-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
replacing ballast ?
- Thread starter lordmbsa
- Start date
What Aqua Medic fixture do you have?
Generally if it's an older one, you will want to upgrade the whole thing to electronic ballasts. This can be quite a task, but will worth it, due to the electricity you'll save.
I did this to mine, and I'll post a full description, if it will help you.
Generally if it's an older one, you will want to upgrade the whole thing to electronic ballasts. This can be quite a task, but will worth it, due to the electricity you'll save.
I did this to mine, and I'll post a full description, if it will help you.
My fixture pre-dates the one you mention, so directions on exactly what I did will not help you.
However, here are some general thoughts.
First you are going to have to take the fixture apart ans see exactly what you are dealing with.
On the older fixtures the company took a fixture built for the European market, which generally uses 220v AC for everything, and front ended the ballasts with an additional transformer to step up the 120v AC, used in the USA, to 220v to feed the European ballast.
If you find that the newer fixtures are the same, then remove the ballast and the additional transformer, and replace it with an electronic ballast. In some cases you can fit the electronic ballast into the fixture. This will result in a reduction of weight, and a massive reduction in power consumed.
If you can't mount an electronic ballast in the fixture, then you'll want to get a remote ballast. Here is an example (offsite link) - http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=539
If you find that the newer fixture uses a typical coil and core ballast, that runs directly on 110v, I'd still replace it with an electronic ballast. The saving in electricity will pay for the additional cost in less than a year. The process is similar, remove the old ballast,and do the drilling and retro fitting needed to mount the electronic ballast. Then wire it up and test.
Electronic ballasts are very easy to wire, and they usually have a wiring diagram on them. Here are a couple of places tha sell them (offsite links) -
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=653
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~lighting_metal_halide__subindex.html (go far down the page for ballasts)
However, here are some general thoughts.
First you are going to have to take the fixture apart ans see exactly what you are dealing with.
On the older fixtures the company took a fixture built for the European market, which generally uses 220v AC for everything, and front ended the ballasts with an additional transformer to step up the 120v AC, used in the USA, to 220v to feed the European ballast.
If you find that the newer fixtures are the same, then remove the ballast and the additional transformer, and replace it with an electronic ballast. In some cases you can fit the electronic ballast into the fixture. This will result in a reduction of weight, and a massive reduction in power consumed.
If you can't mount an electronic ballast in the fixture, then you'll want to get a remote ballast. Here is an example (offsite link) - http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=539
If you find that the newer fixture uses a typical coil and core ballast, that runs directly on 110v, I'd still replace it with an electronic ballast. The saving in electricity will pay for the additional cost in less than a year. The process is similar, remove the old ballast,and do the drilling and retro fitting needed to mount the electronic ballast. Then wire it up and test.
Electronic ballasts are very easy to wire, and they usually have a wiring diagram on them. Here are a couple of places tha sell them (offsite links) -
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=653
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~lighting_metal_halide__subindex.html (go far down the page for ballasts)
lordmbsa said:hey i was just wondering which ballast i can just buy all together ?
I do not understand your question. Please explain. Just about all electronic ballasts come "all together", in that you only need to connect the black wire to hot, the white wire to neutral, the green wire to ground, and the two other wires to the bulb socket.