Reeffanatic 250 Watt Electronic MH Ballast

I have been using this item for a few months now, long enough to see if there were any bugs in it or not. The ballast can be used for ANY 250Watt metal halide bulb. The only limitations are that you must use the same wattage bulb as the ballast is rated for. The ballast runs about $129.90 at www.Reeffanatic.com Dim 11" L x 2"H x 3.5" W. Very sleek and nice looking. It has slots bulit in if you want to mount it on to another surface or hang it up.  Now for perfomance. It fires up great no problems at all.  I have not noticed any noise or buzzing from it . My cooling fans and return water from my aquaclear is louder.  It runs very cool. after 12 hours of constant use. You can touch it without being burned, Now you cant pick  it up and carry it around mind you. Any accidnetal contact will be warm but will not burn, You have to grab it tight and hold it for a  while before you get burned. and I have tried this, and you will let go from the heat build up before it is hot enough to do damage. about 120 degrees max.  (i have mine resting on top of a bucket of IO and the plastic lid shows no sign of heat damage or melting.)
Problems: I have mine in the same room with my TV, It will cause some snow on the TV not much but you will notice it. Some channels are worse than others, I dont know if the TV was in another room if that would make a difference or not.  But anyway when the tank is lit up i spend more time looking at it than TV anyhow.
I have noticed that after the ballest reaches max operating temp after about 4 hours of use, if you shut it off or the power is interrupted It has to cool before it will fire up the bulb again. With a small fan you can cool it in less than 5 minutes.
I have the PFO mini Pendant  DE (German MH bulb 10K) with three prong quick disconnect on the pendant. The ballast has three  wires where it would be hooked up to your light source. red, black and copper. All you have to do is buy the female adapter . Reeffanatic was quite helpful in telling  What  color wires to connect to the coorsponding colors on the adapter (premium aquatics carries the adpater), Took me 5 minutes and that includes wire nuts, tape and reading the directions.
All in all I am quite satisfied with this product, I have no reservations about recommending it. It is much cheaper than most electronic ballast i have seen, smaller and  runs cool.  I will keep ya posted as time goes on.
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