I won't have to worry about temperature swings all that much. I fired up the bulb to see what I thought of the spectrum and I think I will love it. I didn't let the bulb fully light up because I didn't want it to get too hot, but I left it on for about 45 seconds. And BTW, the ballast was impressively quiet for the size of the unit. I thought I'd get a loud hum, but it was fairly impressive.

Well cool! I'll post photos tonight like I said. II guess I have no excuse now for not adding corals

 

[spongebob lover]

AWESOME DOOD !!!
You're gonna love it.
Hey may be you should tell the guy who's making all the baby furniture to make you some sort of hiding thingy for your ballast .
By the way i didn't knwo Ballast were suppose to be loud hmmm.... may be i'm going deaf .
I'm really happy you got your lights .... now GET THOSE CORALS !!:badgrin:

 

[rudeanduncouth]

Do you have the PFO HQI ballast? Those suckers are huge. That is what I have. One of the problems I ran into them was the cord length, but I also have a hood. I have a hell of a time getting them to reach the my four ballasts.

 

[reedman]

Ahh...progress. Very cool Krish. What fans are you going to run? I keep looking for larger quiet fans, but I have a hard time finding them (computer fans stop at 120mm).

 

[spongebob lover]

Ahh...progress. Very cool Krish. What fans are you going to run? I keep looking for larger quiet fans, but I have a hard time finding them (computer fans stop at 120mm).

he got them from work .

 

[liveforphysics]

Espically on new bulbs, you need to not be doing the lite for a brief time and shut off. You need to let them burn in for hours at a time (perticularly for the first lightings), and in the position they will be mounted in. MH bulbs are very fussy girls that way.

 

[wrightme43]

Rock on Krish. Thats cool. I think Luke is right about the bulbs, but I couldnt resist either when I first got mine. It will be ok. Just remember not to drool on the light bulb or ballasts. LOL
Have fun man. I just came home for a minute. Heading back for more woodworking fun. I love that stuff now. It is a blast.

 

[Jiddy]

Wahoo! You've reached the MH age my friend. How exciting. I cant wait for pics!!! And where did you get your retro from? Congrats you lucky duck

Envious
Jiddie

 

[spongebob lover]

And where did you get your retro from?

uhhh let me guess that one.... Rob, i mean Premium Aquatics.

 

[Scooterman]

stop selling cars & post the picks
your the only one who I know starts a thread before he can even get it up & running or post picks lol

 

[spongebob lover]

stop selling cars & post the picks
your the only one who I know starts a thread before he can even get it up & running or post picks lol

LOL!!! it's true :lol:

 

[big t]

Espically on new bulbs, you need to not be doing the lite for a brief time and shut off. You need to let them burn in for hours at a time

Luke, just curious... where did you get that information? I have never heard that.

 

[Krish]

Sorry for the delay...It's been rough! Well, I'll reply to all the post right after I put up the photos.


The Ballast





I made some swivel brackets out aluminum so that I can direct the 5 inch fans. This is the first part of the bracket





Second part attached





Everything mounted under the canopy and fans tilted









The first 15 seconds after starting up the bulbs





1 1/2 minutes after starting up the bulbs






Full tank shot as best as I can get the camera adjusted. Almost right. The picture doesn't show as much shimmer across the back

 

[mfinn]

Well, what do you think?
Do you like it?

 

[Katchupoy]

is it an HQI ballast? very nice indeed.

 

[Krish]

Do you have the PFO HQI ballast? Those suckers are huge. That is what I have. One of the problems I ran into them was the cord length, but I also have a hood. I have a hell of a time getting them to reach the my four ballasts.

Hey man...Yeah is a PFO ballast as you can see, but not HQI. The thing is huge and weighs a ton! The cords are pretty cool being 8 ft long. No problems here

Ahh...progress. Very cool Krish. What fans are you going to run? I keep looking for larger quiet fans, but I have a hard time finding them (computer fans stop at 120mm).

Hey Reed! I'm running 5 inch fans I brough in through our comapny. They are made by Metra and are really quiet. With the canopy closed, you can't really tell at all that they are on. My little radio shack fan I had in the sump was loder than the 2 5 inch, so I pulled that out tonight and swapped it with one of our smaller fans. If you are interested in those fans, send me a pm and I'll let you know what I can do

Espically on new bulbs, you need to not be doing the lite for a brief time and shut off. You need to let them burn in for hours at a time (perticularly for the first lightings), and in the position they will be mounted in. MH bulbs are very fussy girls that way.

Thanks for the info Luke. I had them burning for about 2 1/2 hours. I would have left them on longer but that is the end of the photoperiod. My fish were kinda freaked by the new light and hid for 30 minutes but after that they came out and swam across the top looking for food

Rock on Krish. Thats cool. I think Luke is right about the bulbs, but I couldnt resist either when I first got mine. It will be ok. Just remember not to drool on the light bulb or ballasts. LOL
Have fun man. I just came home for a minute. Heading back for more woodworking fun. I love that stuff now. It is a blast.

LOL...Thanks Steve! Have fun!!! Those 20K's are something. It makes my coraline look like it doesn't really exist anymore

Wahoo! You've reached the MH age my friend. How exciting. I cant wait for pics!!! And where did you get your retro from? Congrats you lucky duck

Envious
Jiddie

Thanks Jidd! I'm loving it! Takes a bit of getting use to, but man...Really nice. Wish I could get the camera adjusted correctly. Yeah, my secretary got it right I got them from Premium Aquatics. Great service there

K...They won't let me reply to anymore Give me a minute to reset

 

[Krish]

stop selling cars & post the picks
your the only one who I know starts a thread before he can even get it up & running or post picks lol

ROFL!:lol: I don't sell cars dodo head There's no money in that! Well the pics are up! Hope you like!

LOL!!! it's true

LOL...Well, 2 pm's later and they're up Gabbs...So impatient

Well, what do you think?
Do you like it?

Yeah Martn...I like it! Not sure if I like all the blue, but I'll see. I may order the 14K's just to see what they look like, but not sure yet. W'll see

is it an HQI ballast? very nice indeed.

Not sure Caesar. I thought HQI and moguls were different, so couldn't say. I just bought what I was told Let me post the link to it. This is basically it with a few mods to the order

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...&Product_Code=PFO250DW10KR&Category_Code=PFOr

 

[spongebob lover]

Well Krish that took you some time... i was starting to miss you in here .
I think they look awesome and those lights are awesome... i love how they iluminate your house ..... really sweet dood really sweet !!!

 

[Krish]

Here's the converter I'm using to run the fans...Works great and costed only $20





K...Now! Here's the problem. I had broken my thermometer so I ordered a new one. I was not sure what my temp had been at for the past 2-3 weeks. Well, before firing up the lights, I put the thermometer in and my temp was 86F!!!!! After running the lights for 2 1/2 hours, the temp didn't change which means the fans were doing their job...I guess. So now, I have to figure out how to get my temp down 7 degrees or there abouts. I tried another thermometer which I borrowed from Andrew and it read the same. I was almost ready to toss the tank and said crew it, but Andrew kinda talked me into trying to work it out. A chiller is definately out of the question right now. I spent too much so far this year to go and talk about a chiller. My wife would murder me! Well...I'll toy with it tomorrow and see what I can come up with:doubt:

 

[Krish]

Well Krish that took you some time... i was starting to miss you in here .
I think they look awesome and those lights are awesome... i love how they iluminate your house ..... really sweet dood really sweet !!!

Thanks Gabbs! I can look right at the bulb and not hurt my eyes. I guess it is the spectrum of the bulb. also, I can put my hand under it and not get burned so I'm happy with that as well for when it comes to water changes...