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MH bulb to match my ballast?


Six

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I'm not one to ask inane questions. Well, I try not to at least. :) Butttt.... I have a custom sealife ballast that will run a 175W MH bulb. Is there a particular brand of bulb that runs on that particular brand of ballast better than others? I ask becasue I've has horrible, terrible, insanely frustrating luck with running a 10K Ushio bulb. It simply won't fire unless I give the bulb a lot of TLC (meaning I have to get a freaking towel out and turn the bulb back and forth til it decides it wants to fire... urg, what a pain.) I'm not home all the time when it starts (I try to be) so this is a major problem.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Anyone have any favorite MH brands?

I plan on buying new bulbs that run 14K or 20K w/o actinics over the tank.

 

 

Thanks in advance!

6

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There are bacically 3 different types of ballasts. Probe start, Magnetic, or Electronic. The electronics will light any type bulb. The other two are specific to certain brands of bulbs. Try to find out what type of ballast you have, then the bulb choices will be easier to figure out. You might have the wrong bulb for the ballast.

 

Bob

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sorry it took me like 8 years to reply :D

 

The ballast says on the bottom that it's for 1- 175W, 120V, 1.8 Amps, 216W. That's all it says. :/ Hrm. Hope that helps.

 

thanks!

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Should give you an ansi code like m81 for a 150 watt de magnetic ballast. Something with an m. Unless its electronic, then something is wrong with the wiring, bulb, or ballast.

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BKtomodachi

Hmmm... anybody know about PFO ballasts? I always thought they were pretty universal... and I'm hoping so.

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urg, this is such a pain in the arse. :D

I'll check that out tomorrow nite. this was a hand-me-down so it's older than crap. Do ballast proformance go down as they age? Cus seriously, this one is from '94. :D

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