Customsealife information

jboy929 · #1 03-10-2004, 08:01 PM

Hi everyone,

I cannot for the life of me find anyone to answer a question I have about my customsealife lighting setup, mabye someone here can help

I have a customsealife 36" combo hood with one 175W MH bulb and two 65 W PC bulbs in it. There are also two ballasts. The PC ballast says 2x65w bulbs. No problem.

However, the MH ballast says:

2-250 Watt bulbs
UPC 25020
120V, 52A, 2 Lamps, 250W

So, it would seem although my hood only has one MH bulb (one bulb socket too) in it, the ballast is rated for two!!! Have you ever seen this? Could I possibly change the one 175W bulb in there now for a 250W bulb?? I am quite confused, and now that they are out of business, finding any inofrmation seems impossible!!

Thanks very much

Jason

Aquattro · #2 03-10-2004, 08:54 PM

You cannot interchange bulbs sizes using MH setups. And you can only run one bulb off of one ballast. You need to verify what the ballast is. Do search on that part number.

jboy929 · #3 03-10-2004, 09:15 PM

Thanks Brad,

All I know is the part number is UPC25020. I have searched the internet seriously for hours and cannot find any information on the ballast at all.

It is strange. So are you telling me that it would be impossible to run the 250W bulb? If the ballast was rated 2x250W, would the 175W bulb still not turn on? I was thinking they somehow gave me a more powerful ballast with the hood. As for the only one bulb per ballast, I did not know that. I'm sure Ive seen setups with 3MH bulbs and only one ballast. Although, I've been wrong about many a fishy matter before.

well, At a very minimum, I could at least change the 175W 5500k to a 175W 10000K, correct?

Aquattro · #4 03-10-2004, 09:27 PM

I've seen bulbs mismatched to the ballast they are runnng on. I understand they can explode from this. Also, when you see three bulbs running off of one ballast, you actually mean one ballast case. There are 3 separate balasts inside the case.

martym · #5 03-10-2004, 11:46 PM

Is it new? If so just take it back to where you bought it. Find the number for the manufacturer and contact them and ask them. It kind of sounds like the wrong sticker was put on it. But I wouldn't take the chance.

mnoll406 · #6 03-16-2004, 03:20 PM

Hey Jboy,
Unplug the ballast, and open the case. Then you will see how many actual ballasts you have. also if it is set up for 2 bulbs, it should have either 2 cords, or 2 sockets on the ballast case. Hope this helps,

Mike