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[APD] Re: [Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 5, Issue 72]



I have an Eclipse 12 that I have installed a CustomSeaLife PC retrofit into. 
These are specifically designed for the Eclipse 12 (they other retrofit kits
for other Eclipse models) and come with the bulb, reflector and electronic
ballast.  Installation was very easy, just unscrew the light assembly and
screw the reflector and put in the bulb.  Your choice of bulb is 32watt
10,000K or 32watt 10,000K/Actinic, I eventually replaced the 10,000K bulb with
a 28watt 6700K bulb which looks better to me.  This retrofit has been on the
tank for about three years now and should last me for years to come.  Since I
can now have the ballast on the floor away from the tank (the Eclipse ballast
was in the light assembly), the heat from the lights has gone up only a small
amount.  Since my house is not air conditioned, during our warm California
summers I either leave the access panel off or lift the top off the tank by a
half inch with some spacers.  I grow a lot of plants in the little tank and
get them pearling with DIY CO2.  :D

Hope this helps!  
Christine Bennett
christine_bennett at usa.net


> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 10
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:32:33 -0800 (PST)
> From: "S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>
> Subject: Re: [APD] Need guidance with DIY compact fluorescents -- or -
> 	Eclipsing the Original Design
> To: brian at shoptalkforums_com, aquatic plants digest
> 	<aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
> 
> Saying that ballasts "detects" the wattage requirements of
> a bulb is a bit too anthropomorhic for my tastes. The
> ballast will develop a certin voltage across the bulb,
> depending on how the plasma in the bulb reacts to the 
> ballast and vice versa. The resistance of the bulb is a
> function of design but varies as it heats up -- its very
> high when the bulb is cold and as it heats up is lowers
> until the resistance is very low and the bulb burns up.
> Luckily, with the right the ballast, the current is in
> limited supply, it can only provide a certain amount of
> current to the bulb and that, if it's the right ballast,
> keeps the bulb lit but prevents it from "flaming out." The
> wattage rating on a bulb only tells you the wattage udner
> operation with a specific ballast.
> 
> You could try to fit some compact fluorescents (as oposed
> to power compacts) under the 12, they're the most compact
> fluorescent bulbs in length. But the Eclipse hood wasn't
> meant to handle the higher heat -- remember that roughly
> 65% of the bulb wattage, on the proper ballast, is going to
> be shed as heat -- as you up the wattage, you up the heat.
> 
> The Eclipse hood will start to warp over time if you don't
> keep the hood from overheating.  Overheating an Eclipse
> hood with too much lighting is an easily if not cheaply
> repeatable experiment.
> 
> A 36 watt Power Compact will just fit in an Eclipse 12 hood
> (it mesures 16 18" inches including the socket) and you can
> run it off of a Fulham Workhorse 5 or Workhorse 3 ballast
> -- follow the wiring diagrams at the fulham website or
> follow the directions from AH Supply. [A Longhorse is the
> same ballast as the Workhorse, just physically longer and
> narrower.] On a Workhorse 3 the 36 watt bulb will be
> slightly overdriven but not enough to notice or make much
> diff. I don't think an AH Supply reflector will fit inside
> the existing hood splash cover -- not without some serious
> trimming. And you would need to add more ventilation holes
> into the the hood and provide ventilation in the splash
> hood so that air can convect in and then out the top vents
> -- I think you'd need fans.
> 
> I have an example of an retrofitted Eclipse 12: I fit an AH
> Supply pair of 13 watt lights in an Eclipse 12. I drilled
> about 20 ventilation intake holes (1/8") in the sides of
> the splash cover and put 4 outlet vents (the kind AHS
> supplies) in the cover. When the lights are running, the
> air at the outlet vents reigisters 89-90 degrees F but the
> tank doesn't heat up from the lights. 
> 
> I kept the original white plastic "reflector" plate, which
> inititally started to warp diirectly over the filament
> portions of the bulbs. I put a small square of aluminum
> flashing material between the bulb and the white plastic
> but only ove the filaments. That solved that problem. I 
> covered the white platic with "silvered" mylar film. This
> brought a slight increase in refelcted light reaching the
> water. I had some 3M spray adhesive on hand so that's what
> I used to adhere the mylar to the reflector plate. It's
> held up very nicely -- no peeling, flaking, burning,
> warping, or bubbling. 
> 
> Higher wattage, such as a 36 watt bulb on a Workhorse 3 or
> 5 ballast would require a bit more imagination to deal with
> the heat, but it probably could be done. Perhaps mounting
> one or two 2" tubeaxial fans, the kind made for personal
> computer CPUs would do the trick. You'd need a a wallwart
> that puts out 12V DC (which probably means one rated for
> about 9VDC) to run the fan(s).
> 
> But I doubt that there's any plant that I could grow in
> this tank with the 2 13 watt bulbs for want of light
> --other limitations might hold me back, but not the amount
> of light. I prefer the remote ballasts -- all of the top of
> the 12 hood lifts and I wouldn't want any ballast weight
> there. 
> 
> If you're listening, Jay, this tank turned out to be worth
> every penny I over bid on it ;-),including the cost and the
> fun of the light conversion.
> 
> Scott H.
> --- Brian Wagener <brian at shoptalkforums_com> wrote:
> > I have a freshwater planted Eclipse 12 that I want to
> > upgrade the lighting
> > for.  I have been looking around, and can't find exactly
> > what I want. 
> > Custom Sealife has a retrofit but it only comes with a
> > marine bulb, and AH
> > supply's kit doesn't work for me either because I would
> > rather have a
> > single remote ballast that I can hide, instead of 2 big
> > white
> > transformers.
> > 
> > I found the ballast I want to use, the fulham Longhorse 3
> > which is good
> > for 64w.  The problem I am having is what bulbs to use. 
> > I would like to
> > have at least 30w.  And with only 17"x3"x3" there isn't
> > much room.  I went
> > looking on the GE, and Osram websites, and couldn't find
> > anything I could
> > use with a high enough temperature.  Does anyone have any
> > recommendations
> > for either a 14" 32W, or a 2x18W 6" bulb?
> > 
> > Also I see listed a 28/32W bulb.  If the ballast like the
> > longhorse
> > detects the bulb wattage, would this bulb run at 28 or
> > 32W?
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Brian
> > _______________________________________________
> > Aquatic-Plants mailing list
> > Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
> > http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants

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