Best VHO Ballast ????

[Roland Jacques]

what is the Best VHO Ballast?

im looking at the t-6 VHO 48" 110 watts. im looking for the best value ballast that will burn the lamps good any help is appreciated

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Ice Cap 660 is supposed to be the best.

 

[roader247]

Icecap 660 great ballast and even better customer service check out their forum. Good Luck

 

[Roland Jacques]

Dont Ice caps underdrive VHOs? i read that in some old threads, maybe it was just older models 660,

 

[The Grim Reefer]

No,

 

[Roland Jacques]

I just check with IC and they "underdrive" VHOs in a way. They say they do this to get a good compromise of lamp longevity good watts to lumens and flexibility to use on other non VHO applications...

The actual watts to a 110 watts VHO lamp with a 660 IC is around 80 watts per lamp.

It seems they get peek PAR and lumens performance with HO lamps and NO lamps Overdriving them. That may be the best way to run vhos for longevity or maybe even lux/watts. But it sounds like it maybe a bit much on the conservative side for the newer vhos.

I no they great ballast iv used over 6 of them tanks and they are great. I just want to no is their something better for VHOs to get max PAR. soft start would be nice also.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Their ballasts are actually capable of using induction to get "free" power. Not sure if that is what they are talking about or not.

 

[roader247]

I have repaired a few ballast out their and to me Icecap seems to be the best as far as components go and I know Grim has done allot of ballast comparisons Good Luck