dweakl01 Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Just a heads up... I came back from Lowe's today with a Regent 500 watt halogen worklight. It is Model # PQS45 and has a yellow frame/stand with it. It is ballasted and ready to be plugged-in. If you don't assemble the fame/stand, this can be easily hung over a reef. It accepts 500 watt and lower bulbs and comes with 2 x 500 watt bulbs included. The price was the best part...$9.99. So head off to your Lowe's then to your LFS to buy a decent bulb (500 watt or less) and you'll have a very affordable MH system. See the pics below...not bad for $10. Link to comment
kentmoney Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 actually, cant you only use the housing and the sockets? i beleive you need a different ballast because that is a halogen bulb... Link to comment
Stanley Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 wow... and to think all this time we've been spending 300+$ for halide systems that are only 250W. You'd think that someone would have thought of this before, but nah... us reefers arn't generally arn't inventive and into DIY stuff... hey, wait a second... Link to comment
Stanley Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 haha... sorry, couldn't help my self. That system will not run a halide bulb, and it's stock bulbs are of an undesirable color temp. with low par values. Still cool though cause pendants can go for 80+ Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 Actually, it runs a halide bulb just fine. I put a 20K 150 watt coralife bulb in it this afternoon and its working perfectly. Link to comment
Stanley Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 huh... I'm a bit skeptical, but I'll take you at your word. Let us know how it goes. Link to comment
RedEDGE2k1 Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I don't believe that for one second. Do you have pictures with the 20k MH bulb in place? Can anyone verify this is possible? Seems like someone would have noted this a LONG time ago. Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 I had to replace the halogen socket with a $7 MH socket, but that's it. Nothing else. Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 There's actually a AA article abuot doing it...use the link to check it out yourselves...NON -BELIEVERS! http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar...004/feature.htm Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 The non-believers are quiet...pondering the money they have wasted on MH set-ups. Link to comment
kentmoney Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 uhh. is this seriously frickin true? Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 Yes, seriously true. Read the AA article then visit Lowes for the light-$10- and get an MH bracket - $8 - from your local lighting shop. After that the bulb ($25 - $50) is your only other expenditure. Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 THe bracket replacement will take about 10 minutes to do...Remove the halogen bulb, remove the reflector remove the bracket cut the bracket lead, splice-in the new bracket and revers the above steps. Link to comment
ashburn Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 how long have you been running this setup? Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 I just rigged it up yesterday, so I have no longevity claims, sorry. Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 I'm off to work. Naysayers, debate amongst yourselves until I return this evening. Link to comment
mattgreene22 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Sounds like this set-up could use a better reflector too bsed on that article...but I was speed-reading admittedly. Did it appear that way to anyone else? Sounds like an interesting option and project. dweakl01 - You're using a DE bracket...right? Also, did you swap out the reflector too...or do you plan to later? Can you give us some specs: fixture size (internal/external), ballast included, etc?? Sounds like a cool cheap rig...keep us posted on the performance. Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 Yeah its a single piece (not two pieces) DE bracket, and yes I reused the old reflector. And, you're correct, the reflector isn't much and could probably be upgraded cheaply as well. As far as specs go, I'll measure it tonight. Link to comment
Perpetual98 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I can't imagine that this will work long term, if it even works at all. I would think, (and I'm no EE) that even if the bulb did fire, you're not even in the ballpark for wattage that the bulb wants. How about some more pics of it in action? Hopefully it does work! Link to comment
proraptor Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Hm...Interesting! Maybe Ill try this out! Link to comment
kentmoney Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 isnt he overdriving the bulb if its for a 500 watt bulb? Link to comment
ashburn Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 i think it should be fine, that lamp is using a electronic ballast Link to comment
dweakl01 Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 No the ballast is rated for 500 wattts or less. The 150 watt bulb is fine. Link to comment
mattgreene22 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 dweakl01 - Does the halogen light actually have a ballast? See http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=627616 Sounds like you have a working fixture, but nobody understands how you actually fire and run the MH bulb without a ballast. If you are using a ballast, please post specs for that...as well as dimensions on the fixture. ??? Link to comment
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