Decreased HQI bulb life with electronic ballasts?

shelburn61

New member
I've read posts stating that double-end bulbs are "underdriven" on electronic ballasts and this shortens the life of the bulb? Has this been confirmed?

Does this apply to certain DE bulbs only?
 
I've heard this as well, but never anything definitive. Would be interesting to know. If you look at this article though, http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/ac/index.php, an Icecap electronic ballast ran a Phoenix DE bulb with very little loss in intensity for well over a year. Can't say if it applies to all bulbs, but my guess would be that the ballast doesn't have much effect on bulb life.
 
Interesting link, especially since most of the claims I read of decreased bulb life/color shifts were regarding the phoenix bulbs...
 
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