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Ryan Willden 
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 Topic: 20K XM’s
Posted: October 29 2003 at 5:23pm |
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Just an update on the 20K XM's. I sent mine back today. They were not designed for a pulse start ballast( which I am using) and also, I noticed a decline in coral appearance. I liked the blue, but now for the first time I'm running Ushio 10K bulbs, and have to say that I like them better.
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jfinch
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 5:44pm |
Ryan, the Ushio 250W 10K bulb is probe start too.
Were you having problems getting the XM's to fire up?
Edited by jfinch
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:12pm |
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Really? I heard the Ushio needed a pulse start ballast? I wasn't having problems firing the bulbs, but I was told that they would not last as long... Now I'm wondering what I should be using with this ballast...
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:21pm |
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Jon,
I read the description wrong on the website where I bought my ballast. It appears that the mogal base I have is a pulse start base. Here is what it reads:
Premium porcelain construction, Mogal Base
4KV, 600 volt, 1500 Watt Pulse
So I'm not sure what ballast I have. I thought that might have been the problem with the XM's because one of them burned up after only two weeks of use... I will look into this.
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jfinch
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:22pm |
FWIW, there's an easy way to tell. Here's a picture of both types of bulbs. Notice the pulse start bulbs are missing the starting electrode (probe)  Take a looksy at your bulbs. I've got 250w Ushios, mine are probe start running on a probe start ballast (M58). But like mentioned in a previous thread. The Ushio and AB bulbs are a bit of a mystery to me. I'm almost positive if you were to buy one of these bulbs in Germany it would be pulse start. But it seems they've added a probe to the bulb for the USA market? I wonder if the gas pressure inside the bulb is the same (USA vs. German)? That's another difference between pulse and probe start bulbs.
Edited by jfinch
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:26pm |
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Hmmmm I'll take a look. I looked up the ballast that I have and it says it is M58 does that mean Pulse, or Probe Start? I looked at the bulbs per your diagram, and It appears they are probe start bulbs.
Edited by Ryan Willden
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jfinch
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:33pm |
Ryan, what brand/model of ballast is it? If you can open the enclosure up, it's very easy to tell. The ballast itself looks like a transformer. On the side will be a brief discription with the ballast type. M58 would be probe start, M138 would be pulse start.
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jfinch
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:35pm |
 It appears that we're posting while the other is writing... this would be much easier face to face . M58 is probe start.
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:36pm |
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They are Advance Ballasts... I can't get the cover off because it has square head screws, and I don't have my driver with me to remove them. But I know they are made by Advance, and they only make the M58's don't they?
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jfinch
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:44pm |
Nope, Advance also makes pulse start ballasts. As a matter of fact they just started selling an electronic ballast too. Check out http://www.advancetransformer.com/default.asp go to the pull down menu in the upper right hand corner under products.
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 8:46pm |
Wow, they make an electronic now? That's cool. I wonder how much it costs...
Bummer, looks like they don't have an electronic yet for 250 Watt Bulbs...
Here's the link for the ballast that I have, but I couldn't find anything that stated what type it is...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2355098665&category=3212
Edited by Ryan Willden
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Aquarium Creations
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 9:05pm |
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wow ryan that sucks i havent had any problems with my bulbs at all still i am using the helios elec ballest my corals have done so much better since i have put the 20k xm in my 210 im using 3 of them now i love them still....
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Aquarium Maintenance,Consulting,Custom Built Glass Aquariums Rimless/Euro,24Hr Emergency Service 8015485201 Www.UtahAquariumDoctors.com [email protected]
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jfinch
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 9:26pm |
This thread was motivation enough for me to find Ushio's web site. Here's a brochure for Ushio's aquarium bulbs: http://www.ushio.com/files/Aqualite%200802.pdf.
So for Ushio bulbs:
175 watt 10K = pulse start
250 watt 10K = probe start
400 watt 10K = pulse start
1000 watt 10K = pulse start
And the average life for the 250 watt bulb is listed as 8,000 hrs. That's over 2 yrs at 10 hrs per day! I'm sure restarting the lamp every day shortens this  ....
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Kevin
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Posted: October 29 2003 at 10:51pm |
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Ryan you have the cool touch ballast don't you? When I bought mine I remember reading that it was a m58 ballast. So I am fairly certain yours would be m58 unless you specified otherwise.
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 30 2003 at 7:45am |
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Kevin, It is a cool touch also. I just called Cool Touch, and they confirmed it is a Probe Start (M58) Ballast. So, I have the correct bulbs for the ballast I have, and the XM's should have worked fine according to manufacturers specs. For some reason one of them burned up after only two weeks though.
The XM's looked good, but quite a few of my corals were receding after I started using them. I don't think it was completely attributed to the color, but the par rating probably had something to do with it. The 10K's output much brighter light than the 20K's of the same wattage. Most people I have talked to running 20K bulbs use the 400W bulbs/ballasts where a 250 watt 10K would be more than sufficient.
Edited by Ryan Willden
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: October 30 2003 at 7:48am |
Jon, the bulbs I bought from ATOT Lamps on E-bay had a different model number than the aqualite bulbs in the link above. I wonder then what the difference (if any) is in the bulbs that I have. They are 10K 250 Watt Ushios with a model number of UHI-S250 but did not include an "AQ" at the end of the part number. Any ideas?
Edited by Ryan Willden
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seti007
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Posted: October 30 2003 at 9:23am |
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Does anyone actually have these 400W 20K XM going? I need to replace my lighting and need a "blue" bulb. It would be awesome to see it in action b4 I put in an order.
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Asad
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jfinch
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Posted: October 30 2003 at 9:46am |
Ryan, I can't really help. Maybe the complete model number is not included on the bulb? That is the only 10K bulb I could find on the Ushio website. I'm guessing that they only make one 10k bulb...
What I find interesting is that the only probe start aquarium bulb is the 250 watt version. Wonder why?
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Carl
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Posted: October 31 2003 at 9:59am |
I don't know if this will help or confust this topic, but I found this thread on Reef Central. It answered alot of questions that I had.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1433428#post1433428
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Carl
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Posted: October 31 2003 at 12:40pm |
Asad, I had a conversation yesterday with Rick at From The Sea. He mentioned a bulb... I cannot remember the name of it... but it is a MH with a real clean burn and some additional blue spectrum. They are rather pricey, but may be worth the investment. I think that they are the same bulbs that Eric (Fire Shrimp) runs and they look real nice. That is why I am stealing them from him this weekend when I pick up my tank!
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In Syracuse
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jfinch wrote: