6 month 400w 20k radium bulb change (any par values taken)

[DogueDeBordeaux]

I am running galaxy ballast in 400w turbo driving 400w radium bulbs.
Has anyone took par values after 6 months using these ballast in 400w turbo mode?
I am due a bulb change, and trying to figure out how much to reduce my photoperiod. I am not sure how bad they fall off in 6 months when over driving these bulbs.

 

[fishyguy7]

Running the 400w radium in that mode greatly reduces the life, 6-8 months is what I have read. It is not designed to be over driven and the par increase is not worth the life span decrease.

 

[fishyguy7]

If I remember correctly I read that there is as much as 30% drop in par when over driving them

 

[DogueDeBordeaux]

I will look into the Ushio's 14k, and find out how long they will last on the galaxy ballasts.
After running the radiums for 6-7 months at 8hrs a day I can see the difference in brightness.

How many months will the Ushin 14k last running 8 hrs a day on galaxy ballast?

 

[Peter Eichler]

You should be able to get a solid 12 out of the Ushio bulbs

 

[fishyguy7]

Why are you overdriving the radiums?

 

[DogueDeBordeaux]

Why are you overdriving the radiums?

either 400w setting on the galaxy ballast will be overdriving the 400w radium.

 

[fishyguy7]

The galaxy ballast set to normal 400w mode drives the radium bulb at nearly the perfect wattage, but running it in turbo mode is drastically overdriving it which is only shortening the lifespan of your bulbs with little gain.

I run a 400w radium on a galaxy ballast in normal mode and don't see a noticeable decrease in par until 12-13 months

I don't know where you have gotten your info from but I would really research it more before you keep wasting bulbs, just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Peter Eichler]

The galaxy ballast set to normal 400w mode drives the radium bulb at nearly the perfect wattage, but running it in turbo mode is drastically overdriving it which is only shortening the lifespan of your bulbs with little gain.

I run a 400w radium on a galaxy ballast in normal mode and don't see a noticeable decrease in par until 12-13 months

I don't know where you have gotten your info from but I would really research it more before you keep wasting bulbs, just my 2 cents worth.

You're overdriving your bulb as well. The Radium is actually rated at 360 watts and. Whether or not you can get 12 months out of it is anoher story, but most people that are driving them closer to 400 watts have reported a fairly big dropoff by the 6-8 month mark.

 

[DogueDeBordeaux]

Yeah, seems either mode is overdriving the radium bulbs. I have read that turbo mode is only about an extra 5% more.
I think next bulb change I will try the Ushio's 14K

 

[fishyguy7]

Well I guess we must all be reading from different books lol because my reading I found that the galaxy ballast in regular 400w mode is driving them at 373w approximate and the turbo mode is a 10% boost so roughly 410w or 50 watts overdriven. Oh well. I will keep doing it my way and you do it your way. Also, the ushio 14k bulb is a great bulb.