Interesting ... halide e-ballasts

[DarG]

Just a story:

I just replaced two 150 watt metal halide ballasts in my fixture. Its a Current Outer Orbit dual 150 watt HQI with 4 54 watt T5.
I replaced the stock ballasts with a pair of ARO 150/175 watt ballasts from Hello Lights. The stock e-ballasts really arent bad. They look well built, heavy and they worked well. But I got this fixture cheap because one of the ballasts was bad from the start. I replaced it with the stock replacement a ways back. BTW, this fixture is surprisingly well put together. Fit and finish is very good and it is pretty heavy, decent materials used and component layout is well thought out.

Since it was inexensive, I decided to do some experimenting. According to Sanjays metal halide site, the 150 watt DE lamps that he tested with the ARO 150 / 175 ballast had outputs about 10 PPFD higher than with e-ballasts listed only for 150 watt bulbs. That increase seemed to hold true for all the bulbs that he tested with this ballast. So, I decided to try these ballasts and did a little modding on the inside of the fixture to get them installed in place of the stock ballasts.

I don't have a meter to check light output but I can tell that my 150 watt bulbs definitely are brighter with these ballasts. My wife noticed it right away, called it a big difference. I wont go so far as to say it's a big difference but it is definitely brighter. So, I guess that 10 PPFD is about right. The bulbs Im currently using are the Iwasaki 50000K. They may lean toward being a little more white, A little less of the blue tint with these ARO ballasts compared to stock but not by much.

The fixture has (had) two fans mounted on the top. I had to move them to fit the ballasts. The top of the fixture had 3 vent holes. The two on each side of center had fans mounted and the center one was empty. I moved one of the fans to the center vent hole. One of the fixtures end caps had mounting holes to mount a fan but did not have a fan. I moved the second fan to this end cap. Bolted up perfectly to the existing holes.

I asked a well respected RC member who is one of the resident Halide guys about this ballast and any early demise that it may cause to the bulbs by driving them harder and he assured me that it would not shorten their lifespan very much at all. The termperature of the fixture is running 4 degrees cooler now than it was before the ballast change. I'm not sure if that is the ballast change or my new fan mounting scheme. But anyway, the ballasts dont appear to be beating the hell out of the bulbs from a heat perspective to get the extra par.

Just thought I would share.

 

[Hammer]

Good idea. I bet that this ballast probably runs the bulbs closer to what they are designed for, rather then under driving them like most electronic ballasts will for HQI bulbs.
What would be interesting is to see this ARO ballast compared to a real HQI ballast running the same bulb. I wonder if we can find the specs between all three.

Btw, what was the stock ballast in the setup?

 

[DarG]

The Stock ballast was a Sunpark e-ballast, 150 watter. Nicely made from the standpoint of the aesthetics. In a case with fins on the top like the older style car audio amplifers had. Good and heavy with good fit and finish. Didn't run overly hot or anything. The specs on it were better than mos e-ballasts but that doesnt mean they were accurately stated. It too was a Chinese made ballast. But they worked well, no flicker, always fired the bulbs. Warm up was average. Probably comparable to most of the e-ballasts out there.

 

[DarG]

Just checked specs on Sanjays site. It all depends on the bulbs.

For the 150 watt Aqualine Bushke 10000K:
PFO HQI M81 - PPFD = 50
Ice Cap 150 watt e-ballast - PPFD = 54
ARO 150/175 e-ballast (Lamps Now ballast) - PPFD = 64

For the Ice Cap 150 watt 10000K:
PFO HQI M81 - PPFD = 63
Ice Cap e-ballast - PPFD = 49
ARO 150/175 e-ballast (Lamps Now ballast) - PPFD = 57


There is a bulb or maybe two that the 150/175 e-ballast ballast showed little or no advantage over compared standard 150 watt e-ballast. If I remember right, these were very low par bulbs, like in the 20's.

BTW, the ballast is listed as a 175 watter on the label, not both 150 and 175. Only on the Hello Lights site do they state that it is for both wattages. There is also another company that sells an e-ballast for both the 175 and 150 watt bulbs. I cant rmember the brand but it is a name brand and I believe that Champion carries them.

I think that for those reefers planning 150 watt halides for their tanks and are going with e-ballasts, this ballast is probably the smart choice. An extra 8 - 10 PPFD out of most bulbs compared to other 150 watt only e-ballasts is definitely worth considering. ARO ballast has a pretty good reputation and it is among the least expensive name brand e-ballasts that you can get. Why not get that extra Par if it's not going to cost you any more money in the short term. Plus, they shouldn't shorten the life of the bulbs to any large degree. One guru I spoke to suggested that maybe a month or two, at the most, shortening of the bulbs useful life.

 

[Hammer]

I agree with the ARO ballasts. The ones I have used in the past have been well made and did what they said.
And when I did have one issue, sort of my fault (lack of information from them, but I was running T5s when it wasn't supposed to), but they took care of me with very little trouble.

I am getting an Outer Orbit 24" 150w with T5s.
I think the setup as-is will work fine for a while, but I have options for upgrading it, and ballasts is always a concern when they are mounted in the pendant.

Kind of funny that the Icecap bulb performs the worst on their own ballast... Ironic.

 

[DarG]

Those Sunpark e-ballasts for e 150 watt halides in th Ouer Orbits work fine. I had no reason to believe that they weren't working as well as any oher eballast. Output was fine, color was fine. No flicker, no failures to fire and they dont get hotter than warm. They work fine. The T5 ballasts are also made by Sunpark and they work fine as well. There is nothing wrong with the fixture, it is well made and looks good. THe halide reflectors are small, like they are in most combos. Thats the only real thing that I wondered about, in terms of how they compared to the larger reflectors in output and distribution of light. Still, they shine bright and they work well in alot of peoples reefs.

 

[Hammer]

I always try and leave room for improvement.
And yes, the reflectors almost always suffer in these kind of pendants.
Still, I could upgrade to that ballast for the MH, and I have an Icecap 660 that I could overdrive the T5s with if I wanted.

Just planning ahead

Still, good to know they have good components in them.