odyssea MH fixture review... new electronic version

[luke33]

That would be cool to see the pics of the store.........

[dhnguyen]

Originally posted by luke33
That would be cool to see the pics of the store.........

Trust me... It's nothing to feel missed out on

[dhnguyen]

Originally posted by kevin95695
Hey D -- Thanks for the description of the store. Do they have many (any?) lights and/or refurb units on the floor?

They do have some. Also lots of the hardware stocked in the back as well. Be advised though, if you walk in and want to buy a unit, expect to pay more than the web prices


D.

[Racso]

ok, take a standard lamp, and house lamp. Lets say it is 75 watts max, what happens if you put in a 150 watt bulb? Obviously it is fine if you put 75 or less watts in.

NOW, take a 150 watt MH ballast and set up, put a 250 watt bulb.... what happens.

[dhnguyen]

Originally posted by dhnguyen
They do have some. Also lots of the hardware stocked in the back as well. Be advised though, if you walk in and want to buy a unit, expect to pay more than the web prices


D.

Oh yeah did I mention that if you're going there for livestock, expect to catch your own as well. Here's a bucket, here's a net, have fun


D.

[UCanDoIt]

In the 3 times I've gone there over the last 2 years, they've always had a 4ft refurb unit on the floor for about 1/2-2/3 the cost of an original unit. They have brand new original units in stock as well, limited supply.

[miatawnt2b]

Originally posted by dhnguyen
Oh yeah did I mention that if you're going there for livestock, expect to catch your own as well. Here's a bucket, here's a net, have fun


D.

SWEET!

[miatawnt2b]

Originally posted by Racso
ok, take a standard lamp, and house lamp. Lets say it is 75 watts max, what happens if you put in a 150 watt bulb? Obviously it is fine if you put 75 or less watts in.

NOW, take a 150 watt MH ballast and set up, put a 250 watt bulb.... what happens.

Not exactly the same concept when dealing with ballasts.

[dhnguyen]

Originally posted by miatawnt2b
SWEET!

I personally don't see it that way. Imagine the stress of the livestock from all the little 6 yr olds sticking their hands into the tanks.

[raskal311]

Originally posted by dhnguyen
I personally don't see it that way. Imagine the stress of the livestock from all the little 6 yr olds sticking their hands into the tanks.

If they are wholesaling then that’s how wholesalers work. But if they are truly wholesaling then there shouldn’t be any hobbies in the place to begin with.

[dhnguyen]

Agreed. They are not a wholesaler though, anyone can walk in

[Racso]

Not exactly the same concept when dealing with ballasts.

REALLY???
hmmmm

so does that mean I can put a 96W PC bulb into a 65W PC unit?

[miatawnt2b]

Originally posted by Racso
REALLY???
hmmmm

so does that mean I can put a 96W PC bulb into a 65W PC unit?

well it may light it may not... depends on how powerful the fets in the ballast are, internal resistance of the ballast, resistance of the bulb.... Though you are overdriving the ballast (not the bulb) which is not good, but the beauty of electronics is that you probably let the magic smoke out of the fet and not cook the wiring.

but this is another topic for another thread.

-J

[SALTWATERSIG]

for what its worth i've been running their 48" with two 175 mh and 2 96watt pc's since jan 06. i've changed mh every 6-7 months and pc's after 10 months, mh bulbs have 175 stamped on them. i never had a problem with the unit with the exception of having to replace the fans about every 6 months or so. i run my lights appx 10 hours per day. thinking of upgrading to the new dual 250 hqi version with electronic ballasts. i think i'll wait to see what happens on this thread as far as really getting 250 hqi's.

[Jorgens]

So the consenus is they ARE electronic ballasts??? and at 250w correct??

[GSMguy]

no i would say they are 150w
electronic ballasts though

[Joshua1023]

I do have one question. In the picture -J posted w/ the lights on your tank, do you have the actinics on? Or were you just trying to show the color of the MH bulbs? I have a hard time seeing how the lighting spectrum could be that yellow w/ 4 pc actinics glowing.

[GSMguy]

pc actinics dont do anything with the halides on that is why t5 actinics are so popular they dont get washed out as much

[sherm71tank]

Originally posted by GSMguy
no i would say they are 150w
electronic ballasts though

This is funny. One person, who admits they don't know exactly what makes MH bulbs tick posts a reading they take on the ballast. Now you just assume it's correct and that it means the unit is 150 watts and not 250. Instantly this gets repeated by you, then someone else, etc. etc. Soon people just start repeating it because they "just read it somewhere". I'm not saying it isn't true but don't you think it deserves some factual evidence behind it before it starts getting parroted across RC?

[Joshua1023]

I know I'd like some solid answers on this. I'm already set for lighting, but my father just ordered the same fixture we are discussing.

[carlso63]

Originally posted by sherm71tank
This is funny. One person, who admits they don't know exactly what makes MH bulbs tick posts a reading they take on the ballast. Now you just assume it's correct and that it means the unit is 150 watts and not 250. Instantly this gets repeated by you, then someone else, etc. etc. Soon people just start repeating it because they "just read it somewhere". I'm not saying it isn't true but don't you think it deserves some factual evidence behind it before it starts getting parroted across RC?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Same exact way the whole "Odyssea Lights will burn your house down!" baloney started...


One person posts complaining about a blown ballast and "smelling something burning..."

Next person chimes in - in the typical RC way - that "...yeah, you have to get the Maristar unit (at 3 times the price) because everything else is crap and you will end up purchasing that top end fixture eventually, anyway". Oh and, swap out the ballasts for Icecaps, replace the bulbs with 10K Ushio...no, 14K Hamiltons... no, look up Sanjay to find the "ultimate PAR bulb"...

Third person replies to the first post that "oh, yeah, I knew a guy once, lives next door to my brother-in-law, his ballast burnt out, too...stunk up his whole house"

By the time the thread gets to the 7th or 8th post, there are reports of random death and destruction all caused by these "cheap POS Odyssea fixtures spontaneously 'bursting into flames' with no warning"; homes destroyed, lives lost, mayhem and madness everywhere. Of course, none of the other posters - other than the thread originator, even owns one of these units, let alone had a "fire that almost burned my house down"...

There is at least one long thread already out here on RC re: how Odyssea will "burn your house down".

When I posted on it awhile back asking for factual evidence and examples instead of hearsay and third-party reporting , one poster insisted she had "proof" they were dangerous, all due to her own "personal bad experience with them..."

Her experience was that she bought a PC fixture from Aquatraders and when it arrived one of the PC bulbs was shattered and when she called CS they wanted her to pay shipping on a replacement bulb that they would send for free...

But, hey, a shattered bulb in transit... that's real "proof" these things will "burn your house down", right guys...?

[noodles9987]

If I am remembering this correctly, 150 watt de bulbs and 250 watt de bulbs are different lenghts. The 250's are longer. And, the 250's won't fit into a 150 socket. You should be able to measure the bulb length to easily determine if its 150 or 250 watts. Not a very scientific approach, but I am sure someone with one of these new units has a ruler or tape measure.

Also, (as a general rule) electronic ballasts will underdrive the bulbs. I believe that alot of the manufacturers claim energy savings of about 10%. In this way, they use less electricity and lengthen the life of the bulb. I am not sure about the odyssea ballast. They may have a higher wattage transformer to get an actual 150 or 250 watts out of their ballast.

I just thought this may be worth mentioning.

[beatle]

Anyone know if Aquatraders is open on the weekends? I am flying out of SFO tomorrow afternoon and I'm curious to just stop by.

[Nick A]

hmm...good thread. I was doubtful on Odyssea products before cause of the whole "it can cause a fire" rumor, but after this review I was able to see that it isn't as bad as others made it sound. I may put an order for a 36" version in the next couple weeks depending if I can't get a deal on a light in the equipment selling forums.

[atvdave]

Just to chime in.. I had the 36" 480w v4 ballast MH fixture. I couldn't be happier with the unit. I still have it (not using it dew to I up graded to a 72" tank) and I have pix's of it in my gallery.

I think they are very well built fixtures.

Just my 2c worth