workhorse ballests

[anthony27]

Well I would like to know if these certain ballests are a nightmare. I am going to re do my whole lighting fixture.:irked:


What do you also think of the icecap ballests for a t5 setup

 

[batt600]

Hay anthony Icecap ballest will overdrive your bulbs that means you will be changing bulbs every 5 to 6 mounths. Yes it will be much brighter and give you more par but it will cost you on the bulbs. Dont now anthing on the workhorse ballast so will leave that for some one else.,

 

[batt600]

Here found this on another forum.


Workhorse ballasts are not designed to run T5 bulbs. Sure people say they have good success with them but that doesn't mean that the ballast is running your T5's to their capacity.

Grim did a PAR test that compared a spec T5 ballast to a Workhorse and found the Workhorse put out 20% less PAR and the workhorse ballast would ruin a bulb quicker because it doesn't have the programmed start. Workhorse ballasts are not designed to run T5 bulbs. Sure people say they have good success with them but that doesn't mean that the ballast is running your T5's to their capacity.

 

[NYreefNoob]

icecap ballast will cause the bulbs life span to go to 9-12 months, regular ballast are around 12-16 months. par is slightly higher , if getting the workhorse make sure you get the right one's

 

[batt600]

icecap ballast will cause the bulbs life span to go to 9-12 months, regular ballast are around 12-16 months. par is slightly higher , if getting the workhorse make sure you get the right one's

Hay NYreefNoob On reef central grim did a test on the icecap ballest and the bulbs started to loose alot of par around 5 to 6m from being overdriven

 

[anthony27]

I def can see how they are not able to run t5s I have good growth but def not pushing the bulbs to the max of their usage. I am looking for max color out of the bulbs and max reflection. Yes I know Ati fixture, but I can not for see my self spending that.

Rick will that level of out put burn the coral, should I raise the fixture higher then 5 inches


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[anthony27]

Bat, I do not mind buying bulbs and giving gothem aqu. Good business I just ruled out that the lighting I have I want better why spend the money on a new fixture when I have a retro one already.
Can you please send me the link u found the workhorse ballests on, Rick I have them now and I'm not that happy with them :/


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[NYreefNoob]

if i remember correctly fullham or something like that makes a good ballast and a proper ballast, i useally change bulbs at 12 months myself when i ran a icecap 430 and a 600 i changed out at 9 months, really good reflecters will make as much of a difference as the ballast, ive owned from junk reflectors to icecap now to my ati fixture and what a difference, i had never been a fan of the splash shields but no matter how high the lights are they always get splash and end up pitting and dulling. { why i love the ati } you should have jumped on the one pmoneyt had f\s
http://www.innovativelights.com/uni-239-bal.html

great ballast
http://www.prolighting.com/wo7elba12loc.html

 

[batt600]

if i remember correctly fullham or something like that makes a good ballast and a proper ballast, i useally change bulbs at 12 months myself when i ran a icecap 430 and a 600 i changed out at 9 months, really good reflecters will make as much of a difference as the ballast, ive owned from junk reflectors to icecap now to my ati fixture and what a difference, i had never been a fan of the splash shields but no matter how high the lights are they always get splash and end up pitting and dulling. { why i love the ati } you should have jumped on the one pmoneyt had f\s
http://www.innovativelights.com/uni-239-bal.html

great ballast
http://www.prolighting.com/wo7elba12loc.html

NYreefNoob how much brighter is the ati anyway is it a big differince from a tek light I might get it when i get my 120g

 

[NYreefNoob]

my 6 bulb ati is as bright as my tek 8 bulb was, the tek elite from what some say isnt much different then the ati. especially having the fans built in, one thing i have learnt over the years with t5's is having the bulbs run at the proper temp expands or decrease's the life of bulb as well as the output of them, ati fans are keeping the fixture in the proper range of temp. plus i have 2 exhuast fans in my canopy, will soon b making a hanging kit so i can get rid of the canopy, sux having such a nice looking fixture hidden

 

[anthony27]

I was wondering Rick I have the work horse ballests now I am looking for a great ballest for the t5 lighting.

 

[tttony]

Ive got two work horse ballasts over my 26 mixed reef with good luck , lol. for about 12 months. a mix of ati, blue plus, ge 6500, marine 10,000k and some uri actinics. good coraline good lps and polyps and medium growth with my 3 sps.I built the canopy with individual reflectors and one cooling fan. 4 bulbs one one ballast and 2 uri actinics on the other.Ive had good luck running them and am going to retro fit my 120 fowlr soon.
People will tell you all kinds a stuff. Just remeber Fulham is a HUGE COMPANY THAT DOESNT SPEND $$$ ON ADVERTINSING ON THESE FORUMS Ice cap and others sole marketing purpose is on these sites. Ive had Ice cap VHO and loved em, then i upgraded to two ice cap 175 watt drivers and had a problem years later and ice cap relpaced them , They make great products but now I learned that a $25 ballast will give me plenty of light

 

[anthony27]

I could imagin, I am going to change the reflectors out first, and then see from there I am def going to have to change out the balests soon. I might go with the ballests that ati use in their fixtures.

 

[MIKE NY]

Ant..I've been running workhorse ballasts on PCs for well over ten years and they start up everyday, but for T5..I don't know how they would be. I think Icecaps would be a better choice because they are proven.

 

[anthony27]

Mike, I am looking for one of the best ballests for the t5s.

Rick, what do you think is a good ballests.

 

[Alex]

What ballasts does ATI run in their fixtures?
I've been pondering the same question, having a marineland 45 gallon cube, I wanted to use T5. The cube is 24 x 24 x 18, what I wanted to do was have a minimum of 6 to 8 bulbs on the tank so that I could use it as a frag tank. As most of you know a fixture of that configuration is hard to find or expensive, so DIY is sometimes the best way to go. I have Icecap now on my DT but felt that it would be over kill on the smaller tank. Looking forward to the suggestions made on this thread.

 

[qy7400]

Anthony,

I'm running tanks with both IceCap and Universal ballasts, all IceCap retros.
Overdriving the lights gives you better PAR but consumes more power and runs the bulbs very hot so fans on the bulbs are a must, as mentioned earlier you will shorten the lifespan to 12 months or less.
Just to give you an idea, 4x54W on IceCap ballasts draw ~320 watts with PAR of 185 @ 18", same setup with Universal draw ~224 with PAR of 155 @ 18". PAR reading was with sensor directly under the lights. I have to look when I installed the lamps but they're probably close to a year old. Fans on the IceCap, no fans on the Universal. I have another IceCap setup on a 4x39W, no PAR but can get them, but the light draws the same 320 watts and I go through bulbs faster (within the year) on this setup as they over overdriven to almost double the rating.

 

[anthony27]

Joe,

thank you very much for that information. I am looking for icp cap ballests and I am lucky because I live in a basement apprment with tiled floors and centeral air. I know I am going to have to cool the bulbs off. I have fan already and I am also willing to change out the bulbs every 6 months whihc is not bad. They cost me 11 a bulb to 20$ a bulb.

My reflectors are in teh shape of a v, so that is going to be the first thing to get changed and then the 2nd thing is going to be the ballests I have been doing alot of reading on this and icecap is good but we know them cause they promote them selves on alot of these type of sites.

I am looking for a good ballests, I am wondering if I over drive the bulbs will I have to move the light higher up insted of 5 inches make it 7, and am I going to bleach out some of the coral with this change, or burn them.

 

[qy7400]

No question the reflectors are going to give you the best performance jump, Steve's (grimreefer) thread on RC has some really good info but has gotten really long to read but last I knew overdriving was really best for 20" or deeper tanks; don't get me wrong stronger lighting isn't a bad thing but you have to weigh the small gain to the extra power and shortened bulb life; I have 4 RBT doing just fine in the non overdriven tank.

 

[anthony27]

I am going all sps and acro colonies, so the light is going to the main importance to me.