400watt SE vs HQI

[rawbomb]

I was not sure which way to go. I can go either HQI or SE for my next system. Never had 400 watters so i just wanted to make sure since i see ALOT of ppl seem to have these SE.

 

[REDDAWG43]

I have SE MH....one big thing is space. My SE moguls definately take up more space than a HQI would. If I had HQI's in my canopy I could fit actinics alot easier.

 

[rawbomb]

Thats for sure they are huge and im not fond of that whole exploding thing either.

i am specifically see alot more ppl having the 400w hqi rather than SE so i figure there must be a reason.

 

[REDDAWG43]

Exploding? I guess if you splash water on the bulb after it has been turned on for a little while. I mean the bulbs are huge and get extremely hot...
Is there any other reasons why they may explode?

 

[rawbomb]

Yeah, i had a 250 SE explode on me cause of a fish splashing which caused the bulb to pop.

 

[ReefWreak]

they don't explode but I can attest that they shatter. No quicker way to flush $140 in bulbs down the chute than forgetting to turn your lights off while messing around in the tank. 400w bulbs would have cost more...

BTW You're talking about SE vs. DE, not SE vs. HQI. HQI is a different beast. From Wikipedia: "Like HMI, HQI lamps are subsets (or types) of metal halide lamps, which in turn are subsets of high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps."

I think they run higher voltage or something similar to that. I believe they are just overdriven bulbs, so they are designed with overdriving in mind, even though they fit in standard metal halide sockets. Running a standard ballast on an HQI bulb will underdrive it and not give the PAR and/or color that was originally intended.

At least that's what I've picked up from reading around on the board and internets, but I've been wrong before...

 

[rawbomb]

yeah SE vs DE. i am going to go with a PFO dual 400watt hqi with lumaranc III reflectors and hqi DE 20k radiums.

 

[nyvp]

I just went though all of that and went with 400w radium 20k se in LUMIII's so i dont have to use a glass shield. It actually has a higher par and all these years with no glass NEVER broke a bulb. BTW if anyone wants Galaxy 400w e ballasts or wants to switch I'd trade for 400 PFO ballasts.They are 1 month old.

 

[gasman059]

I run 3 400 SE xm's- on run of the mill mag ballasts- I dont even have a casing for them.(ballasts)
This bulbs are very real and certainly have a longer half life than radiums and geissmans.