Need advice on halide fixture.

[kchristensen8064]

14k Phoenix all the way... Best bulb for 150w HQI. They are high output and look good.

Hook a ballast up to a kill-a-watt and see what kind of wattage that it pulls. It it pulls 185-190 watts, then it might be real m81. If it is right at 150, then it is a Chinese Knockoff or an electronic. All DE bulbs can be fired up on any ballast that are probe start, but they are not all the same wattage and will have different output.

So do you have any recommendations on replacement ballasts? I found this exact one for around $150 but have seen a lot of others that would bolt into this fixture for about half that so I didn't know how much it mattered?

 

[jda123]

The difference can be as large as driving nice CREE diodes with a cheap chines driver vs a Meanwell (or other high quality). It really can matter.

Hamilton sells real m81 ballasts - they are external. You can see if you can find an older used light and scavenge parts... AquaMedic used to sell a lot of great 150w HQI fixtures back when their lights were world-class. I think that I have a 150w AquaSpaceLight in the bone pile if you want it... problem is that it is a 230v light made in Germany that does a rail voltage convert to work on 110v, so I have no idea if the ballasts and starters would work right in other fixtures

There are some real m81 kits on eBay for $35. Dunno if they will fit.

 

[kchristensen8064]

The difference can be as large as driving nice CREE diodes with a cheap chines driver vs a Meanwell (or other high quality). It really can matter.

Hamilton sells real m81 ballasts - they are external. You can see if you can find an older used light and scavenge parts... AquaMedic used to sell a lot of great 150w HQI fixtures back when their lights were world-class. I think that I have a 150w AquaSpaceLight in the bone pile if you want it... problem is that it is a 230v light made in Germany that does a rail voltage convert to work on 110v, so I have no idea if the ballasts and starters would work right in other fixtures

There are some real m81 kits on eBay for $35. Dunno if they will fit.

I'll look into those, I think as long as it's this style I can get it to mount into the fixture. View attachment 13893 I'm not necessarily looking for cheap but cost effective would be good to make salvaging the fixture worth it.