Why does this MH ballast say 350 watt?

[ReefGirlSara]

I just bought a big set up from a guy who is moving. He had most of it set up for him by an LFS. He had 4 400 watt metal halides, but sold 2 of them, so I ended up with 2.

I got to looking at them today, and they look really odd to me. It says Cooper Lighting on each MH box and it says 350 watt, not 400. The sockets also say 350 watt. He said he had 400 watt MH bulbs in them for about 9 months, but they 'burned out' so I don't even have a bulb to test them on right now.

Are these like street lights or something? I've never heard of 350 watt MH's on a fish tank before, but I've always just had 175's and 250's, so maybe I just don't know....

[redmarble]

It seems that they manufacture lighting for everything except for marine applications.

Here's their site:

http://www.cooperlighting.com/

[ReefGirlSara]

So what should I do with these? The guy I bought them from said he used them for almost a year on his reef tank....I was counting on using them, but he thought they were high quality ballasts for marine applications - he paid a lot for them at a fish store about a year ago, but they set it all up for him so I don't think he even saw them.

[just dave]

Ask PaulErik (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=2188) ,he'll know.

[PaulErik]

The ballast is most likely an ANSI M131 designed for pulse start 350-watt metal halide lamps. These are used in the commercial lighting field. At this time no aquarium lamps are made for that ballast. An ANSI M131 ballast is only designed to provide 2.8 amps to the lamp. A standard 400-watt lamp used for aquarium applications is designed to be operated at 3.2amps. This ballast will operate a 400-watt lamp at a reduced wattage (below specification limits). This will cause a color shift in the lamp and will increase wear on the lamp (shorten usable lamp life).

If the ballast is truly a 350-watt (ANSI M131) ballast it is unfortunately not compatible with any aquarium type lamps. You may want to open the ballast enclosure and see which ballast is used inside. They may have switched the ballasts inside to the proper type. The ballast core will have a sticker stating the type.

[dew2loud1]

I used to run a 400 watt 20k radium (actually a 360 watt bulb) on one of these cooper 350 watt ballasts and it worked great. It was very very blue, but I got good SPS growth and very long bulb life well over a year and the bulb wasn't black at all yet......

It was sold to me off of ebay when I first started the hobby years ago.

[ReefGirlSara]

PaulErik - thank you very much for the thorough answer, I really appreciate the help. It does in deed say M131 on it. I am going to try to see if the LFS that sold it to the guy less than a year ago will do anything...probably not.

If not, I will probably try dew2loud1's approach...dew2loud1, thank you very much for your input!! I guess I'm not giving up all hope yet.

Thanks!

[Dyraxe]

Just curious but what LFS sold that to him? Was it one in Gainesville?

[ReefGirlSara]

Yes........Ocean Exotics prior to the current owners.