metal halide guru advice needed please

[tjnorthdakota]

I just bought a used aqua medic 72" metal halide t5 setup. It has 3x 250w de bulbs and older coralife hqi ballasts. I bought 3 brand new phoenix 14k de bulbs but cant get them to light at all. The ballasts are ansi m80 hqi, when I take the ballast box apart there is only a coil and capacitor in the ballast box, my understanding is that the phoenix bulb is a pulse start type bulb and requires a igniter also in the ballast to start, is this true? The way it is setup now without the igniter will only run probe type bulbs such as single ended hqi like the radium? So can I add an igniter to the circuit and get it to work, thanks for any advice.

 

[maroun.c]

Did any other bulbs work with that unit? Are u sure it was in working condition ? What did seller say as bulbs came with the unit as u say?

 

[tjnorthdakota]

Did any other bulbs work with that unit? Are u sure it was in working condition ? What did seller say as bulbs came with the unit as u say?

the light itself and new bulbs work fine, tried a coral vue eballast from a different light and they lit up no problem. I get voltage to the bulbs with the ballasts that came with the light but no ignition. I was told they work and are pretty much new ballasts and judging by the look of them I would say they have hardly been used, no corrosion on the ballast boxes or any flaking paint from heat that is usual.

 

[mcarroll]

Did those Coralife ballasts ever work on that fixture?

On mine, the ignitor is in the fixture....think you'll need a coralife fixture to go with the ballasts – or you'll need to install an ignitor somehow.

Somewhere along the line I read that this is "the right way" (or maybe it was "the European way") to build a halide fixture as the ignitor is technically supposed to be changed with the bulb for max. performance. Open the fixture to change the bulb and the ignitor is conveniently waiting for replacement right there next to it.

I've never heard of anyone actually replacing their ignitor.

2¢

 

[tjnorthdakota]

Did those Coralife ballasts ever work on that fixture?

On mine, the ignitor is in the fixture....think you'll need a coralife fixture to go with the ballasts – or you'll need to install an ignitor somehow.

Somewhere along the line I read that this is "the right way" (or maybe it was "the European way") to build a halide fixture as the ignitor is technically supposed to be changed with the bulb for max. performance. Open the fixture to change the bulb and the ignitor is conveniently waiting for replacement right there next to it.

I've never heard of anyone actually replacing their ignitor.

2¢

I haven't got the answer whether these worked with this light, from what I've been told I think that they haven't been used before and the old ballasts he kept are what he used to test the light. I've asked but haven't got a response yet from the seller. The wiring diagram on the coil in the ballast shows a igniter in it even though there isn't one. What I read is that these m80 ballasts are popular with radiums and other probe start single ended bulbs which have built in igniters in the bulb, if a ballast with and igniter is ran with a bulb with an igniter I found info that states they can work against eachother and possible cause a fire so maybe it's possible these came without them to run probe start mogul type bulbs

 

[mcarroll]

Right....and there would still need to be an ignitor in the circuit, so the diagram is "correct"....just not inside the ballast box so "misleading" a little.

There's no reason that adding one shouldn't work if you're up for the DIY. I think Hamilton Tech. sells them. Maybe even call and and ask them about what you need. (Otherwise Google)

I ran my Radiums for about 5 years on Coralife ballasts. Loved em.

 

[mcarroll]

(Ignitor is not inside the bulb AFAIK. Not on the Radiums I ran anyway. An ignitor is a box-shaped device....looks like a really big relay or something. About 2" x 3" x 3" or so, as I recall.)

 

[tjnorthdakota]

(Ignitor is not inside the bulb AFAIK. Not on the Radiums I ran anyway. An ignitor is a box-shaped device....looks like a really big relay or something. About 2" x 3" x 3" or so, as I recall.)

Hamilton has the igniters they sell listed on their website, they look cylindrical devices with three wires, however could come in many shapes I'm guessing, I order a similar spec'ed one from eBay for half what Hamilton is charging, gonna try to wire it in. Where you using 150w radiums or the single ended ones?

 

[mcarroll]

Hamilton has the igniters they sell listed on their website, they look cylindrical devices with three wires, however could come in many shapes I'm guessing, I order a similar spec'ed one from eBay for half what Hamilton is charging, gonna try to wire it in. Where you using 150w radiums or the single ended ones?

150w's in my case. (Which I think are discontinued by Radium.de now. )

Keep updating the thread!

 

[tjnorthdakota]

Did those Coralife ballasts ever work on that fixture?

On mine, the ignitor is in the fixture....think you'll need a coralife fixture to go with the ballasts – or you'll need to install an ignitor somehow.

Somewhere along the line I read that this is "the right way" (or maybe it was "the European way") to build a halide fixture as the ignitor is technically supposed to be changed with the bulb for max. performance. Open the fixture to change the bulb and the ignitor is conveniently waiting for replacement right there next to it.

I've never heard of anyone actually replacing their ignitor.

2¢

So I found another thread where some mentioned the same thing as you, that the ignitors are in the fixure and they are european style superimposed ignitors that are rare in the US. It also said these ballast will absolutely not work without that kind of ignitor and they are not interchangeable with US style ones. Trouble is there is two types, three wire and two wire and I cannot find info anywhere. If you still have your coralife fixture could I please get a pic of the ignitor in the fixture? I know it can be a pain to access maybe but I'd really appreciate it.

 

[mcarroll]

It's actually almost handy at the moment....BRB

 

[mcarroll]

Let me know if that's enough information.

 

[tjnorthdakota]

Could I get a pic of the info under the bracket holding the ignitor down? That helps a lot though, three wire ignitor it is. Only ones I can find are for 220 though so I am curious if that is also rated for 220v

 

[hybridazn]

Not really helping solve the ignitor issue but an hqi ballast and m80 ballast are similar in output, most ppl refer hqi to double ended bulbs. If you can solve the ignitor issue those ballasts will work fine with the DE bulbs

 

[tjnorthdakota]

Not really helping solve the ignitor issue but an hqi ballast and m80 ballast are similar in output, most ppl refer hqi to double ended bulbs. If you can solve the ignitor issue those ballasts will work fine with the DE bulbs

Yeah I think the term hqi is thrown around to much, from what I understand it belongs to a bulb osram introduced and hqi itself is just short for the ingredients used to make the bulb.

 

[mcarroll]

Havne't had time and almost forgot. Will try this weekend!!! @tjnorthdakota Bump the thread if I forget again!