Ripping apart my t-5 fixture

[jaysonsd]

I have a nova extreme pro (6 bulbs) on my solana that works awesome, but I can't just be satisfied w/o getting some shimmer. 4 bulbs are on one ballast, the other two on another workhorse.

I have an old 70w mh w electronic ballast I'm thinking about crowbaring into the fixture. I think it would involve taking out the two middle bulbs, rewiring the outter four, slicing off a section of the SLRs for the bracket, wiring the mh ballast to the second switch, cutting out a piece of uv glass and gluing it to the plastic cover. Whew! All this 'cuz current can't make an outer orbit in 20" version!

I haven't tried the LED route thoroughly, but the t-5s are strong and I have a ton of surface agitation w/ no effect.

Should I stop the craziness b/f I ruin everything? I have no DIY skills. Anyone know a good electrician?

[LotsaFishies]

Wow! That's quite a project! Specially for someone who claims no DIY skills! It sounds doable but a lot of work. If shimmer is all you are looking for I would suggest seeing If anyone has some LeDs you could borrow and see If they're bright enough to produce shimmer. Might just save you a lot of work, worse case you wasted a little time... No biggie.


I have several nice blue led fixtures you are welcome to try. Although, you might need white ones to outshine the T5's

[Techknowledgy]

......if it ain't broke.......

no skills= recipe for disaster...........

[jaysonsd]

Wow! That's quite a project! Specially for someone who claims no DIY skills! It sounds doable but a lot of work. If shimmer is all you are looking for I would suggest seeing If anyone has some LeDs you could borrow and see If they're bright enough to produce shimmer. Might just save you a lot of work, worse case you wasted a little time... No biggie.


I have several nice blue led fixtures you are welcome to try. Although, you might need white ones to outshine the T5's

I like that idea Chris, I'll start looking for some white LED spotlights to borrow. I say no diy skills cuz I've just tried to modify the most basic of things (a sqwd to increase inlet/outlet diameter) and gave up after wasting a lot of time and dremel bits!

[ChouDawg]

The NEP is a beautiful fixture lol dont hack it. You may be able to run 1 less T5 and run a row of Crees.

[RussM]

I agree with the others. If shimmer is that important to you, you might consider selling the NEP and picking up a 20" SunPod or equivalent. I do seriously miss the MH shimmer too now that my tank is all T5HO, so I understand your motivation.

[lth03]

You can always add 2x175 under your hood Russ,they won't hurt that much,maybe those Mh 4-5 hours a day on separated timer.
For your case jaysondsd,you can take out one ballast that power 2 bulb and re-wire other 2 bulb include cut out wire of 2 in the middle and connect 2 in the back,just do one by one will be safer and less mistake,for the lense if you can replace the acrylic with a new glass piece it will be a lot easier,good luck.I always enjoy modify and DIY