Questions on PC Lighting

[wboyden]

Ok, I picked up a coralife 2x65 PC fixture today,

It has a bad ballast (i think, but checked everything else) It has 2 65*1 ballasts so one side works the other doesnt.

done some quick checking and a replacement is going to cost 20-30 but for a couple dollars more I could get a single ballast that would run both bulbs,

Am I Better off getter the bigger ballast?
Anyone know a good place to get one?
I might go local and pick one up, what do I look for? fluorescent 130+ watts?

As with any (most) used fixtures the bulbs need to be replaced anyway so I was looking for alittle more information on PC Lighting.

Its a 48 inch fixture that has 2 bulbs, each bulb is a twin tube around 22 inch long, Is this the longest bulb? Are the 96watt the same size?

And now the 50 Dollar Question, Is this fixture even worth putting the cost of a new ballast into or would it just be better off cutting it down into a 24inch fixture?

thanks

 

[Bobbofin]

Depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to keep hard corals you'd be better off just getting another fixture. If you are only going to keep softies and fish it might be worth fixing. You can get a 2x54 watt T5HO Current fixture for about $129 that would be fine for a 55 gallon of softies and fish or a 4x54 for $289 and you can keep some hard corals. It all depends on what you want to do with it. With shipping the repair of the unit looks like it would be $75 with replacement ballast and new bulbs. I'd go with individual ballasts for more control.

 

[kevinpratt823]

You could either replace the one ballast(I've gotten mine at Lovely Pets in Quincy), I don't know how much luck you'll have finding a two lamp 65w ballast, but you could also do that. A 96w bulb is a little under 3', and a 130w bulb is a little under 4'. so you could also put in (1) 130w ballast and use (1) 130w bulb. You could not use (2) 65w bulbs with a 130w ballast, it has to be specifically for 2 bulbs, and also specifically for PC, so a standard flourescent ballast won't work. I hope I helped.

 

[mak3mydae]

I've always thought that PC bulbs had the ballast built in rather than being in the fixture... And It depends on what you're trying to keep like what Bobbofin said. Most SPS and some LPS require stronger lighting than PC's.

 

[orionduck]

You can buy a new ballast from any electrical supply store., take the old ballast with you and they will find a replacement for you. the ballast will range from 18 to 25 dollar. When you take the fixture apart make sure you used a tape to identfiy the coloring code.

 

[orionduck]

Also make sure that the new ballast have UL listing, reason being if it ever fall down into the water and caused any harmful stuff at least the homeowner insured it. Otherwise if it isn't UL listed it will be void.

 

[orionduck]

homeowner insurance insured it i meant.

 

[marco67]

A work horse 5 will fire the 2 lamps.
They are a MUCH higher quality than the off shore junk that would have been original equipment in that light.
They can be had for about $25 on a lot of sites and even ebay.
I've got a couple that are running 8-9 years plus so it'll be money well spent even though you'll probably upgrade well before that.

wiring diagrams are available at www.fulham.com