Ballast installation

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009.

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  1. jhawkor

    jhawkor Millepora

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    One of the ballast's is dead on my halide fixture so I need to install a new one. I have an icecap 250 ballast that I'm going to put in it. The stock ballasts in my fixture are inside the fixture itself so it's sort of hard to see whats going on inside there. How hard is it to install a new ballast and what tools will I need?
     
    jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009
    jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009
    #1

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  2. jhawkor

    jhawkor Millepora

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    bump
     
    jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009
    jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009
    #2
  3. missionsix

    missionsix Super Moderator Staff Member

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    What kind of fixture are you replacing the ballast on? Shouldn't need any more than some basic hand tools. Maybe some electrical tools included. Going to a remote ballast will cool things down a bit. You may get a different hue from having different ballasts though.
     
    missionsix, Oct 7, 2009
    missionsix, Oct 7, 2009
    #3
  4. jhawkor

    jhawkor Millepora

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    The fixture is a 48" aquamedic space light it has two 250 watt bulbs and one 150 watt in the middle. I heard that it might change the hue a bit I don't mind as long as it not a huge difference.
     
    jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009
    jhawkor, Oct 7, 2009
    #4
  5. horkn

    horkn Giant Squid

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    Definitely remote mount the ballasts.

    a 150 mh in the middle? If you have a center brace and I would be surprised if you did not, I don't know if I would run that middle halide.
     
    horkn, Oct 8, 2009
    horkn, Oct 8, 2009
    #5
  6. jhawkor

    jhawkor Millepora

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    Yeah, I didn't know what was with the 150 in the middle but whatever I'll probably just run the 250's. Maybe a dumb question but what is remote mount?

    Here's a video of what I'm working with and the ballast I want to install-YouTube - Aqua medic spacelight I'm trying to fix
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 8, 2009
    jhawkor, Oct 8, 2009
    jhawkor, Oct 8, 2009
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  7. horkn

    horkn Giant Squid

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    Remote mounting the ballasts is removing them from the fixture and placing them outside the fixture. If you do this , don't make the cords any longer than necessary, or they might not light the bulbs.
     
    horkn, Oct 8, 2009
    horkn, Oct 8, 2009
    #7
  8. jhawkor

    jhawkor Millepora

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    The icecap ballast that I'm going to install didn't come with a power cord. So I assume I will have to wire one up to it?
     
    jhawkor, Oct 10, 2009
    jhawkor, Oct 10, 2009
    #8