Radium metal halide bulbs will not be produced anymore!

[A. grandis]

I also picked up these for 400 watt and their description is different but closer to what Adam uses (I think) except they are 400 watt.

How does that bulb look? What ballast did you use?
That lamp was designed to be used with a H33 ballast and horizontal position within 15°. It's an aquarium lamp.

 

[A. grandis]

Is this MT250D/HTL-BLUE? I'm so confused which bulb is which and which one is the "right one".

There is no "right one". It's about what you can find. The BLUE is what BrS used to sell before they decided they wouldn't sell halides anymore. That's what we used to have available and use over our tanks. The BLUE is a great bulb!!! It's more about the wattage, the ballast they were designed for, and the spectrum.

 

[A. grandis]

https://www.lightbulbs.com/catalog/product_pdfs/iwasaki/Iwasaki-CleanArcCleanAce.pdf

 

[Madison Reef]

There is no "right one". It's about what you can find. The BLUE is what BrS used to sell before they decided they wouldn't sell halides anymore. That's what we used to have available and use over our tanks. The BLUE is a great bulb!!! It's more about the wattage, the ballast they were designed for, and the spectrum.

I am able to find most of them. I just want to pick what's the best for me. So either this Blue version (BRS used to sell) and Adam's 57787 would also work? I suppose? I do not think that he would come here to confirm this for me...

 

[A. grandis]

I am able to find most of them. I just want to pick what's the best for me. So either this Blue version (BRS used to sell) and Adam's 57787 would also work? I suppose? I do not think that he would come here to confirm this for me...

If it works for Adam, works for me.
The important factor to me is the compatibility with the ballast and the spectrum.
Where do you find them?
Please post the links to help others to find them too.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

I remember back in the day you could download CAD drawings for reflectors and even had DIY kits but it was so long ago that those sites are gone. does anyone out there still have the CAD drawings?

 

[oreo54]

I remember back in the day you could download CAD drawings for reflectors and even had DIY kits but it was so long ago that those sites are gone. does anyone out there still have the CAD drawings?

You can start here...

Luminarc III DIY plans

With metal halide barely holding on in the reef aquarium trade I am still a user. Starting a new build that will be 36" front to back so I need some large reflectors. With Hamilton just shutting down their manufacturing of all MH reflectors I'm left to buying used or building my own. I know...

forums.reefcentral.com

 

[Madison Reef]

If it works for Adam, works for me.
The important factor to me is the compatibility with the ballast and the spectrum.
Where do you find them?
Please post the links to help others to find them too.

If it works for Adam and you, then it works for me too. Logic follows.
Yes I am also having a problem with finding the right bulb/ballast combo. Does your friend know a date when he would be bringing back the Hamilton 20K? Mine is getting too old. Corals are not growing as fast as when I had new bulbs. Might be placebo...

I found them online.

I can give you the list and let everyone buy some bulbs at the same time I'm afraid of not ordering bulbs that I want. lol Please save me some.

Full disclaimer: I have not ordered from every links I provide here nor I have not spoke with any of companies on the phone so I do no know if their websites are up to date or not.

IT IS YOUR RISK, but MAKE SURE TO SHARE with us so that we know which is legit and which is not!

Here is the list.
1. Radium
If you want to import radium bulbs, it's the best to speak with the radium company directly.
However Radium is only dealing with selected companies including a company called Aqua Bright solutions; maybe you can try to get them to work with you too. Monopoly of Radium is never good.
https://aquabrightsolutions.com/

Note: It seems like there exists another company named aquabrusa, but I could not find its info yet. Maybe it's the same company with a different trade name???

If you want to find cheaper source for Radium bulb, consider importing from UK.

HRI-T E40 400W Blue Radium 32416555 49.98 British pounds.
https://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Radium-HRI-T400-BLUE-400W-E40-Blue

250w version is 86.58 British pounds.
https://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Radium-HRI-T-250W-E40-Blue

The company does work with you if you have business. You can buy import them at a better price in that way. I hope it will last for a while so that I can try later. If you buy them all please send me two lol.

There exists another company that sells at a higher price than those two previous companies based on USA.

Of course there are many other websites that has those lamps stored in their websites, but these are the two sources that were verified by other members on this thread.

2. Hamilton
Well Hamilton's webpage is still active and I have not heard the news that they are completely out of the business but it seems like it is not coming back.

There are two websites that still sell hamilton.
One is Custom aquatic that I have not ordered before. ANYONE used this company before?

Hamilton 250w 14k
https://www.customaquatic.com/estor...ssionid=65AB22B3F28421B729579CAABFDB14AB.jvm1
400w 14k
https://www.customaquatic.com/estor...ssionid=65AB22B3F28421B729579CAABFDB14AB.jvm1

There are also other bulbs like XM and Ushio available on this website and by judging that they have some bulbs not in stock they might be the real deal. Someone be the next Guinea pig for us!

3. Ushio
Ushio's official website still has some bulbs left and of course there are other websites that has them available. It's the best to source them directly from Japan I assume so I am going to dig some info on this bulb.

4. Iwasaki
https://www.firstlightdirect.co.uk/...t250dl-250w-e40-6500k-part-number-mt250dl-e40

5. XM

I will edit this later to complete. Sorry for poor English. I imagine that your eyes are bleeding trying reading this lol.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

You can start here...

Luminarc III DIY plans

With metal halide barely holding on in the reef aquarium trade I am still a user. Starting a new build that will be 36" front to back so I need some large reflectors. With Hamilton just shutting down their manufacturing of all MH reflectors I'm left to buying used or building my own. I know...

forums.reefcentral.com

Awesome thank you

 

[Madison Reef]

Where do you find them?
Please post the links to help others to find them too.

Is there any specific bulb you are looking for? If it is not available on English based websites, it's always the best to find the bulbs using manufacturer's language on their regional websites. (I know I speak broken English please bear with me I try my best)

Yes I would love to share my passion with others too but I already see that Iwasaki is out of stock...... since I talked about it. I do not know how long lamp spec would carry 400w Radium........... I also want to try them but I am not having a good success with finding the right ballasts. sigh.

 

[Overboard]

Is there any specific bulb you are looking for? If it is not available on English based websites, it's always the best to find the bulbs using manufacturer's language on their regional websites. (I know I speak broken English please bear with me I try my best)

Yes I would love to share my passion with others too but I already see that Iwasaki is out of stock...... since I talked about it. I do not know how long lamp spec would carry 400w Radium........... I also want to try them but I am not having a good success with finding the right ballasts. sigh.

What ballast are you looking for? I know there is at least one posting on Facebook Marketplace for 400 watt pulse start ballasts. One single and a double. They look a little worn but not too bad if I needed them.

 

[Madison Reef]

What ballast are you looking for? I know there is at least one posting on Facebook Marketplace for 400 watt pulse start ballasts. One single and a double. They look a little worn but not too bad if I needed them.

Well currently I have 2 x hamilton 20k (lumen bright mini) powered by 2 lumatek.
I would like to find bulbs that matches lumatek ballast. i.e. I am looking for replacement Hamilton 20k if and only if we know for sure ABS has solid plan with Hamilton bulbs production again. In this way I do not have to worry about finding new ballasts.

I also just picked up used 3 x lumen bright mini and I have not settled with bulb choice.
Currently I would like to try out Iwasaki 6500k which requires me h37 ballasts (or m58 ballasts magnetic version not electronic) I think it's the best for me to try finding m58, rather than h37.

Of course I am always looking for m80 but the one on ebay is way over charged.
I did find some sources that sell new m80 on internet, but I am not sure if they are legit or not.

I am not looking for 400 watt ballasts.
I did find some free ballasts that was used for ceiling lights, but although they were 250 watt, they were pulse start. My question is that is it safe to use ballast (of course I will have to find the one comes with m58) that were used for non aquarium application? I am only asking because I am worried about overheating. Those coil driven ballasts do get hot, and I see most aquarium/horticulture ballasts come with active cooling cases....

 

[Madison Reef]

You can start here...

Luminarc III DIY plans

With metal halide barely holding on in the reef aquarium trade I am still a user. Starting a new build that will be 36" front to back so I need some large reflectors. With Hamilton just shutting down their manufacturing of all MH reflectors I'm left to buying used or building my own. I know...

forums.reefcentral.com

I am an idiot so I do not even know how you would feel about my stupid question, but is it also possible to build our own ballast? Is there any documents how magnetic ballasts are built?

 

[Minifoot77]

Not the best reflector but anyone think these will work?

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

I am an idiot so I do not even know how you would feel about my stupid question, but is it also possible to build our own ballast? Is there any documents how magnetic ballasts are built?

there are kits out there to make your own magnetic ballast, but deals like this are a no brainer. Its the complete magnetic ballast for $25. you cant even make a housing for this cheap and if you purchase the components separate you are looking at $70-$100.

You can always buy one of these and open it up for future build reference or gut it out and use the housing. I opened one up and its very simple when you see it. they also have 400W magnetic ballasts in stock still pretty cheap but you want to make sure its rated for HPS bulbs as well.

https://www.htgsupply.com/products/agrostar-250w-hps-ballast/

 

[Madison Reef]

there are kits out there to make your own magnetic ballast, but deals like this are a no brainer. Its the complete magnetic ballast for $25. you cant even make a housing for this cheap and if you purchase the components separate you are looking at $70-$100.

You can always buy one of these and open it up for future build reference or gut it out and use the housing. I opened one up and its very simple when you see it. they also have 400W magnetic ballasts in stock still pretty cheap but you want to make sure its rated for HPS bulbs as well.

https://www.htgsupply.com/products/agrostar-250w-hps-ballast/

I will have to give them a call tomorrow. I was looking at used one. Thank you so much for the info!
Much appreciated!!!

 

[oreo54]

I am an idiot so I do not even know how you would feel about my stupid question, but is it also possible to build our own ballast? Is there any documents how magnetic ballasts are built?

Well a good question.
Fact is the structure of the transformer is relatively simple.
Just magnet wire wrapped around some iron plates
So theoretically probably.

Practically.... not really likely.
Iron core needs to be designed for and to fit the 2 coils that also need to be a very specific wire gauge and amount of turns.
Possibly easier to just gut a coil and do a custom wire wrap and reassemble providing the core is dis and reassemble-bul.( sic).
It probably isn't quite that easy. Just my never say never reflex.

It is unfortunate but commercially available transformers are very hard to modify in such a way. The windings are usually vacuum varnished which means the only practical way to get the windings off is to cut them off with a hacksaw. You can then rewind the transformer with any turns or center tap, but then it may make more noise too because it will not have been varnished.
Winding is not easy anyway unless you can get the core apart, which in many cases is also not easy to do because when the transformer is varnished the core laminations also get stuck together so very hard if not impossible to get apart.
So in short, it's really not practical.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

I will have to give them a call tomorrow. I was looking at used one. Thank you so much for the info!
Much appreciated!!!

Sounds good. Also as a fair warning stay away from this ballast. I purchased 3 of these only to find out they don’t power reef metal halide bulbs. So I got the 3 $25 ballasts above that are the correct ones

FYI this ballast won’t work not rated for HPS

AgroStar 250w MH Ballast | HTG Supply

Shop our AgroStar inventory for a selection of lighting ballasts that suit your needs. HTG Supply has optimal ballasts for your next project. Get one today!

www.htgsupply.com

 

[Backreefing]

Is there any spectrum chart for a de 250 watt reef brite 20000K bulb? I’m asking because I can’t find a chart . And I’m reading it’s the closest thing to a radium bulb ( that doesn’t come de ) . Thx

 

[Madison Reef]

Fact is the structure of the transformer is relatively simple.
Just magnet wire wrapped around some iron plates
So theoretically probably.

That's my thought exactly. I know nothing about structure of ballast and anything that regards with electricity, but it's just simple coil wrap. In theory, we can calculate width and length of coil according to targeted wattage/voltage. In my case it would be M80.

Practically.... not really likely.
Iron core needs to be designed for and to fit the 2 coils that also need to be a very specific wire gauge and amount of turns.
Possibly easier to just gut a coil and do a custom wire wrap and reassemble providing the core is dis and reassemble-bul.( sic).
It probably isn't quite that easy. Just my never say never reflex.

Thank you for sharing your valuable insight! I want to dig in for more but I failed to find more information online. I do not even know what keywords I should be searching to find more about it.

Sounds good. Also as a fair warning stay away from this ballast. I purchased 3 of these only to find out they don’t power reef metal halide bulbs. So I got the 3 $25 ballasts above that are the correct ones

FYI this ballast won’t work not rated for HPS

AgroStar 250w MH Ballast | HTG Supply

Shop our AgroStar inventory for a selection of lighting ballasts that suit your needs. HTG Supply has optimal ballasts for your next project. Get one today!

www.htgsupply.com

Lamp Drive Frequency
Standard
Ballast Component Type
Standard

Do you know what "Standard" means in grow indrustries?
I cannot find any info if this is probe start/ pulse start, nor I cannot find it's frequency (60 hz???), and it does not state if it is indeed m58. It could be m138(?) or m153.

If you ordered correct ones, please share the photos of its specification with us.
I really appreciate your input!