DIY Outer Orbit PC to T5HO change

So my buddy has an Outer Orbit 48” light fixture. It has 2x 150w MH bulbs, and 2x 130w PC bulbs. 48” PC bulbs are no longer 130w, so it was time for a change. Rather than buying a complete new fixture, I offered my help. He bought 2 of the 2 bulb 48” fishneedit T5HO sets. The reason we had to buy 2 of the 2 bulb as opposed to 1 of the 4 bulb was because we also wanted the W reflectors, as opposed to using the U reflectors from the original setup. The 4 bulb fishneedit fixture comes with a 1 piece reflector, and I really did not wanna cut it.

So, here’s what I did. No pics for the first part of the DIY, as I didn’t think of writing this up til I got well under way. But here are the steps.

1. Remove the glass covers from the MH bulbs, and plexi covers from the PC bulbs.
2. Remove the MH bubls, and set them aside (I wrapped mine in paper towel, only handling them by the ends so they wouldn’t get damaged)
3. There are 2 screws holding each MH reflector in place. Remove them, and remove the reflectors.
4. Remove the side of the fixture that DOES NOT have the switches.
5. Slide the moon light LED panels out through the open end. There’s a connector near the opposite end that disconnects, and you can take all the LED panels out.
6. There are 2 ballasts for the PC bulbs. Remove these ballasts. Cut the L (black) and N (white) wires from each ballast, close to the ballast. Leave enough on the ballast that you’ll be able to solder on longer wires if you wanna use it again.
7. Cut the wires going to the bulb sockets.
8. Remove ballasts.
9. Remove bulb sockets, bulb clips, and slide the reflectors out. Then remove the reflector standoff in the middle, and at the open end.
Pic of ballasts removed


Original U reflectors removed


New W reflectors going to be installed


10. Now, the stand offs. To minimize drilling new holes, take the stand offs that are by the side with the switches, exchange them from side to side, spin them 180 degrees, and mount them to existing holes with 2 screws as opposed to 4, as pictured.



11. The new reflector clip then mounts to the standoff with 1 screw as shown.



12. Temporarily install the new reflector, and mark where the standoff on the opposite side must go. Then remove the reflector, drill new holes, and mount the standoff.


13. Now the new ballasts. After taking apart the fishneedit ballast boxes, and taking out the ballast, you’ll notice the ballast is almost the same size of the original. Another HUGE bonus, is that although only 2 ballasts are in the original spot, there are screws to mount 4 ballasts, making this install VERY easy.




14. Wire up the ballasts. On the L and N connection, simply take the original black and white wires you cut earlier (you’ll notice they are long enough) and jump power to all ballasts (sorry, not pictured).


15. Install the reflectors and bulbs.



16. Fire it up to test it out.



That’s all I have. Basically, what’s remaining is…

17. Reinstall the LED shields, and reconnect the wiring harness disconnected earlier
18. Reinstall the side of the fixture
19. Reinstall the MH reflectors
20. Reinstall the MH bulbs
21. Put glass and plexi light covers back on

Hopefully this helps someone thinking about doing it.

 

kookie guy

a well documented and interesting account of the upgrade
the pictures are very usefull IMO and will help out anyone considering similar

so now the unit will have 4 x 54 watt T5s which are easy to get
and not have 2 x 130 watt PCs, which are becoming harder to find anyone with stock

good DIY , IMHO
Steve

 

Thanks. Not to mention t5s last a lot longer, are cheaper, give more light, and have a lot more bulb combinations to pick from.

lol, win win win win situation.

 

Pics of the finished product, all put back together.

All lights on


Just the T5's on


The end were the PC socket was before has black paint applied to the plexi cover, so you still can't see any of the messy connections


The other end (it was a U tube bulb before) you can clearly see the ends and the endcaps. But no real messy wiring, so looks alright.


Overall fixture, no lights on