HQI Lighting Question.......(Is it supposed to smell)

[jgoldsney]

Well I am slowly but surely making progress on my system....and yes muck I am working on taking some pictures

I have finaly got my MH Lighting working with one small hitch.....when ever it runs the room gets a very destinct smell of Ozone. I have checked my ballasts and the smell is not coming from there. The lighting fixture is one that i got from Dez....It is an industrial strength DIY aquaspace style fixture made out of stainless. It is a real beast but it also acts as an awesome heat sink and even after the bulbs ran for a couple of hours the top of the fixture was hardly warm

Well back to the issue at hand.....I am parinoid about leaving the house with the lights running because of the ozone smell. I have ran them while I was home for 2-3 hours at a time with no ill results but I am trying to pinpoint the source of the smell.

any thoughts.....

Thanks

Joel

[muck]

Originally Posted by jgoldsney

Well I am slowly but surely making progress on my system....and yes muck I am working on taking some pictures

[Delphinus]

These are 250's? I've never noticed an ozony smell when I run my 150 DE. Sorry I can't be more helpful. I would say that I'd be pretty paranoid about a smell too.

[mr_alberta]

Doesn't an Ozone smell usually indicate a short or a spark arcing somewhere thus creating ozone?

You could always vent the ozone into your skimmer and have a ballast/ozone generator

[Willow]

isnt ozone poisonious over a peroid of time?

[mr_alberta]

Ozone is some nasty stuff as it breaks down protiens and whatnot. From the website http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/oee/ozone/symptoms.html:

Ozone can irritate your respiratory system. This might come in the form of coughing or an uncomfortable feeling in your chest. Symptoms may last a few hours after exposure.

Ozone can impair your ability to breathe. You may not be able to breathe in as much as air as you are normally able to. Your breathing might be more rapid and shallow.

Ozone can aggravate asthma. Doctors report that high ozone levels result in a greater number of asthma attacks. That's because asthmatics are more greatly affected by the irritant. Ozone also makes you more sensitive to allergens that cause asthma attacks. Ozone can also aggravate chronic lung diseases like emphysema and bronchitis.

Ozone can inflame and damage the lining of your lungs.

Ozone can damage the cells that line your lungs. Eventually, these damaged cells are replaced. But, repeated damage may result in permanent problems.

[jgoldsney]

Yaaay now I am really parinoid

[Quinster]

you said you got the fixture from Dez but is the ballast new? Some companies coat ballasts with a fine coating of oil for corrosion during shipping and storage, and will "burn" off over the first bit of use.

[jgoldsney]

quote:
Responses from RC

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Originally posted by Bishop
Ozone, O3, is generated in atmospheric conditions by the presence of ultra-violet light. The ozone you smell is being generated inside your fixture and diffusing out. If you have a fan cooling the fixture or the bulb, remove it and cover the air-vents in the hood. HQI style lights should not be cooled except radiantly.
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Ultraviolet light *will* produce ozone given the right conditions (some sterilizers are based upon this method) especially in the presence of o2 enriched environment.
Coronal discharge (arcing) will also produce ozone. Covering the air vents in a hood doesn't seem to me to be a wise idea.

[jws444]

My ballast smelled like burning circuit boards for the first little while. It must have been the anti-rust oils on the transformer. Obviously, the bulbs should not emit any smell. I hope there's no arcing happening insdie the bulb holder. Maybe check out your fluorescent tubes. Those are known to cause arcing if loosely installed. I use a conductive spray for most of my electronic equipment call Pro Gold. A habit from my stereo equipment. Speaking of which, ozone will eat the rubber on your speaker surrounds for breakfast.