reefriot Posted December 15, 2003 Author Share Posted December 15, 2003 using a dremel tool takes all of about 5 mins to cut the top corners of the ceramic sockets back so the glass envolope doesn't touch. some of the fitures require this others don't. i used a 300w pendant and didn't have to do anything. sorry you had such a hard time. Link to comment
wetworx101 Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 But a 300watt halogen is alot shorter than a 70watt halide...how the?! what the?! You should have had to at least extend the bracket. Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Thanks for the info wetworx and reefriot. New mounts and a bit of elbow grease are a good investment compared to the cost of a new Ushio. Link to comment
dsb1829 Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Couple of observations: 1) I was wondering when someone would mention bulb length. I ended up taking a pair of needle nose pliers and chipping away on the lamp holder (here is a picture: http://home.earthlink.net/~dbrummett2/fish...Aromat%2004.jpg ) The 70w bulb was about 3/8" longer than the 300w. I think I picked up the eq300wl regent fixture. I think at about 3.5 pages in the first person realized this problem that plagued wetworx101. 2) The main difference I have seen between the 300 and 500w fixtures seems to be the bulbs placement in the reflector. I picked up a fixture that had a parabolic reflector with the bulb in the center. I looked at some of the other fixtures and they had a reflector that would shoot light outward (good for outdoor fixture). This could be a problem over a reef tank as it is trying to spread light in a direction that may put a lot of light outside of the usefull area of the tank. I don't have a picture and at this point I am thinking that a picture would really help my explanation. Link to comment
reefriot Posted December 15, 2003 Author Share Posted December 15, 2003 i understand the frustration here but if you can get the QF300 model you won't have to do anything to it except drill some venting holes. i didn't have to even chip the endcaps on this model. i am still using the POS PSL bulb though if there a bit smaller maybe? not sure i've never had an ushio. but i wouldn't want to break it at the price of them buggers. i just checked and the cheapo halogen worklights i use, the endcaps for those fit perfectly. they might be a 500w not sure. Link to comment
KrackerG Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 hey guys! thanks for the added info about the Regents. i am still interested in this setup for my tanks...and .... well after venturing out to local 3 HDs and 3 Lowes, I still have yet to find the QF300 model. I'm seeing all the other models tho?!? anyone care to buy 5 of 'em for me?? ! Link to comment
KrackerG Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 http://www.cooperlighting.com/search/produ...tsource=Halogen <<<------REGENT QF300 NEEDED Link to comment
unsped Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 i have one im going to return, never used. i bought a pfo setup instead. Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 i got in touch with cooper lighting that makes regent and they said all the 300w floodlights are essentially the same just a different housing. And the lady said its not recommended to use MH but who cares what she says Link to comment
KrackerG Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 I have been looking for the QF300 (white or bronze) for the past few weeks. I have checked EVERY Home Depot and Lowe's in the Washington DC area and none have them. I want the QF model because the extension arm comes out of the side opposed the back giving it a longer reach. Anyways, I spoke w/ Cooper Lighting and they said the model is available and can be ordered by a HD or Lowes for me. So last night, I spoke w/ the Lowes rep, and he has a few special ordered for me. Link to comment
KrackerG Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Question for those that have this setup...how hot does the pendant get? I'm still not sure if I'm going 70w or 150w but I want to keep heat temps down...so does the 150w get hotter than a 70w? Over my 20L, wouldn't 2 70w be better than just a single 150 ?? Link to comment
Kingpin Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 so what do you need to buy? a pentant a new blub, why not the one it comes with? *is that it? i dont understand was DE blubs, POS PSL bulb, endcaps, HQ500WL. Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 DE = double ended. There's two kinds of metal halide bulbs that I know of, SE = single ended. The double ended bulbs are the HQI bulbs, they're smaller. POS means piece of $h!t, PSL stands for pet supply liquidators, they sell catalina products. Endcaps are what you plug a double ended bulb in, like you'd use a socket for a single ended screw in bulb. HQ500WL is the part number for the 500 watt halogen fixture I would assume. What you'd need to buy: The fixture, the halide bulb, and a ballast to fire it. I dunno if you need a power cord or not, you'll have to ask someone who's made one of these. Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Oh yeah, I think you need an electronic ballast for HQI bulbs, but don't quote me on this. I don't remember what HQI means, I'm sure someone else can tell ya. The DE bulbs look like the little halogen bulbs if that helps you picture it. Link to comment
unsped Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 you dont need an electronic ballast for hqi. pfo's hqi ballast is magnetic. there are ballasts "tuned" for hqi though. like pfo sells a regular magnetic ballast, and a hqi ballast as well. Link to comment
unsped Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 speaking of which, this is what 150w of 20K metal halide look like over a 7g minibow. you know... kinda like the sun's surface Link to comment
jflysmooth Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 haha, that's awesome. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 ow, get the Blue Blockers! Link to comment
wetworx101 Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 HQI is merely a trademark of OSRAM, a lighting company, to designate magnetic ballasts of a certain quality that are supposed to fire the DE bulbs the best. Often this is achieved by overpowering the bulb (ex: a HQI 400watt ballast may actually run at 430watts), and that can have some side-effects as well (less bulb life, color shifting of the bulb, more heat). Still, many swear by HQI ballasts, and after all, these ballasts and bulbs were designed to work together. Electronic ballasts have many advantages over any magnetic bulb. First, they run the bulb and themselves cooler, because of the higher efficiency they run the bulb at. This helps with heat problems. The better efficiency is due to the higher frequency that the ballasts can produce to run the bulbs...instead of pumping more electricity into the bulb to make it brighter, it gets, well, 'better' electricity. The higher frequency, and less heat means longer bulb life, higher light output, and truer color output. Many bulbs look different on various ballasts...more white on HQI, more yellow on magnetics, and more blue on electronic. It has to do with the wattage and frequency the bulb is being run at. If nothing else, the main advantage of electronics is that they 'sense' what kind of bulb is being run, and can tweak their output to match up with a variety of bulbs being run. Mismatching bulbs and ballasts is what often produces that 'hum' that many complain about when running a magnetic ballast. Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 hd here has the qf300 regents. If someone wants one and can front the shipping i can try to get em. There's bronze and white. 12$ each Link to comment
bergzy Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 actually... where can i find the wpi ballast online. lst ebay search i did for them came up with nothing... Link to comment
unsped Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 aromat makes a nice 70w electronic ballast, look on ebay for a user called "irrit8" he sells them for 50. Link to comment
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