What light type is this????????

[vishboy]

Hi all!:D
I have an odd type of doulble ended light sitting in my garage. I is a floodlight that I bought a while back. I was wondering if I could put a new MH bulb in and DIY it into my lighting.

Here is the bulb

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/113512IMG_1015.JPG

And this is with it on (it puts out a lot of light)

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/113512IMG_1020.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/113512IMG_1021.JPG

The ballast is on the back. It is a box about 4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 1 inch deep.

This is the UL sticker

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/113512IMG_1008.JPG

The inside of the light says no more than a 500 watt bulb.


What do you guys think? Does anyone know what kind of light this is? Could I put a Metal Halide bulb in it and have it work safely?


I think that it came from home depot, but I don't know which item it is.

Thanks,
Vishboy

[MarkM3]

It is a halogen bulb. Not good for a reef or fish tank of any kind!!!

[vishboy]

Man, that stinks. If it was a MH i would have gotten a good light source. Oh well.
Thanks,
Vishboy

[dhnguyen]

Right halogen and of course totally the wrong colour spectrum for reef use. About the only thing you can use that for is for growing macros in a fuge but... Halogen puts out A LOT of heat so....


D.

[acroporid23]

go on ebay 100 bucks is wat i paid for my 400 watt MH

[vishboy]

I know that ebay might have MH, but i need the entire setup. Can I use the ballast off of this thing and put a MH on it? Or can the MH bulbs work only with the MH ballasts. My LFS is changing their HQI bulbs, so I was going to put one of the old ones in here and see if it ignites. Is this a good idea, or will the bulb explode and leave a scorch mark on my garage floor?:) If I can get the whole setup for 100 bucks on ebay,that would be great.
Thanks,
Vishboy

[Daddeo]

You cannot put a metal halide bulb in a halogen fixture. It will explode!

[acroporid23]

are you CRAZY when i said 100 bucks i meant for bulb batwing reflector and ballast do a little reading on lighting get a good book or something before you kill yourself by electrocution

[vishboy]

Just to let you all know, I am a little crazy. But not crazy enoughto blow myself up:) I will check out the metal halide on ebay idea. Do you ahve to replace the bulb with a better K, or does it usually come ith a good one? One more thing, have any of you used the unassembled ballast DIY MH Retro before.

Here's a link

[URL=http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=MH175DIY]

Would this bulb fit into a 6 inch wide fizture with at least one PC bulb?

Thanks,
Vishboy

[Ludwigia73]

That light will promote algae big time. That would be a wonderful light for the refugium, but not for the reef tank. Iwasaki makes a 6500k which is the lowest kelvin you should use on a reef. 5500k will make your water look like a toilet that hasn't been flushed. I had a 6500k on my tank for a long time. The growth was great, the color was terrible even with actinic vho's. I'm much happier with xm 10000k's.

[vishboy]

Would the bulb fit in the fixture that is 6 inches wide? I could get a better bulb as well. If anyone know a good, cheap, reliable ballast, tell me. The ballasts seem to be what kills you, the bulb is 80 dollars, then the ballast is like, $120.

Acroporid23, could you get me a link for the MH on ebay?

Thanks,
Vishboy

[vishboy]

Anybody?

[reelfreak]

I say you set the video camera on record and give it a try!! We'll forward the video to Darwin Awards :)

There's tons of info on MH if you look around, they are always for sale in the used section too....

[vishboy]

Where is the used section? I have never seen it.

[vishboy]

?

[Daddeo]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2