T5 Fixtures & Quality

[AlohaTropics]

Does anyone know what exactly is the difference in lighting output between say a current t5 fixture that costs $500 or a premium t5 fixture that costs $1500? Besides the beautiful aluminum housing, sleek design, and maybe a better cooling system, what is the difference if your bulb is a 54W T5 bulb? Isn't the same 54W going through the bulb anyway? Shouldn't the difference in quality come from what bulb your using rather than spending and xtra $1000 on a fixture? Performance wise, where is the difference in the lighting?

 

[SevTT]

Does anyone know what exactly is the difference in lighting output between say a current t5 fixture that costs $500 or a premium t5 fixture that costs $1500? Besides the beautiful aluminum housing, sleek design, and maybe a better cooling system, what is the difference if your bulb is a 54W T5 bulb? Isn't the same 54W going through the bulb anyway? Shouldn't the difference in quality come from what bulb your using rather than spending and xtra $1000 on a fixture? Performance wise, where is the difference in the lighting?

Really, it all comes down to the ballast and reflectors used. Assuming that the ballast is a T5-HO ballast (one made for them, not a Workhorse or something that'll manage to drive them,) the real question is whether it's normal HO or overdriven. Oh, and whether the enclosure is properly air-cooled. After that, it's all bells, whistles, and pretty cases.

 

[jackson6745]

Yep, just as with halides, Ballast + reflectors determine the output.
I don't buy the whole cooling thing with the T5's.
When I made my decision between the ATI powermodule and Sunpower I really couldn't find a difference that would make one brighter than the other. Only real difference was one extra cooling fan in the powermodule. How can this one fan make the bulbs produce more light?

This is the description of the sunpower

"T5 high-output fluorescent lighting system complete with individual parabolic reflectors for each bulb made from silver-coated 98% reflective German-made aluminum, built-in electronic ballasts, active cooling system, acrylic shield, two 10 ft power-cords and sleek, adjustable hanging kit to suspend the unit. Superior design and high-end components produce 50% more light than most other equally sized T5 fixtures without using more energy. Fixture is wired with 2 bulbs on one power-cord and the other 4 bulbs on the other allowing for independent control and dawn-dusk simulation. Silver colored, bent aluminum body is lightweight and rust-proof. Runs very cool and produces virtually no noise. The SunPower is a more economical version of the ATI Powermodule with a bent aluminum housing instead of a curved, heavy-duty steel housing. It also has one fewer cooling fan. Performance wise the SunPower is almost, but not quite as good as the Powermodule. Common Sizing Guideline: mixed reef tanks up to 50 gallons and SPS dominated tanks up to 40 gallons. Recommend Tank Depth: up to 30" with carefully planned placement of corals. Power Consumption: approximately 1.5 Amps. Warranty: 1 year. Bulbs sold separately."

Looking at this It would make sense to go with the sunpower and save some money. My decision was to go with the powermodule because after all the purpose of most of our tanks is to make a nice display. I like the looks of the powermodule better



This is comparing Mercedes to a BMW though. After seeing a few of the budget T5 lighting systems and comparing it to a high end T5 system it's night and day. The T5's from a current nova fixture look VERY dim compared to the powermodule.

 

[NYreefNoob]

ati makes about the best t5 fixture, better reflector, better ballast, excellent cooling but big $ i myself use a tek fixture, good ballast and reflectors, cooling sux, but i have 2 65 cfm fans for it, if ging into a canopy or not show tank id do the icecap retro t5 system. excellent reflectors, best ballast, the od of the bulbs really arent needed though, current sux ballast, sux reflectors and sux bulbs imo. out of my 3.5 yrs in hobby i have used t5's for 2.5 of them, me personally i like t5 better, shimmer does nothing for me and i get better over all coverage, the bulbs make a big differance also

 

[NYreefNoob]

rich, t5 bulbs output changes with temp and longevity of the bulbs, as stated i have 2 65 cfm fans blowing across bulbs to keep the temp down on them

 

[jackson6745]

Rick did you notice a difference in output when adding the fans?

 

[ClosetFishGeek]

rich, t5 bulbs output changes with temp and longevity of the bulbs, as stated i have 2 65 cfm fans blowing across bulbs to keep the temp down on them

Exactly.....

 

[jackson6745]

I noticed Sfigioli (spelling?) makes a T5 fixture. How are the ratings on that one?

 

[ecvernon]

i have seen side by side comparison of 6bulb ATI powermodule with a 6 bulb tek light fixture stocked with ATI bulbs and the ATI is definitely brighter!!!! even over powers the tek light...
tek fixtures uses Advance brand ballast which are ok. but IMO the only thing that would compete with the ATI fixture is T5's run on icecap ballast. just make sure you have good ventilation.

as far as the sunpower VS. powermodule. i just bought a sunpower and it runs just as cool as an powermodule.

 

[SevTT]

Yep, just as with halides, Ballast + reflectors determine the output.
I don't buy the whole cooling thing with the T5's.
When I made my decision between the ATI powermodule and Sunpower I really couldn't find a difference that would make one brighter than the other. Only real difference was one extra cooling fan in the powermodule. How can this one fan make the bulbs produce more light?

It actually can. You want to keep T5-HO lights in a relatively narrow temperature band, because their output peaks there. Lower temperatures and higher temperatures will cause lower output, and higher temperatures will cause degradation of the phosphors over time. There're detailed descriptions of this elsewhere, but it comes down to: if your bulbs are running too hot with one fan, bolt on another.

This is comparing Mercedes to a BMW though. After seeing a few of the budget T5 lighting systems and comparing it to a high end T5 system it's night and day. The T5's from a current nova fixture look VERY dim compared to the powermodule.

AFAIK the Nova reflectors are crap. I got a T5-HO retro setup from Reefgeek w/ icecap reflectors and chucked it all into a homemade, plywood hood with a couple 120mm case fans bolted on to it, and it works great.