Ballast choice

[maroun.c]

Hi,
I'm actually running Magnetic ballasts and planning a light upgrade.
Due to overseas shipping it'll be very expensive to get dedicated aquarium ballasts like Ice caps or others.. so while waiting for a trip to the states i could get an Osram elecrtronic ballast. do yo uthink this will pull more light out of my bulbs than a regular ballast or will it decrease the power consumption?
thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[Chris Mills]

If it is for metal halides - stick with the magnetic ballast. I have replaced way to many MH electronic ballasts in the past few years to recommend them.

 

[maroun.c]

Yes they are for Metal Halides.
If electronics ones will have to be replaced very often that would be very inconvenient as I'll be shipping those oversea and it'll be very expensive to replace them continuously.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The magnetic ballast are good. Even if they do go out it is usually a capacitor which is cheap and easy to get to replace.

However Osram makes pretty good stuff too, If you can get them locally It is probably worth going with those. For the cost of shipping magnetic ballasts you could probaly get a spare electronic unit.

 

[derek4real]

I am a big fan of the New Dimmable LUMATEK Ballasts. They come with a 5 yr warranty (3 yr replacement and 2 yr pro-rated replacement).

I had to go through the warranty replacement process and it did take awhile. But i sent them in right before these newer ones came out and think that was the reason for the delay. You should be able to get them from any that carries Sunlight Supply Products.

 

[fufu]

I burn through 3 electric ballast this year, they dont last that long. Magnetic last many years, some commercial unit last over 35 years. Magnetic do take more a little more electricity, but in the long run with replacing electronic ballast is the same.

 

[derek4real]

how do people go through electronic ballasts? I perplexed that this happens to people.

 

[justshoe]

I'm curious as well. It seems most companys are shifting toward electronic over magnetic. Is this purely for power consumption and dimmable features? If they are indeed less durable why use them.

 

[maroun.c]

How about light output? is there any difference using electronic VS magnetic on the same bulb?

 

[fufu]

magnetic usually overdrive bulbs, you will get higher and better light output. This also use more electricity. I just recently change from electronic to magnetic and the magnetic produce a brighter light output.

 

[derek4real]

How about light output? is there any difference using electronic VS magnetic on the same bulb?

You get longer life from the bulb if put on a electronic ballast. i dont like the noise from the magnetic ballasts.

Here is a pic of the same bulb on 2 different ballasts.

I did do a PAR comparison, but seem to have lost that data.

 

[derek4real]

magnetic usually overdrive bulbs, you will get higher and better light output. This also use more electricity. I just recently change from electronic to magnetic and the magnetic produce a brighter light output.

Magnetic are not efficient at converting electricity to the output of the bulb. It draws more energy to power the bulb. I also feel it shortens the life of the bulb as seen in the previous pic i posted. I also feel the bulb selection for magnetic ballast are real slim, kinda limits you to XM and that is it.

 

[maroun.c]

Magnetic are not efficient at converting electricity to the output of the bulb. It draws more energy to power the bulb. I also feel it shortens the life of the bulb as seen in the previous pic i posted. I also feel the bulb selection for magnetic ballast are real slim, kinda limits you to XM and that is it.

Thanks for the info and pics.
Can't you run Reeflux and Ushio on Magnetic Ballasts? I believeI read they will work best with Icecap Ballasts? but do I risk damaging the bulb or ballast if I use them on a magnetic one or is it only the light quality that gets affected?

 

[derek4real]

Thanks for the info and pics.
Can't you run Reeflux and Ushio on Magnetic Ballasts? I believeI read they will work best with Icecap Ballasts? but do I risk damaging the bulb or ballast if I use them on a magnetic one or is it only the light quality that gets affected?

technically, you could. (you can get a V-8 running on 4-6 cylinders, might not run best though) I have used the Reeflux bulbs on a magnetic ballast and had horrible results. I have heard that the Reeflux runs better on the HQI ballasts or electronic ballasts. I havent ran ushio bulbs.

Check Sanjay's Lighting site to tinker with bulb and ballast type combos.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

 

[usol]

I use the Vertex ballasts I have had no problems with them so far I only have 2 @ 250 watts they are electronic ballasts by the way

 

[joe22883]

Hi, pick your ballast around your bulbs. few examples...hqi magnetic for radium, electronic for reeflux, m58/m59 magnetic for xm. Im running reeflux on m59 magnetics and their dim/underpowered. ushio dont work well with standard mag ballasts. I would go with hqi ballasts with hqi bulbs imo.

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks for all the replies. I do have some HQI magnetic ballasts thatare running without any problems since 2 yeras on Arcadia and Gieseman HQI double ended bulbs. Guess Ill try those on some Reeflux HQI DE bulbs I have and if the resulting light is indeed dim guess I'llhave no other choice than buying some ICE caps or other ballasts. I'm just hoping I can skipp those as the shipping rate till here will be a killer.

 

[derek4real]

Hi, pick your ballast around your bulbs. few examples...hqi magnetic for radium, electronic for reeflux, m58/m59 magnetic for xm. Im running reeflux on m59 magnetics and their dim/underpowered. ushio dont work well with standard mag ballasts. I would go with hqi ballasts with hqi bulbs imo.

Or you can buy the New Dimmable LUMATEK and truly run any bulb (SE or DE).

Here is a Picture of the 400W model:

If your running SE Bulbs and want to overdrive you can. If you want to run DE Bulbs you can. And if you wanted to upgrade to 400W, you can do that too. All at the turn of a knob.

Most Electronic Ballasts will underdrive DE bulbs. (correct this issue with 275W setting)
Most Electronic Ballasts run SE fine but some people like to overdrive the bulb. (also use the 275W setting)

So in short, this can run like a normal electronic ballast with the option to overdrive (HQI).

They also make a 250W model that does the same thing but the settings are as follows:
150W
175W
250W
SuperLumens (275W)

 

[derek4real]

I havent had time to do some wattage pulls on different bulbs. But will be looking into that as well.

 

[blennymower]

Or you can buy the New Dimmable LUMATEK and truly run any bulb (SE or DE).

Here is a Picture of the 400W model:

If your running SE Bulbs and want to overdrive you can. If you want to run DE Bulbs you can. And if you wanted to upgrade to 400W, you can do that too. All at the turn of a knob.

Most Electronic Ballasts will underdrive DE bulbs. (correct this issue with 275W setting)
Most Electronic Ballasts run SE fine but some people like to overdrive the bulb. (also use the 275W setting)

So in short, this can run like a normal electronic ballast with the option to overdrive (HQI).

They also make a 250W model that does the same thing but the settings are as follows:
150W
175W
250W
SuperLumens (275W)

Derek,

I'm looking to buy new ballasts, and from what I'm seeing this lumatek is really good.

Do you own one?

What can you say about the quality of this product aside from the flexibility it comes with?