[cali_reef]

Got a 250W CoralVue electronic MH ballast from Fritz to play with, here is what I found so far with a 12 months old XM10K bulb:

1. ballast take longer time to recycle between on and off, longer then Icecap and PFO tar ballasts I've used in the past(almost 30 minuets, I'll continue to monitor this).
2. The lowest dim setting uses 153W\1,27amps per the Kill-a-Watt meter (my home electricity perimeters are, 120V and 59.9Hz).
3. The full bright setting uses 255W\2.13amps per the Kill-a-Watt meter.
4. The dimming range is clearly visible, but nothing like a typical home lamp dimmer where the range is significantly greater.

I will set up my PAR meter to check the total PAR output at different settings and also compare it to a Icecap at full power setting later today.

Stay tune.. This may be a promising ballast for someone who don't need the full 250W intensity for the moment but don't want to waste money on 150W setups just to upgrade down the road.

	MH Metal Halide Lighting, typically used for high intensity light demanding corals such as SPS. Bulbs come in varieties of spectrums (7k, 10k,20k), and intensity (175W, 250W, 400W).

[Pseudo]

This is crap... Just go to 400w and stop playing

Kasei

[inline6]

Thanks for the data, I'm pretty sure we can all benefit from your testing.
As soon as prices come down on these people will have more of these to play with and weigh the cons & pros of such a unit.

Keep us updated.

[cali_reef]

Quote: Originally Posted by inline6 Thanks for the data, I'm pretty sure we can all benefit from your testing. As soon as prices come down on these people will have more of these to play with and weigh the cons & pros of such a unit. Keep us updated.

FYI, these are cheaper than Icecap right now, you can find them locally for $119, no tax if the vendor don't try to rip you off. I have not seen any other online vendor listing them yet but I am sure they will soon.

[cali_reef]

Update, second timed relight period is 20 minuets, this is with a warm ballast(after 20 minutes in use)

[cali_reef]

Okay, rigged up my Luminarc III reflector so the bulb is 20" away from the Apogee PAR meter's sensor, at full dimming it is reading 115 PAR and 235 at 100% power. The Icecap at the same test setting reads as follow: 120.4V, 59.9Hz, 2.22amp, 252Watts, 338PAR.

Soo, another dud from CoralVue!!. It uses the same wattage at full bright but puts out significantly less PAR compared to the Icecap. It is not worth the wattage used unless you are looking to have the ability to waste electricity in order to run a dim tank.

I need to rig up my 150W Iwasaki 50,000k bulb with a 150W Icecap ballast and see how it compares with the CoralVue on dimmed setting.

[SlamaJama]

nice work pierce...freds a nice guy (edit; from freds a putz - to freds a nice guy)...only kidding fred.

[fritz]

!? I didn't make the ballast! Just sold it. That's crazy and what good info. I"m going to have to bring my new lights over one day so we can test them to. We should have a bunch or articles like this with actual info. Thanks for taking time and money to run a test like this for everyone's benefit.

[House of Laughter]

Cali, this should be linked under the advanced reef forum or DIY as well, good viddles man - wish I had the cycle power to use my brain like that - damn engineers :-)

House

[cali_reef]

Thanks Guys, just really bored and can't go no where with my bad knee.. Hope this information helps people, I might get really motivated and run the same test on my PFO HQI's when I do the 150.

Fred, I have to be in my office this week, so no more playing from home. Maybe next week if you want to test the par and electricity consumption on your new light fixtures .