before i burn my tank down...

johnnybravo234 · 09/13/2006, 11:04 AM

Im building a diy metal halide fixture with a 250w coralife balast. There are 3 wires coming out of the transformer in the balast and i dont want to wire it wrong and wreck everything:

1. one black wire labeled 120V which id guess is the feed

2. one brown wire labeled B with some chinese ymbol after it (negative perhaps?)

3. one wire white wire labeled COM which i have no clue what is for

please help me with my stupidity and tell me what they are

and would a 250w 14,000k metal halide be a good choice with the two original 65w 50/50 pc's i have in my tank?

johnnybravo234 · 09/13/2006, 12:19 PM

can anyone at leat tell me what the 3 output wires in any given metal halide balast are for?

labragg1 · 09/13/2006, 12:29 PM

Black wire is the hot. White is common. The brown is most likely the ground.
What I did was just get a cheap grounded extension cord (like one for power tools) cut off the length you need and match up the wires. The black and white should match up properly. Your brown should go to the green wire.

You may want to just rig it up in your garage and test it before you install. I would recommend this anyway because I ended up with a defective ballast and had to unmount it from my canopy. If I had tested first outside of the canopy then it would have been a little less hassle.

Anyway, HTH.

johnnybravo234 · 09/13/2006, 01:57 PM

Thanks for the info

labragg1 · 09/13/2006, 02:56 PM

NO prob. Also I have always preferred the 14k range bulbs, although I've found that Hamilton 15k's and XM 20k's are pretty close in color.
IMO 10k's are way to yellow for my tast. You will already have some yellow with your 50/50's so I would think that the 14 or 15k's would add just enough blue to give you really nice color.
HTH

johnnybravo234 · 09/13/2006, 03:02 PM

I think it should work out even if its too blue I have a couple brand new 65 watt 10,000k pcs that I can use instead of the 50/50's

labragg1 · 09/13/2006, 03:04 PM

Yeh--I think you'll be fine.

09/13/2006, 11:04 AM	#1
johnnybravo234 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Litchfield County, CT Posts: 771	before i burn my tank down... Im building a diy metal halide fixture with a 250w coralife balast. There are 3 wires coming out of the transformer in the balast and i dont want to wire it wrong and wreck everything: 1. one black wire labeled 120V which id guess is the feed 2. one brown wire labeled B with some chinese ymbol after it (negative perhaps?) 3. one wire white wire labeled COM which i have no clue what is for please help me with my stupidity and tell me what they are and would a 250w 14,000k metal halide be a good choice with the two original 65w 50/50 pc's i have in my tank? Last edited by johnnybravo234; 09/13/2006 at 11:19 AM.

09/13/2006, 12:29 PM	#3
labragg1 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Carthage, MO Posts: 360	Black wire is the hot. White is common. The brown is most likely the ground. What I did was just get a cheap grounded extension cord (like one for power tools) cut off the length you need and match up the wires. The black and white should match up properly. Your brown should go to the green wire. You may want to just rig it up in your garage and test it before you install. I would recommend this anyway because I ended up with a defective ballast and had to unmount it from my canopy. If I had tested first outside of the canopy then it would have been a little less hassle. Anyway, HTH. __________________ skywalker Current Tank Info: 65gal RR, 29gal Sump, OCT NW-150 Skimmer, T5 Nova Extreme Lighting

09/13/2006, 02:56 PM	#5
labragg1 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Carthage, MO Posts: 360	NO prob. Also I have always preferred the 14k range bulbs, although I've found that Hamilton 15k's and XM 20k's are pretty close in color. IMO 10k's are way to yellow for my tast. You will already have some yellow with your 50/50's so I would think that the 14 or 15k's would add just enough blue to give you really nice color. HTH __________________ skywalker Current Tank Info: 65gal RR, 29gal Sump, OCT NW-150 Skimmer, T5 Nova Extreme Lighting

09/13/2006, 03:04 PM	#7
labragg1 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Carthage, MO Posts: 360	Yeh--I think you'll be fine. __________________ skywalker Current Tank Info: 65gal RR, 29gal Sump, OCT NW-150 Skimmer, T5 Nova Extreme Lighting

09/13/2006, 12:19 PM	#2
johnnybravo234 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Litchfield County, CT Posts: 771	can anyone at leat tell me what the 3 output wires in any given metal halide balast are for?

09/13/2006, 01:57 PM	#4
johnnybravo234 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Litchfield County, CT Posts: 771	Thanks for the info

09/13/2006, 03:02 PM	#6
johnnybravo234 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Litchfield County, CT Posts: 771	I think it should work out even if its too blue I have a couple brand new 65 watt 10,000k pcs that I can use instead of the 50/50's