building a new light from an old light. any help?

[cwilson]

i didnt get too much help in the DIY section, so hopefully you gys can help. heres the issue:

so i have a 36" coralife 2X150W halide light, and one side doesnt work. the light seems to fire up at "half power" and make a terrible buzzing noise. i moved all inverts to the working side, and as much as i hate it, i never replaced th light, because i knew a new setup was in the near future.

the new tank is going to be an (apx) 43gal square measuring 24"X24"X17"tall. my question is:

how hard would it be to take apart the coralife and use the working side and all existing electronics, and remount it onto a home-made pendant? i really dont know much about DIY, although i am willing to learn and give it a try (if it can realistically be done by someone with no experience). from the start, i have a few basic questions:

1. what should i mount it onto? would the light get to hot to use wood?

2. should i just mount the reflector onto the wood or whatever material i may use, or should i use a spacer?

3. is it better to have cooling fans on top of the light, or blowing accross the light?

4. has anyone every done anything like this before?


i have yet to dismantel the ballest, and im hoping if i just "copy" the design, i can rebuild it myself without too much trouble. my main concern is what i should make the pendant "case" out of

iuf anyone has any feedback at all, i would GREATLY appreciate it. if im in way over my head, please tell me. i will not get upset or whine. i would much rather know now then 7 stiches, 5 shocks, 2 burns amd $300 later

thansk for looking, and all/any feedback is encouraged!

[Hormigaquatica]

Yes, you can gut them and use the good parts like a retrofit kit. I did that when I built a canopy for my 55gal and 240gal tanks. I built the canopies out of just pine and screwed the bulb clips up into it. No reflectors on mine, just because I didnt have space for them, but you could put up an aluminum reflector (or at least paint the inside of the canopy white so it reflects better).

When you take apart the case on the light strip, you will find small ballasts mounted to it- no need to disassemble those, just take them out and set them/mount them where you can.

I would suggest fans blowing across the bulbs too. You can cut a hole in either side of your canopy and set some small computer fans in there.

Its really pretty easy- I break a lot of stuff, and this was no sweat

[cwilson]

thank you! about time someone can say they have done this!!

what i may do is purchase a couple of T5 retrofits, and build a bigger light box and put those in there with the MH. the MH is only a 150, and i like rather blue-heavy lighting, so possibly a 14K halide bulb and a couple of 20K T5s.

another thing i was concerned with was when i take apart the halide (i have yet to dismantle the light), what attaches teh power chord to the light? i understand that if the chord is attached to the light, i can get it off by using wire strippers but then how would i re-connect or attach the chord?

i hope you can understand what im trying to say. please excuse my lack of knowledge and proper terms.
thanks to everyone for helping the help/advice! when this starts, ill be sure to take tons of pics and post the whole thing when done

[Hormigaquatica]

I think I follow what youre asking.. lol

When you take the casing apart, the power cord will be running to the ballast already- there shouldnt be any need to clip the wires. It might run through an on/off switch though- I left mine on, just so I could flip on the PCs independently if I wanted to. I suppose you could clip the wires and just connect the cord directly to the ballast without looping through the switch, but Im not sure you need to do all that extra work. There really should be very little- if any- wiring needed.

[acrylic_300]

Sounds like your ballast went bad on that side. You could replace the ballast easily enough. It might cost less than building a whole new hood.

[cwilson]

im going to try to leave as much intact and together as possible. hopefully i can just take out all the old stuff and remount. also, in regards to what you had mentioned before, i do plan on using a reflector. if possible, i woud like to use the existing one and just remount it (any suggestions/advice specifically to mountign the reflector?)


acrylic-
yeah, i realize that fixing the busted parts could (and probably would) be cheaper than building this new light im attempting to explain, but unfortunately, the light is 36", and the new tank i am going to set up is going to be a 24" square. also, i had a hell of a time getting ahold of anyone who could give me parts or even a website where i could buy my own parts. personally, i dont think i will buy another coralife light. well, i take that back. i heard good things about their little 150W pendant (which i am tryign to make on my own! )


i'll let you guys know how this whole thing ends up coming out, although im starting to have my doubts

thanks fo rall the help everyone. i really appreciate it!

[coralnut99]

I dunno. As you describe it, even if you get the ballast situation remedied, you're still stuck with trying to illuminate a 24" X 24" area with a 36" long fixture, and you'll be replacing a ballast that will probably cost you over $100 at least, new. imho, I would just use a bank of t5 retrofits over a tank that's only 17" deep. I wouldn't pitch the old fixture. I would put it aside in case you change plans in the future and have need for a 36" fixture.

[coralnut99]

I just had two T5 ballasts go bad at the same time. Temporarily, I placed a 150W pendant over the tank. The footprint is 24" X 36". I don't even care for the way it covers the 24" area. Waht I'm leadin up to is that you would probably end up adding a couple of t5's anyway.

[cwilson]

although the existing fixture is 36", that would be the part i will no longer use. basically i will be taking everything (fan included) from HALF of the existing fixture (seeing as only one side is working), and re-installing it as it was before into a DIY light hood.

i also plan on putting two T5's in addition to the halide. do you think even with the T5's i will still be stuck with a "spotlight" look with a 24"X24" tank?

also, i realize this may not work. ive got a mental budget and time factor, and if i cant do this without go over on either, im just going to buy a new light.

thanks for all the advice everyone!