Ebay light fixture

George · #1 03-23-2011, 02:25 AM

I was looking for a light fixture for my 180 gallon. I am always partial to MH and fixture. After a long period of research, my attention was drawn to an EBay seller selling MH lighting fixture real cheap. Some say the light fixture is a Odyssea clone. Odyssea lights receive mixed reviews however most of negative reviews were from many years ago. The negative reviews include ballast not firing at the correct wattage. Overheated fixture/ballast. Sub-par bulbs, etc.
With the ebay light fixture I wanted costs almost 1/3 of some name brand ones, I can gamble...
The light came the other day. Despite 3 layers of cardboard and one layer of bubble wrap, one MH bulb was crashed. I emailed the seller and the sellers quickly sent me a replacement bulb and I received it in 3 days.
here are the spec's of the light fixture I ordered:

72" light fixture with mounting legs
3 x Metal Halide 250W double ended 15K.
3 x Electronic 250W ballasts
8 x T5 HO 39W bulbs.
8 x dual LED moon lights.

The most important thing I care about is the electronic ballast. Below is a picture of one of 3 ballasts:

After some researches, the ballast looks identical to an icecap ballast, even the model number is the same. Look at the icecap ballast here: http://www.icecapinc.com/ballasts/me...tronic-ballast. If icecap was using the ballast, it can't be that bad, can it?

Here is how it looks when all lights (MH, T5, LED) are on. The MH are bright. How bright? We will find out soon after I compare this bulb with my existing XM bulbs using an apogee light meter

That is another project.

Here is how it looks sitting on the tank:

My opinions so far are:

Pros:
not expensive
Ballasts are icecap clones
have LED as moon lights

cons:
It is a pain to replace bulbs. (you have to unscrew a few screws to open the cover and carefully put it back).
Being an ebay item, I am not sure how warranty and technical support work.
Reflects are not wide enough for my liking. We will have to see what PAR I get in the front and back of my tank.

es355lucille · #2 03-23-2011, 02:33 AM

Taggin along for the ride. Not a bad looking light.

Koresample · #3 03-23-2011, 04:07 AM

I bought the same one only in the 24" size for my Fluval. It was reliable and ran with no problems but the bulb quality and reflectors are poor (get what you pay for). I went from a 24" Aquatic Life T5HO (96 watts total) set up to this. I don't have a par meter but the lighting looked duller than the Aquatic Life and I started to get bad algae issues shortly after with no other tank changes. If you look at the overall quality of the wiring inside it compared to a high quality fixture, you will also see it is lacking (although perfectly functional). I think if the bulbs are upgraded it is a pretty good buy, but with the stock bulbs its got pretty mediocre performance. I think I paid $169 for mine (compared to about $525-$889 for a Sunlight Supply or Giesemann) so if i factor in $80 for a top line 150w MH & 4 X 24W T5HO Giesemann for another $80, I am only at $329 and have a pretty good set-up. Those same set ups for the size you have would run about $890-$1400.

I am interested to see how yours measures up for you, I bought mine two years ago so things have possibly improved.

ScubaSteve · #4 03-23-2011, 04:52 AM

The design looks almost identical to the Coralife aqualight pro. Some of the cons you listed I have for a similar light that would have cost at least twice what you paid, so it's a pretty good deal. And you are correct, following the whole ballast debacle a few years back Odyssea began to find new ballast suppliers and in the end ended up with SMU Icecap ballasts (SMU = special make up... ie. no icecap badging). This is all to my understanding and I may be wrong... but as you've said you've even got the same model and serial on the ballast.

Bblinks · #5 03-23-2011, 08:21 PM

George, the light looks awesome, I have the odyssea light myself, but I want to change it over to t5ho instead of the pcs, if its okay with you I want to know where did you get it and if I can get some parts from them. Also if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the fixture? Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by George

I was looking for a light fixture for my 180 gallon. I am always partial to MH and fixture. After a long period of research, my attention was drawn to an EBay seller selling MH lighting fixture real cheap. Some say the light fixture is a Odyssea clone. Odyssea lights receive mixed reviews however most of negative reviews were from many years ago. The negative reviews include ballast not firing at the correct wattage. Overheated fixture/ballast. Sub-par bulbs, etc.
With the ebay light fixture I wanted costs almost 1/3 of some name brand ones, I can gamble...
The light came the other day. Despite 3 layers of cardboard and one layer of bubble wrap, one MH bulb was crashed. I emailed the seller and the sellers quickly sent me a replacement bulb and I received it in 3 days.
here are the spec's of the light fixture I ordered:

72" light fixture with mounting legs
3 x Metal Halide 250W double ended 15K.
3 x Electronic 250W ballasts
8 x T5 HO 39W bulbs.
8 x dual LED moon lights.

The most important thing I care about is the electronic ballast. Below is a picture of one of 3 ballasts:

After some researches, the ballast looks identical to an icecap ballast, even the model number is the same. Look at the icecap ballast here: http://www.icecapinc.com/ballasts/me...tronic-ballast. If icecap was using the ballast, it can't be that bad, can it?

Here is how it looks when all lights (MH, T5, LED) are on. The MH are bright. How bright? We will find out soon after I compare this bulb with my existing XM bulbs using an apogee light meter

That is another project.

Here is how it looks sitting on the tank:

My opinions so far are:

Pros:
not expensive
Ballasts are icecap clones
have LED as moon lights

cons:
It is a pain to replace bulbs. (you have to unscrew a few screws to open the cover and carefully put it back).
Being an ebay item, I am not sure how warranty and technical support work.
Reflects are not wide enough for my liking. We will have to see what PAR I get in the front and back of my tank.

George · #6 03-24-2011, 04:57 AM

PM you the info.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bblinks

George, the light looks awesome, I have the odyssea light myself, but I want to change it over to t5ho instead of the pcs, if its okay with you I want to know where did you get it and if I can get some parts from them. Also if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the fixture? Thanks.

dsaundry · #7 03-24-2011, 02:31 PM

I had one for years and thought it was great, make sure the ballasts are away from any splash zones..the don't like moisture. Yeah the bulbs are a bit of a pain but once you get them done a few times its not really an issue. would not hesitate buying another.

George · #8 03-24-2011, 06:27 PM

I didn't include the ebay seller because I didn't want to promote the seller mainly because...it's ebay and you buy it at your own risk.
A few people PM'd me asking for the store. So here it is:
http://stores.ebay.ca/Hobby-Lights-Oneshop

Currently they are out of light fixtures but the owner said he would have it in 2-3 weeks. Also if you need the fixture with T5 (instead of PC by default), you have to special order it and pay a deposit.

Again, buy it at your own risk. If it's burning down your house, it's not my fault.

HTH
George

chewie · #9 03-25-2011, 12:00 AM

Thank you for the info.

I have been on that site a few times actually. I did not see any light fixtures though. Just the MH balasts. Do you have to email him to ask for them? Also have you ever used any of the mh bulbs from there? How are they.

George · #10 03-25-2011, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewie

Thank you for the info.

I have been on that site a few times actually. I did not see any light fixtures though. Just the MH balasts. Do you have to email him to ask for them? Also have you ever used any of the mh bulbs from there? How are they.

He told me yesterday that all fixtures had been sold out and new ones would come in 2-3 weeks. If you want one badly, you can always pre-order by emailing him.
My fixture comes with 3 x 250w 15K MH bulbs. I would imagine the bulbs in the fixture are the same as those on the ebay site. I will have some PAR readings soon.