diy pc lighting

[jmosmc]

web page
found this sight while is was surfing. just a little curious if anyone else has has any experience with them. seems like a great deal. i am thinking about upgrading my lights to pc's, and this seems like the best way to go. any input?

 

[davelin315]

There was a thread on that stuff within the past few days, had to do with someone buying the same ballasts at home depot on clearance. Look for that thread, since it also referred to the ballasts you are referring to.

 

[Mac1]

I've ordered from AHSupply before, and been very happy. I actually live in the same area as that company, and being the cheap bastid that I am, wanted to save the two bucks on shipping. So I spent $5 in gas driving out to the guy's house (Kim I think his name is?). Didn't actually get to meet the guy, but my package was on his front porch at the appointed time. Got my Bulbs home, hooked them up, been happy as a clam with them ever since. I purchased the 9-Watt Actinic and Red Light DIY Kit - I wanted a night light for my 90gal. I never ended up using the reflector that came with it, but it appears to be a quality reflector. Thicker guage metal than some of the other one's I've seen at that size (or larger for that matter).
I wouldn't hesitate ordering from there again. And hopefully when I pick it up from his house this time, he'll come out and say hi ;-) I've actually got a little project involving PC's I've been meaning to work on.

- Mac

 

[24Tom]

I've got 2 x 96 PCs with the reflector kit from AHsupply on my thirty. I am very happy with them. They are very easy to assemble. The instructions are very clear Most other people on this board report the same. The only negative was that I had to buy more cord so that I could mount the ballasts in my base cabinet.They supply enough if the ballasts are mounted in the hood.

 

[jmosmc]

i don;t know alot about pc's. but the lat time i wen t home depot and asked about a 55 watt pc. he looked at me and said huh, what you talkin bout. or something like that.

 

[davelin315]

I think only the reef society calls them power compacts. Ask them about flourescent lighting ballasts, and then ask them which ones can be used with those long bent tubes.....

 

[jmosmc]

really ihave tried. no-one that i know, even electrcian frends of mine, seem to know anything about compact flourescents. if i had a specific part no. then i would probably be ahead of the game, but so far no luck. months of searching on the net, but still the only place i have foun any usefull information is in the refkeeping comunity.

 

[davelin315]

Try asking about specific wattages for ballasts. I think PC lighting starts at around 9 watts, then goes up to I believe 96 watts. The wattages are not rounded numbers, so they are fairly easy to describe, and if the person knows anything about them at all, under whatever name they're known as (I've heard PL used before, don't know what it means), they should at least be familiar with the strange wattages.

 

[PasoReefer]

Well I have been using ahsupply's PC lights since December 2000. I started out with 6 13 watt PC's over my 12 gallon hex tank. Since then I have added 2 more so I am running a total of 8 13 watt PC's 4 sunlight and 4 blue. Check out my website for pics. I LOVE them. With the small area I had in the custom hood I built they are perfect. The company is great to deal with. Kim is super. Out of all the bulbs and ballasts I have bought I only had one bad blue bulb. I called him and he overnighted it to me no questions asked. There product is very good and I would reccomend highly. I bought 4 of the basic Bright Light Kits. I used reflective paint so I didnt need to buy reflectors. They raised my tank temp about 2 or 3 degrees so I installed a hood fan that is wired into the lights. I have my lights on timers and have had absolutly no problem with the. If I can help more let me know [email protected]

 

[jmosmc]

question? if i pull a 96 watt ballast from a flourescent fixture, will that same ballast light a 96 watt pc. respectively will flourescent ballasts light pcbulbs with the same wattage output?

 

[jmosmc]

thanks for your input i was hoping to get some posotive feedback. what a great deal, huh.

 

[PasoReefer]

It sure worked out for me. If you need any help let me know

 

[fsa]

Pasoreefer, I just got the 2 X 36 watt pc kit from them and like them very much. My question to you is, how have you hooked it up on a timer. My power cord from the lights are three prong and the timer I have only has a two prong coming into it. Is that the kind you have and is there a safety concern going from the 3 prong to the 2 prong -- or do you have a timer that has a 3 prong coming into it? Just asking because ahsupply said to get one with a 3 prong coming into it. I will also agree with the above posts, ahsupply seems to be very good with customer service. I have e-mailed them twice and have gotten responses in just 2 or 3 days. (I think that is quick).

 

[Reef-lite]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 24Tom:
<STRONG>The only negative was that I had to buy more cord so that I could mount the ballasts in my base cabinet.They supply enough if the ballasts are mounted in the hood.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

By "cord", do you mean wire? I always ask for extra wire and Kim includes it for no extra charge. AH Supply is great. I just wish they would expand out to MH.

 

[jmosmc]

actually no i was responding to fsa, bu when i have had to extend my power cord i find that an extensin cord works great. they are cheap so you can buy one for a few dollars and splice it into your lights, works great.
i hope that my experience with them is as great as all the feedback that i have recieved, i am sure it will be thank you.

 

[Emperator]

FSA-

Why not save yourself the time and trouble and go to HD and buy a nice digital timer with the three prong input (I paid $15 for mine)? I think I saw a double pack of these at Costco for $20.

 

[jmosmc]

my flourescents are the same way. i put an adpter from three prong to two (I purchased at my local hardware store.) the adapter has a small ground tab at the bottom, you just atac small wire to that then run it to the screw that holds the faceplate on your outlet.(a small screw in the midlle of the plate, this wil ground you system.)

 

[24Tom]

Yes by cord I meant wire. It wasn't a big deal. With thier refectors and the blue actinic in the back it adds depth to the tank.

 

[PasoReefer]

I have the ballast wires all terminating into 2 Heavy Duty 10 foot extension cords(Home Depot 7 bucks) with just two prongs they (2 of them one for the blue lights one for the sunlight ones) in turn are plugged in to the timers I then have the timers plugged into a 6way outlet. It seems to work perfect. I do have a grounding probe in my skimmer to prevent any stray voltage and to prevent me from looking like Don King when I put my hand in the tank.