24'Coralife fixture frame retrofit to 65xMH? [Archive]

tonymacaroni

03/07/2006, 02:57 PM

I bought a 24'' Coralife PC lamp.About 3 months later I noticed my actnic light going in and out (flickering).I was thinking it was the bulb but when I reoplaced it I did not get any results.Assuming it is my ballast I plan on taking the bad ballast out and putting a MH ballast and light in there along with the PC light.This will all be housed in the 24'' Coralife frame.Has anyone ever done anything like this before, i just want some advice.What are the drawback? any advice offered is appreciated.

DragonFish

03/07/2006, 03:36 PM

Actually, I'm about to do exactly that with a 20" version. I ordered all the parts about an hour ago, so I'll post some pics of the progress.

gstatton

03/08/2006, 11:47 AM

I was wondering what parts you guys are using for this. I have been looking at my 24" Coralife enclouser and wondering if i could fit a MH retro in there.....and if you guys have found anymore information this mod, please post something...

thanks!!!
/g/

DragonFish

03/08/2006, 12:26 PM

Well, I'm starting with an M102 150w ballast, 14k phoenix bulb and Coralife 20" 28w fixture. Tonight I'm picking up a 500w regent floodlight that I will canabalize the socket and reflector from. I also need to have a piece of UV shielding glass cut. My fixture doensn't come with fans so I also have a 60mm computer fan. Lastly I picked up two blue LED cannons for $.25 each for moonlights. I should get everything by this weekend and I'll be sure to document the whole process. My main concern is how I'm going to hold the glass in place. I don't suppose one of you has a good sized pic of the bulbs so I can start to figure this out?

gstatton

03/08/2006, 12:55 PM

i don't know how the 20" looks (i assume fairly similar to the 24") but there is a sheet of plastic that slides in as sort of a spash guard. are you going to get UV glass to go in there? or are you just putting the glass over the canabalized reflector? On the 24" model there are two fans already installed, but i was thinking that i would need to add at least two more or upgrade the two in-order to get good-enough flow. I am very very interested in your progress, so keep us posted!!!
/g/

DragonFish

03/08/2006, 01:01 PM

Well, the one I'm getting is only one bulb so I'm not sure if the splash guard goes all the way from front to back or only over the bulb. The back half looks like its some kind of aluminum shield over the ballast. If worse comes to worse I can just cover the HQI bulb but I want this to look like it came from the factory that way.

gstatton

03/08/2006, 03:07 PM

so are you replacing the PC bulb with the HQI? or are you placing this in adition to the PC, but where the PC balast is? it sounds like the 20" and the 24" are fairly similar except that the 24" is 2x65w bulbs...

DragonFish

03/08/2006, 03:29 PM

Well, if there is room I'll run both. I'm hoping I can slide the ballast over and mount the HQI in the center. I could also make the ballast remote if I need the space. I'll know more once I get the fixture.

tonymacaroni

03/08/2006, 04:49 PM

Just thinking off the top of my head I can already see some possible problems. For one, I'm wishing on star the I can squeeze the ballst in there along with the PC ballast(but that probably won't happen).I 've been checking the deminsions on diferent ballst and I already know it's gonna be a very tight fit.For two,the shield,I hope that the socket does'nt extend past the bottom of the fixture to where the UV shield can't slide across.I'll definitly want to add a fan in addition to the two.And also how far will you be positioning your fixture from the tank and how do you plan on doing so.If I get any ideas on anything I let you guys know.

DragonFish

03/08/2006, 04:56 PM

Right off the bat, don't even try to get the MH ballast in there. It will just add to your heat issues. I got an old dead PC power supply that I'm putting my ballast in. Are you thinking single ended or double ended? SE is going to be very hard but double ended bulbs and socket should fit with no worries. Even my little one is like 2" deep. I am just using the standard adjustable mounting legs, I don't think heat will be a problem since it is all contained inside the fixture.

gstatton

03/08/2006, 05:06 PM

yeah, i was thinking a DE bulb and sockets and just mounting the ballast outside of the fixture...i too have the std mounting legs and i'm sure i have an old PC PS around here somewhere (i too work in IT and am a geek in general). Where did you order your ballast from/what did you get? Also can't you use the reflector that's in the coralife light? or is there a reason you are using the reflector in the regent light (i was following a thread on nano-reefs about that hack)?

tonymacaroni

03/08/2006, 07:02 PM

Thanks for the advice I plan on the DE myself.I'm new to MH lighting would one of you know of some place where I could get some information.

gstatton

03/08/2006, 07:37 PM

i was just doing some parting out of the project...
i found a 150w DE socket w/bracket, light, and ballast at www.hellolights.com (under the DIY parts section....) at it looks like a 150w setup is oging to be about $202 depending on the ballast and light combo....and then however much the glass is....
DragonFish, do you know of anywhere to get the parts any cheaper? is the regent hack going to be any cheaper? and where did you get your ballast (electronic or mag? who makes it, etc...?)

/g

DragonFish

03/09/2006, 08:53 AM

I got really lucky and found one on ebay for $29 shipped! Its just a simple m102 magnetic core and coil ballast. The regent hack should cost about $10 at Menards. I've been looking around for a cheaper socket and I found a few but I don't know if they are the right size. The only reason I was going to use the regent reflector is because I was trying to keep the PC bulb too, but the more I think about it the more I realize its not going to happen. My fixture is only 5" wide and I can't see fitting both in there. Hopefully I'll get the fixture by the weekend.

gstatton

03/09/2006, 09:36 AM

...are you sure you can use a DE bulb with the m102 ballast? i'm not fully virsed in MH lighting...but i just wasn't too sure...because if you can use those magnetic ballasts, i may look at this again.
..Because at $202 it would be cheaper to just get like that Coralife hang-on-tank HQI light (something like $244 for the 150w)

DragonFish

03/09/2006, 09:39 AM

Yep, here is a link to a big thread about it. Page 2 has a list of bulbs confirmed to work with M102. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35351 So far, my cost will be right around $130.

DragonFish

03/09/2006, 10:27 AM

go to www.menardsonlinecollections.com and search for 1111200. It lists a 500w HQI lamp holder that looks like the right size for about $5.00. I emailed them about the size bulb that will fit and am waiting to hear back.

DragonFish

03/09/2006, 12:09 PM

No dice on the lamp holder. I called the manufacturer and it is a 118mm holder and we need a 138mm holder. Looks like the regent or the hellolights.com is still our best bet.

gstatton

03/09/2006, 01:22 PM

do you think you can uset he stock reflector in the Coralife light? or do you think it would be best to use a secondary relector....i'm kind of going back and forth on this one...

part of me feels like if i were to use the stock reflector, a lot of the light would be misdirected and not efficiantly used...

do you know, by chance, how deep the regent reflector is? (if you rip it out of the hood it's in)

DragonFish

03/13/2006, 09:11 AM

You could definately use the stock reflector, but expect some light loss. I will probably use it but mod it to be a bit more efficient for MH. My fixture is finally going to be here on tuesday. I bit the bullet and bought an HQI socket from Premium Aquatics, I really want to make this look nice and couldn't if I have to butcher a regent. On a side note, check out this guys lights!

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81815

gstatton

03/13/2006, 12:06 PM

hrm, this is interesting, seems to have done exactly what we wanted to do....hopefully he will post a pic of his mod....
the only other thing i was worried about with using the stock reflector would be melting it...i'm not 100% if it's a plastic or metal reflector...

DragonFish

03/13/2006, 12:12 PM

90% of the time it is polished aluminum. I don't think we have to worry about that.

gstatton

03/13/2006, 01:28 PM

i found some info about dimentions:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/jorge007/Picture202.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/jorge007/Picture200.jpg

looks like it's about 3" tall and about 8" wide.....
that may be the 70w retro...i'm not sure how much bigger the 150 is..

DragonFish

03/14/2006, 10:02 AM

This should help quite a bit...

http://www.saltcreep.com/forums/showthread.php?t=967&page=1&pp=15

DragonFish

03/14/2006, 03:47 PM

Just let my fingers do the walking and a piece of tempered glass cut to size for this hood will be about $25 and take 10 days. Wish I had ordered it a week ago...

gstatton

03/15/2006, 06:12 AM

from the looks of that mod, it looks like the reflector is going to hang down a bit from the inside of the "hood"...do you think there's going to be a heat issue with the water? also were you going to try to add atinic's? or just run the HQI? an interesting thread none-the-less

DragonFish

03/15/2006, 08:40 AM

Nope, I'm planning for everything to fit under the glass. If I had a 96W to work with I could fit the actinic but not in mine. It really is a lot smaller than I had realized. I don't think heat will be a problem, I have two small fans that will sit on either end of the fixture to vent heat. The issue I have to solve first is that the channel the glass fits in it about 1/32" too small to fit a 1/8" piece of glass and I can't find any tempered glass thinner than that. I guess I have to open up the channel a bit with my dremel. I'm going to make some more calls today and see if I can find 1/16" tempered. Expect lots of pics tomorrow, as tonight I can start the mod.

30mini

03/16/2006, 08:59 AM

I have the 36" coralife fixture with the two 96W bulbs in it. I have been following this... and i don't mean to hijack... but I was thinking about doing this mod also. I have a little more room in mine than you may have b/c i have the 96W lights in there. Taking out my day light and leaving my actinic light may leave me enough room to fit a MH bulb in there. I'll have to measure and see, but I know that it is bigger than both the 20" and 24"

DragonFish

03/16/2006, 09:14 AM

Cool, go for it! As it happens I have a spare 150w 14K phoenix bulb and ballast, both brand new. PM me if you want them.

30mini

03/16/2006, 03:08 PM

Alright, so I just measured my light. I have a total of 5" where the lights are at. That leaves me about 2.5" of space per bulb. I think I could easily fit a MH bulb and socket in there! Not a whole lot of modding either...could easily make it look stock!

DragonFish

03/17/2006, 02:51 PM

Well, my project is now delayed a week. Premium Aquatics sent me the wrong socket but they are fixing their mistake. The good news is the socket and bracket I'm getting is very low profile so it will fit under the glass with no modifying at all. Woot!

tonymacaroni

03/17/2006, 08:38 PM

I have the 24'' and the 48'' Coralife fixtures (one 2x65 and the other 4x65) I plan on moding both of them.I'm really anxious to see how this wil come out.