Metal Halide Ballast swap

[sendo]

Hey Guys,

I think this is a dumb question, but if I have a 150 watt coralife MH fixture and want to upgrade to a 250 watt, can I do this by just switching ballasts?

 

[sfsuphysics]

The spacing between the pins in the 150W socket is a little bit closer together (1"??) than the 250W socket.

 

[zambavi]

Easy enough to modify it...

 

[xcaret]

Just swap the sockets and space them properly; aqua...ers in San Bruno have them for cheap

 

[seminolecpa]

oh no you said the a word.

 

[sendo]

Would the wiring on the new socket be hard to install?

 

[xcaret]

...I know, I know... but that's the only place I found them locally for fifteen compared at $45 from MD; I retrofitted my BC29 with a DE on a budget and did not want to fully chop and saw the hood in order to squeeze a $500 mod !!
I wanted to keep the mod as little as possible in case I didn't like it or it generated too much heath for the tank.
So far so good, today I placed it on the cube and what a difference, temperature remains stable after a full day of MH, zoas did not stretch as they did with the PC's and I had 3X36W in the other hood.
Well we're getting off the subject so back to blennylookalike.

I'd recommend getting an old bulb to set with the new socket (s) that way you do not worry about touching it with your hands all the time and fix it the right space between the sockets; I fitted a socket by measuring and it was too tight so I had to space them again.

 

[xcaret]

it's easy, you just need high temperature screw in caps or good quality crimp ones, some shrink tubing also helps.