odyssea MH fixture review... new electronic version

[aha24]

This thread is getting really long and pictures are few and far between maybe we could get people that have made changes to there light to post before and after pictures tell what they changed and what they used .....

[anemoneguy]

how easy is it to change the mh bulbs?

[miatawnt2b]

Originally posted by aha24
This thread is getting really long and pictures are few and far between maybe we could get people that have made changes to there light to post before and after pictures tell what they changed and what they used .....

Yea, the forum format is good for discussion, but when a thread gets huge there is no way to reference material. Anyhow, I don't have many pictures, but I elected to mod my light to use a 175W SE bulb instead of the stock 250DE. I elected to go this route for a few reasons. First I am good with fabricating and DIY. While the mod was really pretty easy, it's not for everyone. Second, one of my stock MH ballasts fried about a month after I got the light. Since I had to replace the ballasts anyhow, the Ballastwise 175's were cheaper. Third, the Iwaksai 15k 175SE bulb crushes a 250DE as far as PAR, and the color is super. Fourth, in a 48" fixture 2x175W < 2x250W which equals electricity savings. Oh yea... and it allowed me to get rid of that super thick glass pane covering the DE's which allow more light penetration, better air flow through the light, and MUCH easier bulb replacement.

I don't have pics of the actual build, but the basics were, remove the stock reflector and take off the ends. Remove the DE socket wire the SE socket. Mount the SE socket using ordinary hose clamps which were mounted to the DE/reflector bracket. Wire the new ballasts just as any other ballast mod shown here. As you can see, the main part of the reflector is reused, but both ends have been removed to allow for the necessary room needed for the SE bulb.

-J

[DarG]

Originally posted by miatawnt2b
Yea, the forum format is good for discussion, but when a thread gets huge there is no way to reference material. Anyhow, I don't have many pictures, but I elected to mod my light to use a 175W SE bulb instead of the stock 250DE. I elected to go this route for a few reasons. First I am good with fabricating and DIY. While the mod was really pretty easy, it's not for everyone. Second, one of my stock MH ballasts fried about a month after I got the light. Since I had to replace the ballasts anyhow, the Ballastwise 175's were cheaper. Third, the Iwaksai 15k 175SE bulb crushes a 250DE as far as PAR, and the color is super. Fourth, in a 48" fixture 2x175W < 2x250W which equals electricity savings. Oh yea... and it allowed me to get rid of that super thick glass pane covering the DE's which allow more light penetration, better air flow through the light, and MUCH easier bulb replacement.

I don't have pics of the actual build, but the basics were, remove the stock reflector and take off the ends. Remove the DE socket wire the SE socket. Mount the SE socket using ordinary hose clamps which were mounted to the DE/reflector bracket. Wire the new ballasts just as any other ballast mod shown here. As you can see, the main part of the reflector is reused, but both ends have been removed to allow for the necessary room needed for the SE bulb.

-J

The Iwasaki 175 watt 15KK is a great bulb. Excellent PAR for it's wattage and nice color. Very popular bulb. But to generalize that it "crushes" a 250 watt DE in terms of PAR is incorrect.
Yes, there are many 250 watt DE bulbs lower in par than the 175 watt Iwasaki but there are many 250 watt DE's with higher PAR as well. As far as efficiency goes, output per energy used, it is an undoubtedly more efficient use of electricity than probably all of the 250 watt DE bulbs with the possible exception of a few of the very highest PAR lamps in the 250 watt DE class. I only point this out because somebody may be looking for the highest possible par lamp that they can put into the Odyssea fixture and they would not get it from swapping the socket to a mogul and going with the Iwasaki 175 watt bulb. 250 watt DE's like some of the Giesemanns, Aqualine Buschkes, Ushios, BLV's and a few other 250 watt DE bulbs have the potential for higher PAR (signifigantly higher for some of the bulbs) than the Iwasaki 15KK 175 watt.

One other thing. Not that the reflectors in the Odyssea fixtures are highly optimized to begin with but being as small as they are to begin with, swapping a larger SE type bulb into that reflector has got to be even less optimal. Most if not all of the best reflectors that are available for both SE and DE versions are larger in the SE version than the DE version. It's necessary that they be larger/longer not only to physically accomodate the larger SE bulbs but to optimize the reflective properties of the enclosure for the larger and longer SE bulbs compared to the DE bulbs.

This is not to say that your SE mod wont work, obviously it's still going to reflect light. And, I am not an expert on reflector design. Just pointing out that there is some science (quite a bit actually) to reflectors that goes beyond just beyond being able to fit a certain bulb in them. Size, shape, facets, texture, angle, mounting distance of the bulb plus whatever else I missed are all considerations taken into account when the better reflectors are designed for a specific size/type of halide bulb. I'm not trying to cricticize de-constuctively. Just pointing out that it's not a completely free lunch.

[apexi]

Regarding the poor energy efficiency of the stock 250W ballasts with a low power factor of around 0.63, does this mean that since the ballasts are only "using" around 150-160Watts, that the power bill would be less?

OR is this energy simply wasted and we still get charged for the full 250W?

[carlso63]

The stock electronic ballasts they only draw a net 150 - 160 w out of the wall...

They consume less electricity than a "full power" 250 ballast.

[carlso63]

Hey, BTW, longtime thread followers -

My male Banggai Cardinal (who has been carrying eggs since my pair spawned way back on Nov. 8th) has finally started to release the fry ! :








The fry eat baby brine shrimp and even some Cyclopeeze (note the orange-looking belly)

So, these "cheap, POS, Burn Down Your House!" Odyssea lights not only can grow SPS and Clams....

they are spawning - friendly !!!

[agsansoo]

Congrats carlso63 !
How old are the fry in the photo above ? How many survived ?

[carlso63]

Right now there are only 2 out - but the male still has a mouthful of fry...when he "yawns" you can see little eyes looking out

5 'larvae' were spit out prematurely about a week ago, but they all died within a day or 2.

The pics were taken today - those fry are 1 day old.

From what I have read, the average brood size is from 15 - 25 fry.

I am hoping there will be at least another dozen released over the next 48 hours or so...

[phish guy]

im upgrading my lights to the 380watt 24" fixture. i was a little apprehensive about this light, but thanks to this thread i have very little worry, even though it took foooorreeevveeerr to read all this.
luckily my dad is a master electrican so when it come time to dig in and change stuuf, i have no worries. i cant wait to see the difference, as im sure my corals are too.

[apexi]

Originally posted by carlso63
The stock electronic ballasts they only draw a net 150 - 160 w out of the wall...

They consume less electricity than a "full power" 250 ballast.

Meaning you only get billed for say 160W X 3 = 480Watts of power usage rather than 750W?

[anemoneguy]

i just turned on my fixture after one day of changing the ballast to an hqi. the bulb is shot. i had another ballast and got same result. and this 72 inch fixture doesnt look easy to change the bulbs

[carlso63]

Originally posted by apexi
Meaning you only get billed for say 160W X 3 = 480Watts of power usage rather than 750W?

Yes, just the wattage actually consumed.

[miatawnt2b]

AWESOME FRY carlso63! Mind shipping me a few?
-J

[spamreefnew]

a ballast is just a transformer it prboly steps the voltage from 120v to 600 v like most hid fixtures in theroy you could run them in paralell to make the amprage double or in series to make the voltage double the only problum is that wattage is the product of voltage times amprage,so if you dont know exactly how many amps each bulb needs and the voltage they need you realy cant determine the configuration to use. the only way would be to find some specs on the bulbs and ballasts,,,but i dont think anyone will ever release that info.,then you could just make any fixture you wanted. in closing i wouldent even try it because of risk of fire...and i do electrical work for a living

[bigmatt]

I have the new electronic version right from aquatraders, It does not look green at all, Its perfect with the blue pc's running

[anemoneguy]

mine looked good as weel, but i just wanted to see what a 250 watt hqi would do. it did make a brighter difference, but then the pc bulbs couldnt wash out enough of the extra yellow i got. then the next day when it came time for the lights to come on the one i swiched to the hqi wouldnt. it had burned out the bulb. so i had a new ushio 10 k i replaced it with and kept the hqi ballast hooked up and it looks about the same. so with a 72 inch fixture and the stock bulbs on the left two thirds compared to an hqi on the right with the ushio. i must say i like the look of the stock equipment the best, but im sure its because of the pcs are not the same in intensity compared to the other more powerful hqi.

[alex1965]

HELLO BIGMATT. Are you useing your system right out of the box and if so what size fixture did you get?

[bigmatt]

Originally posted by alex1965
HELLO BIGMATT. Are you useing your system right out of the box and if so what size fixture did you get?

Im using the 24 inch fixture right out of the box with the 15k bulb provided. currently over a 44gallon corner reef, I will order another one to go on my 75 gallon once that is ready to be set up. The tank right now is full of sps, clams, mushrooms and zoos and they are all loving the new light

[miatawnt2b]

Originally posted by spamreefnew
a ballast is just a transformer it prboly steps the voltage from 120v to 600 v like most hid fixtures in theroy you could run them in paralell to make the amprage double or in series to make the voltage double the only problum is that wattage is the product of voltage times amprage,so if you dont know exactly how many amps each bulb needs and the voltage they need you realy cant determine the configuration to use. the only way would be to find some specs on the bulbs and ballasts,,,but i dont think anyone will ever release that info.,then you could just make any fixture you wanted. in closing i wouldent even try it because of risk of fire...and i do electrical work for a living

You can't run separate ballasts in parallel because there is no way to sync phase on the outputs.
-J

[abulgin]

Thank you for this thread. It was a great resource to someone who has no experience with MH lighting, and I am now ready to buy the 48" fixture.

[alex1965]

HELLO BIG MATT. Can you post aome PHOTOS of you SYSTEM with your new lights on. To show what it looks like?

[bigmatt]

I will try and get some in the next few days, my 20k bulb just arrived and I cant wait to see what that looks like

Originally posted by alex1965
HELLO BIG MATT. Can you post aome PHOTOS of you SYSTEM with your new lights on. To show what it looks like?

[carlso63]

Originally posted by miatawnt2b
AWESOME FRY carlso63! Mind shipping me a few?
-J

I have so many people already asking ofr these that I'm not sure that there will be any left for me

Ended up with a total of 13 live fry (actually 14, but 1 came out either injured or deformed and died after only a few hours...)

They are quite lively and dart around the nursery tank; usually they all move in a school. Here are a few pics:







They started right away on live baby brine... I tried frozen cyclopeeze; it looked a little "big" for them right now - but I think after another week or so they will be large enough to take those as well...

[miatawnt2b]

Very Cool!!!! Congrats.