Zer0
01/11/2011, 04:08 PM
Alright, so i've recently been thinking of ways to add supplemental actinics to my 150w halide pendant. The pendant alone is great, and i had good coral growth with it but i really like how corals fluoresce under T5HO actinics. SO, i had a spare 2x18w Current USA T5HO fixture sitting in my basement, brand new and only turned on to see if it works. Which it does. I had also happened to buy another Actinic bulb for it, so now i have two of them. I plan on DIY'ing my own fixture where the T5HO are added to the metal halide, and i've run into a little bit of trouble with the wiring.
Here is this fixture that i gutted. I had to cut through the metal with a dremel to get the power cord out since for some reason it wouldn't come out with force. I didn't want to break anything so cutting through the metal seemed the right thing to do, and it was.
http://i53.*******.com/2djwh9f.jpg
So after cutting and unscrewing everything out, i had the one piece reflector, and the metal brackets that were screwed into the metal fixture framing. So then what i did was i took the dremel again and cut straight down the middle of the reflector. That was the worst part. I'm not sure what kind of metal the reflector is made of, but it didn't cut like the other thick metal of the rest of the fixture, it was harder. After i cut the reflector, it was on to the brackets, and that was fairly easy. Just cut it down the middle separating the endcaps from each other, so now it's split and i can add it on each side of the DIY fixture i'll be making.
So now onto the question. Coming out of the ballast, there are these two green wires, with metal loops on the end. When i opened the fixture up originally, these two green wires were screwed directly into the fixture casing, which is metal. I think they are ground wires, but i have no clue. So my question is, does anyone know what these wires are for? The fixture turns on and works fine even when they aren't screwed into metal just dangling around.
Here are the two green wires:
http://i56.*******.com/2yuytzk.jpg
Here's another picture to show where the wires come from:
http://i54.*******.com/2mmtstj.jpg
So yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Here is this fixture that i gutted. I had to cut through the metal with a dremel to get the power cord out since for some reason it wouldn't come out with force. I didn't want to break anything so cutting through the metal seemed the right thing to do, and it was.
http://i53.*******.com/2djwh9f.jpg
So after cutting and unscrewing everything out, i had the one piece reflector, and the metal brackets that were screwed into the metal fixture framing. So then what i did was i took the dremel again and cut straight down the middle of the reflector. That was the worst part. I'm not sure what kind of metal the reflector is made of, but it didn't cut like the other thick metal of the rest of the fixture, it was harder. After i cut the reflector, it was on to the brackets, and that was fairly easy. Just cut it down the middle separating the endcaps from each other, so now it's split and i can add it on each side of the DIY fixture i'll be making.
So now onto the question. Coming out of the ballast, there are these two green wires, with metal loops on the end. When i opened the fixture up originally, these two green wires were screwed directly into the fixture casing, which is metal. I think they are ground wires, but i have no clue. So my question is, does anyone know what these wires are for? The fixture turns on and works fine even when they aren't screwed into metal just dangling around.
Here are the two green wires:
http://i56.*******.com/2yuytzk.jpg
Here's another picture to show where the wires come from:
http://i54.*******.com/2mmtstj.jpg
So yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.