Lumatek Select-a-watt Electronic Ballast

Ok, so I got my lighting in today for the new tank.... 72" Maristar. It's dead sexxxy even if I say so myself.

It's designed to run 3x 250W DE/HQI bulbs, but doesn't come with ballasts.

The ballasts I got are 400W Lumatek dimmable/multi-watt ballasts.

The selector switch is marked 250 / HQI / 400 / Super Lumen

Now, I haven't seen a 400W DE / HQI bulb... is it safe to assume the "HQI" means a 250W HQI?


Thanks!

-Doug

 

HQI are DE bulbs

 

heres a 400W DE bulb:
Icecap 10K, 14K and 20K 400 Watt DE Halide Bulb

you can get HQI in SE also so be careful... im not familiar with the ballast so I cant lend any advice :-/

 

im assuming they dont come with good documentation then? i was just looking at ballasts last night as well for my own setup. these were one of the many i saw but didnt see any negative reviews.

 

bump....

OK, I have the ballasts, bulbs, and fixture.....

I am still not sure how to run it. If anyone can help me please and thank you.

The ballast is marked 250 / HQI / 400 / Super Lumen

With a 250W Double ended HQI bulb what setting should I run it on?

I even contacted Sunlight Supply and they couldn't tell me.... I might try again today tho.

edit: Contacted Lumentek directly and they said the HQI will give me 10% more light on a 250w DE bulb... sound right?

 

Lumatek couldnt tell you!? thats not good. id call back and demand to talk to someone that knows their product. it shouldnt be too hard for the mfg to figure out what selector their product should be at for a certain kind of bulb.

Based on the bulbs available I would ASSUME (DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS) that you'd run a 250W HQI bulb in the HQI selection and a 400W HQI bulb in the Super Lumen category....

 

Sorry meant to say I had contacted Sunlight Supplier, their US Distributor... I did contact Lumatek directly and they helped me (I think)

 

I run the 250w lumateks with DE bulbs and what they told you is correct. You can run them in the 250w selection or on HQI to get a little more light. Don't switch them while running until the bulbs are fully warmed up. Then you can switch them back & forth to see the difference, giving some time between for the bulbs to settle. They are far better than the magnetic ballasts. They do get warm so keep that in mind when placing them but never so hot you can't keep you hands on the case. They start up fast but gentle too without the wicked current draw like the magnetic type.

TJ

 

got mine running now.... gonna cycle each bulb for about 100 hours (XM reccommends that)

...we'll see.