How-to: Make your own 70w MH Pendant

[yardboy]

Help me diagnose what is wrong. I built it and when I plug it in it works (takes a minute to get to full brightness) but when I move it, it goes off. Unplug it, plug it back in and it works. I've checked all the connections and they are not the problem. So ballast or bulb, which would be your guess?

 

Connections. Either the wire or the bulb in the socket. My guess is the bulb/socket connection.

If the ballast is electronic, even "shaking it like it's hot" won't really effect the ballast/bulb short-term.

[alexmurovec]

ok, i just wired up my ballast and pendant, and when i get my bulb, she's ready to fire. before in this forum there was some talk about UV proof glass. the metal halide bulb gives off UV rays correct? now i think someone stated that the halogen lighting shield is UV protected, so should i be fine with the stock glass? just want to clear things up. also, does anyone know where i can friggen get a astralux 14k 70W?

[dl5]

yeah you'll be fine w/ the stock glass, uv actually has pretty poor penetrating capabilities. in the ocean, i believe it only penetrates the first few feet of water. but regular glass blocks out uv rays pretty well.

[alexmurovec]

yeah you'll be fine w/ the stock glass, uv actually has pretty poor penetrating capabilities. in the ocean, i believe it only penetrates the first few feet of water. but regular glass blocks out uv rays pretty well.

 

awesome, so all i'm waiting on is my bulb. i still do not know where to find one in canada. even if its a coralife, all the lfs only carry 150W.

[alexmurovec]

i've been searching through craigslist today and have found alot of metal halid stuff for cheap. check out this 400W fixture, is this legit?

 

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ele/310798758.html

[Uhuru]

I may be selling my 70w DIY setup with aromat electronic ballast and 2 14K astralux bulbs (1 brand new in box, 1 being used currently). I think I want to upgrade to a 150w 20K. If someone is thinking of doing this project and doesn't have the materials yet you can get a good deal plus save time buying my stuff. LMK

[dzhuo]

guys, will this ballast (150W):

 

http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID=12...=17&level=1

 

fire a 70w bulb? it probably will but i want to make sure. i will be using a 70w bulb for now but want to have the option of upgrade to 150w if need be.

 

also, how's ballastwise's stocking situation? do they still take weeks to ship?

 

thanks!

[yardboy]

You cannot fire a 70W bulb with a 150W ballast.

I've not had any longer delay than 10 days on a ballast ship and that was only once, otherwise less than a week. I understand that they are getting even faster.

[alexmurovec]

metal halide ballasts only fire the bulb that they are listed as. for example, a 400W ballast will not fire a 250W bulb, only a 400W. etc.

[dzhuo]

oh cool. thanks guys! i am going with a 70w ballast then. hopefully it will ship within a week. who else is selling those ballast? anything i find from ebay is much more expensive.

 

thanks!

[dzhuo]

oh btw, where do you guys get the AstraLux 14k 70w Bulb ?

[shouldabenacowboy]

My first Balleswise took 3 weeks to get. When I ordered a second it came in 4 days.

 

SBC

[thejanitor86]

if i do this mod, will my corals be happy with the 70w 14k bulb alone or will i need other lighting as well. and could i put in some easier sps corals with a 70w set up in my 10g

[Abysswater]

if i do this mod, will my corals be happy with the 70w 14k bulb alone or will i need other lighting as well. and could i put in some easier sps corals with a 70w set up in my 10g

 

 

Yes!

[thejanitor86]

what would be best for my 10g this 70w mh or the 96w nova ho t5 hood, i am also looking at the 130w coralife lunar hood. i look at so many different reviews i dont know what to think. i know the coralife hood can fit the 10g which is 20" long but i dont know if the legs on the nova can be adjusted. srry if i got off topic.

[epicfish]

Depends on what you want to keep. If you want SPS or any clams, I'd say go for the MH. Otherwise the PC will be fine. I noticed a few of my ricordea were NOT happy with the MH and I had to move them underneath one of my "caves" to shield them from too much light.

[Mirepa]

holy sweet jesus =)

 

I havn't logged on in a LONG LONG time and notice my DIY thread has grown to 391 posts lol, congrats to all who have created thier own lighting system.

 

Unfortunately for me, I'm out of the reef business for now.

 

I have a 33g Cube that needs some stocking and a new water changes its past due about a year now running on just RO/DI top off =)

 

Still got great corline growth, all the feather dusters are alive, my pagoda is doing awesome and my 2 fish (chromi, firefish) are amazing still alive!

 

LoL..

 

GG, I'll be on in another week or so =D

[Burks]

So the final word on UV rays with this type of setup is there is no need to worry? The glass filters enough out?

[yardboy]

Check out my Ghetto Beauty thread and decide for yourself.

[Burks]

Check out my Ghetto Beauty thread and decide for yourself.

 

That answers my question perfectly.

 

On a side note: Freaking nice tank! I love it.

[cmv138]

Mirepa showed me this a couple weeks ago and i finally got around to getting a fixture for my 70w MH.

 

i was at home depot looking for some other things and i happened across this 300w halogen work light that looked like it would fit perfectly. and it was only $10 so i picked it up. it came with a switch but i was too impatient to try and figure out how to wire it in ( i found out what i needed to do AFTER i had put it all together heh) so i just clipped it out and wired it straight in. it's going to be on a timer anyway so a switch would be pretty useless. i don't have a picture of it in it's original form and i couldn't find it on the home depot website. it's a Husky brand outdoor work light. couldn't find it on the Husky website either. i'll post a pic of the box when i get home if people are curious. here's my finished product.

 

the light came with a little stand and that black part screwed to the back was what the light pivoted on. i couldn't figure out a way to use the stand and have the light point downward so i tossed the stand and now that bracket is a convenient place to hold the ballast

 

the wiring for the switch was contained in this little box. since i took the switch off i just threaded everything through the hole that was left and stuffed all the wiring inside the box. nice and neat!

 

halogen bulbs are narrower than MH bulbs. since it it also a work light it was probably expected to be tossed around a little bit so around the sockets there is a ceramic lip on one side to keep the light from coming out if it got shaken. i just took a pair of pliers and snapped off a piece of the lip so i could get the light in

it's my understanding that building code for quite a while has been to have grounded outlets, even if they aren't 3-prong. my old place was like this. i had the owner install some 3-prong outlets and i asked if they were grounded before and they were. so the adapter should be fine. just attach it to the wall-plate with that screw in the middle to ensure it's grounded.

 

 

Do i need one ballast per light or can i run one ballast for 2 of these?

[Anuanu Humu]

Do i need one ballast per light or can i run one ballast for 2 of these?

 

You need one ballast for each bulb.

[cmv138]

do i need a UV protector or the one that comes with the light UV safe?

[stoney waters]

You will be fine with the stock glass.

[cmv138]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dual-175-Watt-Electron...4QQcmdZViewItem

 

can i use this to run 2 bulbs?

Thanks