AgHhH!! Ballast question . . . YaY!!
 

Hey you guys need help on this one . . .

I just bought the reefstar lighting system from hamilton (1x250watt DE HQI 10,000k)

But anyhow . . . when I switch the ballast on . . . should it fire the light on right away?? Because when I turn it on . . the ballast kinda just makes a buzzing or a humming sound . . .

I turned it on and off maybe around 5 times after turning it on for about 1 min each interval but on my 5th - 6th try the ballast "turned on" and the light turned on as well . . .

IS THIS NORMAL?? Or should it be like Power compacts?? (as soon as u turn it on it turns on)

PLS. Help me . . . need to know if I need to return the product or nit . . . Thanks U guys!

MH take upto 5 or more minutes to turn on. turning them off and on quick will only blow them out. Just turn it on and saee how long it takes to fire.

if it takes more than a few seconds to start arching there is a problem, with either a componant of the ballast system or the match of the ballast to the bulb. this is a common problem when using "normal" probe start ballast with the bulbs we use in the hobby, but for some reason people have come to acept this routen of failed starts as a normal thing.

seeing as you are using a HQI with a ingightor you should not be getting anything like this and I would call the company and inquire about the problem. could be a bad ignightor, capacitor, ect..

Steve

Ya I found with my Halide that it turned on the light was just very very dim Then over the course of 5 min it turned on full way. I would call or email Hamilton and ask.

Thanks for the reply u guys ... BUT THE THING IS . . . when my timer turns on the ballasts makes a humming sound (so I know that its on) and the bulb DOESN't EVEN light up . . . not even a little bit . . . then tonight I tried it again and maybe between 20-30 seconds into it . . . THEN the light turns on (very dim then bright afterwards . . . after it heated up which is normal)

NOW: DOES THE BALLAST NEED TO HEAT UP TOO OR???? . . . Anyone else with a reefstar?? OR any halide lighting?? When u turn it on is it suppose to light up right away (even if its very dim) or do you guys wait 20-30 seconds before it actually turns on ???

Because I know that the Aqualight pro's lights up right away . . . (very dim then bright after it heats up) But I don't have to wait 20-30 seconds after the ballast turns on . . . HELP!!!

The bulb should turn on right away. It starts off dim then gets brighter as the bulb warms up. The ballast also does buzz a little if it is a HQI ballast. Since your bulb does not fire up right away, I would give Hamilton a call as Steve suggested.

Hamilton Teck
 

Sorry to here about your problems, I tried to warn people about Hamilton Teck ... Here and on RC. If you try to call them all you will get is the run around. They already have your money and don't care about customer service and have no quality control with regards to there products. For these reasons J&L wont sell there products!
As for the problems , the bulb has to " burn in " along time before it fires up right away ,like about a weeks worth of 8 to 10 hours a day. Mine did the same thing as your are doing , and after repairing some patched together wiring, and some other problems.... and along burn in time , they fire up right away. in the mean time good luck!
if you want you could PM me with your phone number and I will call you with the whole story...

Re: Hamilton Teck
 

the burn in time has nothing to do with how fast the bulb will fire up, but rather is the initial shift in the bulb output and color. (for what it is worth testing 10 new bulbs now has convinced me that the burn in time is barly noticable and nothing to be concerned with.

your wiring repairs and "other problems" is what was giving you your greef. but this is good that some one has experiance with the repairs on hamilton product to help find the problem if there customer service is lacking. was yours the HQI also? and what did you have to fix in it? I know there are a lot of people that are wiring in the capacitor on the HQI wrong as the are assuming it works the same way as a standard ballast. I know it had me all confused when I built my HQI lighting.

Steve

Yeah, I dont know anything about how the ballasts in these work but I do know that as stated before, the bulb should fire(start to arc) right away.

One question, To Tangman, you said J&L wont sell hamilton products, yet there are still hamiltion products all over their website? Maybe they just havent been removed?

Chris

well j&l does infact sell many hamilton tech units.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...category_ID=72