[newbie]

I have a quick dumb question for the electrician in the house.

What is the difference in MH ballast's? What I mean is if you ripe apart an ICECAP or ARO, the actual workings inside, how do they differ from say the ones that we mount to our back porch or over the garge. I know many have different levels of noise or HUMMING.

So if they do not really differ, and I am a good DIY'er, I could find the ballast that fits my needs, wire it into an enclosure, and I should be good togo?

[newbie]

OK, another question. Is there a big difference in pulse start and standard MH ballasts?

[William Holland]

I'm no electrician so if I'm incorrect and an electrician comes along please chime in and correct me as my knowledge is gatherings from the net..
The difference in ballast like Ice Cap and the ones hanging over our porches:
Ice cap uses Electronic Ballast constructed of Integrated Circutry to regulate power to the bulb.
The ones we have over our porches are useally Magnetic Ballast using Coil, Core and capacitor tech.
Magnetic Ballast are heavier, bulkier and run hotter than the Electronics and can only fire the bulb they were designed for (i.e. Pulse/Probe start, HQI (Double ended). Never mix bulbs with ballast of different wattages, I have read underpowering the bulb will not heat the gasses enough to light the bulb and overdriving will cause the bulb to explode!

Electronic Ballast can fire all bulbs within the Ballast Wattage Rating.

Pulse vs Probe.
Pulse starts do just that, they pulse untill the arc tube warms up enough to ignite the gas within the tube
Although both take time to fully warm to operating temp, probe start to slowly burn untill they reach full opperating temp.

Most magnetic ballast use probe start. Electronic Ballast like Ice Cap's will fire both.

By all means, if you find a fixture with a good ballast and you are handy with some basic tools, rip-a-way! My first shot at Halides came from a downed Parking Lot fixture I fashioned into my canopy. Total cost: $20
Halides do generate a tramendous amount of heat so do be sure to think "Fire Possibility" the entire time you are DIY-ing. Your reflector not only reflects your new supernova's light but also acts as a heat shield to keep your canopy from catching fire.

[kevinpo]

Here is a link that might shed some light on the subject . Note the links in the lower left.
http://members.fortunecity.com/paulerik/id39.htm
http://members.fortunecity.com/paulerik/id50.htm

Regards,
Kevin

[CSeaSee]

Another question for all you out there who are more experienced... are there any brands of MH to stay away from? What's better than average/worse than average?

[William Holland]

Ballast? In my opinion no, bulbs? Deffinately. You want to stay away from standard parking lot bulbs as they are typicly 4k bulbs. You want at least a 65k to be usefull to your livestock. Another thing to pay a great deal of attention to is the CRI or CRT Rating. You want something with a CRI/CRT in the 90's. This is one of thoes things that I have found to hold true to the old phrase "You get what you pay for". E-bay has a lot of "Plus Brand" bulbs labeled 10k and up but only have a CRI of 65 (useally run $20-30 new), I use Ushio 10k's, CRI 93 ($60-70 new). Another good quality is the XM bulbs ($75-85 new).There are many brands out there thoes are just the only two that I am familiar with. Here's a link to a wealth of info http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/se...g/mhltgmar.htm

Not only on lighting but every facet of our hobby.

[kevinpo]

Higher Kelvin bulbs (14,000K and higher) can have a low CRI index number but still be quite useful. Bulb brand is not a big factor if your supplier stands behind the product (this is true for all equipment). If you don't like the color of the bulb or if it fails prematurely the supplier should replace it. Be sure you research bulb/ballast compatibility before you buy as different brand/types of bulbs require different types of ballasts to drive them properly.

Regards,
Kevin