Just to throw this in the ring, I am pretty sure I have the same sundial fixture you have (T-5, with actinic, full spectum, and LED's) If it is the same the bulbs are 2 of each kind. I would purchase some back-up bulbs to have on hand. I had a problem where one light went out, but that kills the entire circuit and neither of the type of faulty light will work. You have to figure out which one went dead and change it, then the other one will still work. I have 2 spares of each on hand, just thought I would offer that advice up.
MAJOR Problem!
- Thread starter mrg02d
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thincat
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The ballast should be rated for T-5 bulbs. My replacement ballast is ~1 1/2" x 1' x `17" long and fits into the channel of my light fixture. Just call or e-mail that company or any other and they can guide you to a ballast that should fit. Just google t-5 ballast replacement for the size of bulbs that your fixture uses.
This is my unit apart with new ballast in place before I wired it back together.
Note ballast inplace next to trashcan.
This is my unit apart with new ballast in place before I wired it back together.
Note ballast inplace next to trashcan.
Last edited:
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello,
I won one on ebay, but I think it is too strong.
ICECAP URI A4 VHO AQUARIUM LIGHT BALLAST DIY REEF LIGHT - eBay (item 120468857035 end time Sep-19-09 07:59:59 PDT)
URI A4 ballast. Its rated for "up to" 440W but I dont know if that means it will allow the bulbs to consume 440W or not. I have heard of people having great success at over drive, but I figure my case would be quite excessive! (96W , 4-24 T5 bulbs).
I dont suppose I could limit the ballast could I?
Matt
I won one on ebay, but I think it is too strong.
ICECAP URI A4 VHO AQUARIUM LIGHT BALLAST DIY REEF LIGHT - eBay (item 120468857035 end time Sep-19-09 07:59:59 PDT)
URI A4 ballast. Its rated for "up to" 440W but I dont know if that means it will allow the bulbs to consume 440W or not. I have heard of people having great success at over drive, but I figure my case would be quite excessive! (96W , 4-24 T5 bulbs).
I dont suppose I could limit the ballast could I?
Matt
thincat
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I'm not sure. Someone else will have to chime in on this one>
mdaniel2882
Aquarium Advice FINatic
That is a balast for a 400w MH. (a good one) just get the bulb, the mogal socket and the reflector and you have an awesome light.....wait how big was you tank....20 gal? never mind....WAY to much.
fishmonkey
Aquarium Advice Addict
yeh that balast is WAY too much
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello,
This is not a metal halide ballast, it is a fluorescent ballast according to the auction and the pictures of the wiring diagram on the ballast itself.
I contacted IceCap asking whether or not this ballast would work. We will see what they say. Some other sites claim the IceCap ballasts sense the tube length and adjust the output accordingly.
Does anyone here have an IceCap ballast that could add to this?
Thanks,
Matt
This is not a metal halide ballast, it is a fluorescent ballast according to the auction and the pictures of the wiring diagram on the ballast itself.
I contacted IceCap asking whether or not this ballast would work. We will see what they say. Some other sites claim the IceCap ballasts sense the tube length and adjust the output accordingly.
Does anyone here have an IceCap ballast that could add to this?
Thanks,
Matt
thincat
Aquarium Advice Addict
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Can I ask a ball park price on that ebay ballast?
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello
I won it for 81 bucks plus shipping. It is slightly used. Seller said he paid 200 I think.
It is meant for many types of bulbs with T5 being one of them. Its supposedly an IceCap 660 without the dimming feature. I hope it will work! Seems like a neato ballast!
Matt
I won it for 81 bucks plus shipping. It is slightly used. Seller said he paid 200 I think.
It is meant for many types of bulbs with T5 being one of them. Its supposedly an IceCap 660 without the dimming feature. I hope it will work! Seems like a neato ballast!
Matt
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello,
for some reason the ebay link doesnt work?
Here is the item number for all interested: 120468857035
Matt
for some reason the ebay link doesnt work?
Here is the item number for all interested: 120468857035
Matt
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
The endcaps were used with T12 VHO bulbs. I do not know if they can be adapted to fit smaller bulbs.
This is the URI A4 model, for VHO (very high output) florescent bulbs, but also works great on standard florescent bulbs and PC, T5HO bulbs. It will power up to 4 bulbs, up to 16 feet, up to 440 watts. The wiring diagram is printed on the ballast.
4 lamps/bulbs x 24", 36", 46.5" or 48"
3 lamps/bulbs x 24", 36", 46.5", 48" or 60"
2 lamps/bulbs x 24", 36", 46.5", 48", 60" or 72"
that is what they said, they kind of contradicted theirselves when they said they had it hooked up with t12 vho bulbs and didnt know if it would work with smaller bulbs, then said it worked great with t5ho...
This is the URI A4 model, for VHO (very high output) florescent bulbs, but also works great on standard florescent bulbs and PC, T5HO bulbs. It will power up to 4 bulbs, up to 16 feet, up to 440 watts. The wiring diagram is printed on the ballast.
4 lamps/bulbs x 24", 36", 46.5" or 48"
3 lamps/bulbs x 24", 36", 46.5", 48" or 60"
2 lamps/bulbs x 24", 36", 46.5", 48", 60" or 72"
that is what they said, they kind of contradicted theirselves when they said they had it hooked up with t12 vho bulbs and didnt know if it would work with smaller bulbs, then said it worked great with t5ho...
thincat
Aquarium Advice Addict
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They might have been talking about the end caps for t-12 not fitting t-5's. By what you stated it will work with 4 24" but the ballast would have to be mounted remotely and not in the fixture itself.
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello,
He was talking about the end caps not fitting the T5 bulbs. I dont mind, I am just using the ballast.
I talked to the seller and he said he only was using two 48in T12 bulbs. He has no idea how much power they were consuming or rated for because his local fish store put together his system. His LFS told him the ballast could handle more bulbs if he wanted, so I assume this ballast self adjusts. A quick look online shows T12 48in bulbs are rated for 110W. So thats 220W of total consumption. I guess it is possible the ballast was driving them to 440W, but it would seem otherwise.
I guess all in all, I just have to hook it up and see what happens!
Good thing the fixture is built solid incase a bulb blows up!
Matt
He was talking about the end caps not fitting the T5 bulbs. I dont mind, I am just using the ballast.
I talked to the seller and he said he only was using two 48in T12 bulbs. He has no idea how much power they were consuming or rated for because his local fish store put together his system. His LFS told him the ballast could handle more bulbs if he wanted, so I assume this ballast self adjusts. A quick look online shows T12 48in bulbs are rated for 110W. So thats 220W of total consumption. I guess it is possible the ballast was driving them to 440W, but it would seem otherwise.
I guess all in all, I just have to hook it up and see what happens!
Good thing the fixture is built solid incase a bulb blows up!Matt
thincat
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It should be okay. You just have to mount the ballast remotely...
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello,
Got a response from IceCap.
They said this ballast will not work unless its the A4 "plus" or has the same wiring harness and wiring scheme as the IceCap 660. Im not sure what that means, and there doesnt seem to be an A4 Plus according to Google. This A4 is described as being good for T5, so I imagine the IceCap guy may not have given my question much thought before responding.
He did say it would overdrive the lamps to 40W each instead of 24W. I wonder if this would be okay? URI claims their t5 bulbs to be rated both 24W and 40W (40W when over driven by a VHO ballast).
Hmmm...
Matt
Got a response from IceCap.
They said this ballast will not work unless its the A4 "plus" or has the same wiring harness and wiring scheme as the IceCap 660. Im not sure what that means, and there doesnt seem to be an A4 Plus according to Google. This A4 is described as being good for T5, so I imagine the IceCap guy may not have given my question much thought before responding.
He did say it would overdrive the lamps to 40W each instead of 24W. I wonder if this would be okay? URI claims their t5 bulbs to be rated both 24W and 40W (40W when over driven by a VHO ballast).
Hmmm...
Matt
thincat
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"They said this ballast will not work unless its the A4 "plus" or has the same wiring harness and wiring scheme as the IceCap 660. Im not sure what that means, and there doesnt seem to be an A4 Plus according to Google. This A4 is described as being good for T5, so I imagine the IceCap guy may not have given my question much thought before responding."
"He did say it would overdrive the lamps to 40W each instead of 24W. I wonder if this would be okay? URI claims their t5 bulbs to be rated both 24W and 40W (40W when over driven by a VHO ballast)."
Redirect that question back to icecap and see what they say.
"He did say it would overdrive the lamps to 40W each instead of 24W. I wonder if this would be okay? URI claims their t5 bulbs to be rated both 24W and 40W (40W when over driven by a VHO ballast)."
Redirect that question back to icecap and see what they say.
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello,
So I got a response back from Icecap...
They think I DO have the right kind of ballast based on the type of wiring harness it comes with. They did confirm that the ballast would power my T5 bulbs as VHO instead of HO. They expect 40W per bulb instead of standard 24W per bulb. No details on whether or not that would be okay for the bulbs though.
So it looks like I will now have 160W instead of 96W. Im sure my crocea clam will be quite the happy clam, but my bulbs will likely heat up. Sadly, this wavepoint ballast doesnt use any fans for cooling. It appears the fixture is acting as a crude heatsink as everything is thermally connected. (metal reflectors with a heatsink on the back that is connected to the aluminum housing...
Anyone here with experience with over driven T5 bulbs?
Matt
So I got a response back from Icecap...
They think I DO have the right kind of ballast based on the type of wiring harness it comes with. They did confirm that the ballast would power my T5 bulbs as VHO instead of HO. They expect 40W per bulb instead of standard 24W per bulb. No details on whether or not that would be okay for the bulbs though.
So it looks like I will now have 160W instead of 96W. Im sure my crocea clam will be quite the happy clam, but my bulbs will likely heat up. Sadly, this wavepoint ballast doesnt use any fans for cooling. It appears the fixture is acting as a crude heatsink as everything is thermally connected. (metal reflectors with a heatsink on the back that is connected to the aluminum housing...
Anyone here with experience with over driven T5 bulbs?
Matt
mrg02d
Aquarium Advice FINatic
UPDATE:
Got the ballast and wired up everything. (What a task).
Got it pretty neat and tidy with the ballast sitting on top of the fixture and the wires going into the hole where the old power cord went.
It works!
MUCH brighter too! Seems to get warm pretty quickly.
I will have to run it for some time and see how hot the thing gets. I wish there was an easy way to monitor the bulb temp. The whole thing is sealed completely when put together.
I plugged it into a digital watt meter and the whole thing is consuming around 180W so it does seem to have adjusted to what the IceCap rep said. (40W per bulb now).
I hope the bulbs dont get too hot. Theres no easy way to cool them! No way to get air circulation in this thing. I will keep some air moving near the fixture I guess.
So now I have 160W over a 20g tank. Could this be too much?
Matt
Got the ballast and wired up everything. (What a task).
Got it pretty neat and tidy with the ballast sitting on top of the fixture and the wires going into the hole where the old power cord went.
It works!
MUCH brighter too! Seems to get warm pretty quickly.
I will have to run it for some time and see how hot the thing gets. I wish there was an easy way to monitor the bulb temp. The whole thing is sealed completely when put together. I plugged it into a digital watt meter and the whole thing is consuming around 180W so it does seem to have adjusted to what the IceCap rep said. (40W per bulb now).
I hope the bulbs dont get too hot. Theres no easy way to cool them! No way to get air circulation in this thing. I will keep some air moving near the fixture I guess.
So now I have 160W over a 20g tank. Could this be too much?
Matt
