ma_sha1 Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 ***** To see Crocea Clam, go to the last page***** ***** To see T4HO: Worlds smallest actinic tube, go to the last page***** Retired my 2.5G Pico for 3 yrs with 27W PC, starting a new Project. This time, just a bit bigger: 4G Glass Pico Jali tank that came with 18W aluminum Light fixture. The tank is 11" wide, 7" deep, 10" High. Not much bigger than the 2.5 but much deeper. The light fixture: 35W 10000K MH bulb retro fitted into the PC fixture, installed a fan (Not powerful enough, I think it's only ~4CFM, this is not enough to take care of the heat, the plan is to have MH light sit directly on top, fan to be upgraded into 17CFM fan), added UV glass. Rio Nano Skimmer (Also serve as filter) 40gph tiny powerhead. I am waiting for the new fans to arrive before getting it up & running. Left View on Fan & Skimmer: View from under the light fixture: Show the retro fit of MH bulb. Link to comment
SPerry Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 Where did you get a 35W MH retro? Link to comment
seagul Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 wow very cool! likewise, were did the 35 watt halide come from!? Link to comment
Naturalreef Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 Damn, I need to know as well......wallet is armed:) Link to comment
yoitsarson Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 Credit card in hand. Where did you get the 35w mh???? Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 Looks like a xenon HID from an automotive application Always wanted to try that out. Been wanting to do a small split 10G with 7G view area / 3g sump I use two 10-14K HIDs run off a power supply. Link to comment
Joe b Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 Haven't seen a 35 watt but did find a 50 watt I may be getting to put on the 5 gal. Link to comment
SPerry Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 It looks like one of these. xenon Link to comment
Deano Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 I can't speak for the original poster. I am pretty sure this is what he is using. Automotive HID. What little internet research I have done this sounds like a pretty good Idea. All you would need is a AC to 12v DC converter and the light kit. http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?PageAc...amp;ProdID=1499 Original post states 10000k. With some searching I am sure you can find 10k as well. Here is a link to a Chines mfg. selling 10k's. http://www.tradekey.com/product_listall/ui...5/gid/53884.htm Link to comment
Hans Dorn Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 Sorry to burst your bubble, but automotive HIDs are only good for about 2500 hours. LINK Regards Hans P.S: First post..... Link to comment
Naturalreef Posted December 25, 2007 Share Posted December 25, 2007 That's still 312 Days @ 8 hours per day...I wouldn't mind replacing the bulb once a year... Sorry to burst your bubble, but automotive HIDs are only good for about 2500 hours. LINK Regards Hans P.S: First post..... Link to comment
ma_sha1 Posted December 26, 2007 Author Share Posted December 26, 2007 Light is up & running. It is indeed HID MH light from Automotive field, another hobby of mine. Click here to check what I did to my HID headlight: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/807724 The light is powered by 12V Car battery while I am getting a high current power supply so that I can put it on a timer. Need >20A power supply, most 12V power supply including those for notebook computer only deliver max 3-5A. The MH HID light need 20A to start & 4A to run. Car battery can deliver lot of current but but I can't put it on a timer. Side: Front: 10000K color looks great in my 4G pico. I got another blue LED actinic light stripe, not sure I'll install that or not. We'll see. The light fixture is barely warm (Actually cooler than when the 18W PC was on), Tank temp remain 78 degree. Thanks to the added fan, which pulls quite a bit of hot air away. Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Thats a cool looking tank Link to comment
MrMello Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Sounds good,.. But the cost sux! Still looking at more dollars than a nice proper MH hood for just the HID kit. Has anyone found 10k or 12k HID kit for under $200? It seems this should be a whole lot cheaper than it is. Link to comment
ma_sha1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Not true, Actually, I wouldn't have done the DIY if it did not come with cost advantage. The HID 10000K Kit cost me $70 from ebay including shipping, that comes with two MH & two ballasts. So, if you have two people split a kit. it's $35/person. The cost is so low because Automotive industry has mass market that drives the cost way down vs. reef hobby.Then just wire it with a car battery or jump charger, you can run several hours/day.If you want to add a high current power supply, it'll be another $50-80, but you don't have to if you don't need to put it on a timer. For replacment bulb, it's $30/pair on ebay. $15/bulb, vs reef MH bulb $70-100/bulb. Over the long run, it'll save lots of money as one need to replace a MH each yr to keep the proper kelvin. Check out the Video,You can see the shimmering effect of the metal halide:http://www.vimeo.com/454619 Link to comment
suppressive fire Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 im getting red x's for the last pics. Link to comment
ENraged Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 How are the running temps? Link to comment
ma_sha1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 How are the running temps? Running Temp. is a stable 78 degree. The light fixture is cooler than before when it was a 18W PC without Fan. Link to comment
Kirin1 Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 If you're still looking for a power supply try a call to Allied Electronics, they should be able to take your power requirements and recommend a few products that fit the bill. I bought a power supply from them when I was looking for a variable unit to run a set of 4 fans. Every variable wall-wart unit I could find on my own couldn't handle the milliamp draw from all four fans. I called, and the rep found me something that isn't in their regular catalog that has an 800MA rating. Link to comment
ma_sha1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Thanks for the info. I already bought one of the 26A power supply from ebay. It should be here in a few days. It should be adequate to run a fan (0.5A) with the MH (20A) together. Link to comment
MrMello Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 ok,.. if you use a fairly large cap, or a small lead acid battery you can solve the inrush current problem very easily, and use a small cheap power supply (3 amp). As for the HID setup, there are a million choices. Which one do i need? Anyone want to split one with me? How about it ma_sha1,.. still got the other half of that setup? Link to comment
ma_sha1 Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 Make sure you get the 10000 K HID kit that the bulb is not coated blue. The highest Kelvin major brand bulb is philip bulbs, only 6100K. many HID bulbs for 10000K & above are just 6100K bulb coated with blue film, which reduce light output & generate more heat. I believe my 10000K bulb that's not coated with blue film are actually cheap Chinese made MH HID. So get the cheap kits, just make sure the bulb is not coated. If you want the exact one I got, search ebay with this phrase: HID XENON CONVERSION KIT 6000K 8000K 10000K 12000K 9006 Then, look for those from the seller: hqz4321. Kit is buy it now, plus shipping comes out around $70. His rating isn't very good, so there's some risk, make sure use paypal so you are protected. As for the other half of my kit, I am keeping it. Need to change bulb once a year, also good to have a back-up ballast, as my kit is cheap. Don't know how long it'll last. Link to comment
MrMello Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 I don't use paypal anymore,.. they don't protect for shyt,... my account was compromised ($1550) and it took forever to get my money back,.. Now I use American Express CC only,... They are just so easy to deal with on fraud problems,.. I don't ever want to have to go through that again,... All i really wanted was the shimmer effect,.. I found i can get that with LEDs,... Will post a pic when i finish my new 5.5,... Thanks for all the info! Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 I don't use paypal anymore,.. they don't protect for shyt,... my account was compromised ($1550) and it took forever to get my money back,.. Now I use American Express CC only,... They are just so easy to deal with on fraud problems,.. I don't ever want to have to go through that again,... All i really wanted was the shimmer effect,.. I found i can get that with LEDs,... Will post a pic when i finish my new 5.5,... Thanks for all the info! Contact mobilehid.com. Cliff is a buddy and I have two full sets of HIDs from him in my car. He has 10K & 12K available from memory without any coating. Kits are $180 per pair but the best quality I have seen in the aftermarket. I have watched him personally take a hammer to a ballast at a car show and have no failure, I have seen him dunk the lights and then light them up in a fish tank for a show for hours without failure! Very good stuff. Link to comment
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