Originally I was planning on getting Lumenmax III pendants with the 250w Bluewave IV electronic ballasts for Phoenix 14K bulbs. I just found out the latter have been discontinued, I wonder if this is because of the tense relationship between SLS & Icecap. the Bluewave IV was basically the Icecap ballast mounted in a nice chassis/heatsink with detachable SLS lamp cord, power switch, etc. And a longer warranty.
Unfortunately with SLS out of the eballast business for the time being, none of the other eballasts I am aware of will support a detachable lamp cord to the Lumenmax III without splicing or soldering. Some include chassis/heatsinks, others do not.
Any particular reason to choose or avoid a 250w eballast from Icecap, Reef Fanatic, EVC, Hamilton, ARO, Blueline, etc ? I suspect many of these use the same internal circuity imported from Asia just like PC power supplies a lots of other electronic devices. If so much of the differences are related to packaging, aftersales support, etc.
Besides pendants, I am also considering a MH/T5 combo fixture which remote ballasts. The best one (Sfiligoi) is extremely expensive or I'd have bought it already. The Maristar II sounds promising but who knows when/if it will be available for purchase. I'd love to see the rumored Icecap LED fixture too but it may be vaporware or early in its development.
Unfortunately with SLS out of the eballast business for the time being, none of the other eballasts I am aware of will support a detachable lamp cord to the Lumenmax III without splicing or soldering. Some include chassis/heatsinks, others do not.
Any particular reason to choose or avoid a 250w eballast from Icecap, Reef Fanatic, EVC, Hamilton, ARO, Blueline, etc ? I suspect many of these use the same internal circuity imported from Asia just like PC power supplies a lots of other electronic devices. If so much of the differences are related to packaging, aftersales support, etc.
Besides pendants, I am also considering a MH/T5 combo fixture which remote ballasts. The best one (Sfiligoi) is extremely expensive or I'd have bought it already. The Maristar II sounds promising but who knows when/if it will be available for purchase. I'd love to see the rumored Icecap LED fixture too but it may be vaporware or early in its development.
