pc bulbs

[apapas]

Just wondering what kind of PC bulbs I should buy? I bought sixliner tank and need to buy new 65 watt bulbs. What brand and where should I get them

 

[firefish2020]

Brand really wont matter much. ESU, Current, Hamilton 420-460 nm actinis blue 10,000K daylight. Any LFS worth it's salt would have those LOL. Salt, get it, Oh thats just bad.

 

[LtPiper]

Make sure you get the right pin configuration. Straight pin are harder to find that square.

 

[WVfishguy]

You'll pay more for the bulbs than you paid for the fixture. That's the worst thing about CF lights. I once found a box of 12 bulbs for $120 on eBay. I think there may be some slight difference in bulb quality (amount of PAR) in different brands, but I'm not sure.

 

[1package]

Locally Inland Reef sometimes has JEBO for about $15 each.

Mailorder - Innovativelights.com - square pin were $10, straight pin were $9 on my last order back in October.

True Aqua 55/65 Watt ILS-10070 5 10.00
10000K - GY10q square pin
base

ON SALE True Aqua 55/65 ILS-10035 4 9.00
Watt 6700K - 2G11


I could not tell much difference between the 6700s and the 10Ks.

 

[apapas]

I don't get when it says 55/65 watt. which is it? Is it 55 or 65 or does it just matter about your ballast. sixliner gave me two new 55 watt bulbs but i thought i should go ahead and get 65 instead. Regardless i need one antinic bulb at least. 1package what bulbs do you have on your 75 at work.

 

[firefish2020]

55 watts ballast were used for the first PC primarily All-Glass hoods.

After that they went to 65 watt ballast Coralife and Current and everyone with the older 55s were pretty much left hanging with no replacements.

So AG started making a 55/65 bulb which is safe for both ballast types. Use whichever your light system is rated I wouldn't want to put a 65 wt in a 55 ballast it could theoretically shorten either ballast or bulb life.

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9576093#post9576093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firefish2020
55 watts ballast were used for the first PC primarily All-Glass hoods.

After that they went to 65 watt ballast Coralife and Current and everyone with the older 55s were pretty much left hanging with no replacements.

So AG started making a 55/65 bulb which is safe for both ballast types. Use whichever your light system is rated I wouldn't want to put a 65 wt in a 55 ballast it could theoretically shorten either ballast or bulb life.

Ron you seriously need a history lesson in pc ballasts and bulbs :lol: but that's beside the point.

from hellolights

Works in any standard 55W OR 65W fixture of the same pin configuration.
* Note: Some bulbs are stamped "55W", but they will work fine in 65W fixtures. It's the ballasts that drive the bulbs.

Q. Are these bulbs 55W or 65W?
A. (Note: This applies to both Compact Fluorescent and Fluorescent bulbs only.) Actual wattage to the lamp is primarily a factor of the lamp electrical characteristics and the ballast driving the lamp. Without getting too technical, the wattage marking on the lamp does not necessarily determine the actual wattage to the lamp. (i.e. you could have 100W to a lamp that is marked 55W!!) Fixtures with different ballast will have different wattage to the lamp and as such the wattage marking on the lamp is for reference only.
Actual wattage to the lamp operated by electronic ballast can only be measured using special high frequency wattage measuring equipment. Input wattage to the ballast is not a direct indication of wattage to the lamp.
Simply put, 55W and 65W lamps have same or similar electrical characteristics and therefore if one replaces either lamp into a given fixture (either a 55W or 65W system) then the wattage to the lamps will be driven by the ballast(s) of such system. Wattage to the lamp determines lumen output or total light output of the lamp.
Conclusion: Lamps marked 55W or 65W can be interchanged with similar or equivalent light output performance. The ballast drives the bulb.

I've got a 55w PLS ballast that's several years old. I generally use 55w/65w lights from hellolights but I"ve used 65w coralifes too with no problems.

 

[WVfishguy]

Here's the catch on 55 vs. 65 watt CF bulbs:
A 65 watt CF light WILL NOT fit in a 36 inch All-Glass hood. The AG hood is slightly too short for the longer 65 watt bulb. On more than one occasion, I've had to order 55's for the AG hoods, even when I had 65 watts in stock. Ticks me off too - I don't have a cheap source for the 55s, PLUS, I have to keep two brands in stock.

 

[WVfishguy]

BTW - I'd go with the 50/50 "Smartlamp" bulbs (65 watt 10,000 k / 420 m actinic) before I'd buy pure actinics. In CF bulbs, pure actinics are so dim as to be worthless, unless you are using them to supplement halides. Even then, the 50/50's are still better, IMO.

 

[mcox33]

The 55 Watt Jebo bulb best of all the ones I have tried. And I have tried several. I don't like Oydessea and there is another one but I will have to check the brand seems like it was all glass I will never buy them again they were junk from day one.

 

[firefish2020]

My info is just from what I hear feel free to enlighten all of us

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9578070#post9578070 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firefish2020
My info is just from what I hear feel free to enlighten all of us

Since you asked

55 watts ballast were used for the first PC primarily All-Glass hoods

I dunno much about the all-glass hoods but the first power compacts I knew of were marketed by CSL, PFO, AHSupply and others but CSL was one of the big players back then. BTW CSL went out of business in 2004. Some lighting company, maybe current honestly I don't remember, took over their inventory and warranties.

After that they went to 65 watt ballast Coralife and Current and everyone with the older 55s were pretty much left hanging with no replacements.

CSL was selling 65 watt fixtures by 2001/2 . They were the "new thing" and more expensive than the 55w...both ballasts and bulbs. Funny thing is THE Inland Reef...NH retail/etail store at the time got a shipment of CSL 65w bulbs in. When the 65W label "fell off" the bulbs were actually panasonic 55w bulbs :lol:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=425920#post425920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MickAv8r
That really isn't correct. There is no difference between a 55W and a 65W bulb. None. Nada. Zip. The first CSL 65W bulbs on the market were actually relabled Panasonic 55W bulbs. 10W's is not a significant difference in these bulbs and neither is the 4W difference betweeen the 28's and the 32's. Again a bulb which was simply a relabled Panasonic 28 when it was first introduced.

You assume that the 65W bulb kits on the market actually are using 65W ballasts for one. It could be any number of wattages - 50W, 60W, etc.

Actually I take it back. There is a difference between the 55W bulbs and the 65W bulbs - price. The 65W bulbs are more expensive on average.

MickAv8r worked for Inland and along with MattM "helped" the tags fall off. I imagine the original thread is on rdo but I'm too lazy to look. The post is from 2002.

So AG started making a 55/65 bulb which is safe for both ballast types. Use whichever your light system is rated I wouldn't want to put a 65 wt in a 55 ballast it could theoretically shorten either ballast or bulb life.

AG doesn't make hellolights 55/66w bulbs. Their "store brand" bulbs are manufactured, overseas I'm sure, for the company. That's one reason they carry a true o3 actinic...as actinic as a pc can get anyway :lol:
At least in 2002 the all-glass bulbs were made by GE
link
Just happened to see that thread when I searched MickAv8r's posts a minute ago
BTW before anybody gets their panties in a bunch I'm not picking on Ron. He knows that but with the spring fever around this place lately I'm not taking chances

Terry I guess it depends on the brand of bulb you're using. From the link above.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=329838#post329838 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MickAv8r
these are the GE PC's and the color temp is basically purely a marketing thing, don't even try to think that is the true Kelvin temp of these bulbs.

That said, they aren't bad bulbs, some like the look, some don't, I don't think you will ever be able to quantify a difference in your corals growth by switching to say a 6500K or 10K bulb.

When swapping them out not just any bulb will work in all fixtures. IIRC in the 36" dual bulb fixture you need the shorter 21" Coralife bulb instead of the 23" CustomSeaLife unit.

The 65w bulbs I've used before were 21".

 

[firefish2020]

Thanks Amy! That's a great history lesson IMO :thumbsup:

I knew CSL was in there but wasn't sure where they fell chronologically. I believe they went on to become what today we call Current? but that's just what I heard as well BTW the new Current "sundial" looks a lot like an old CSL relic I found while cleaning out at the shop once. I think almost all of this stuff originates from the same factories for the most part. We just pay for those names and re-designed and re-packaged goods.

 

[WVfishguy]

I've still got a few Custom Sea Life units out there, I think. Big, bulky metal things. I began using them years ago when they first came out. To my knowledge, CSL was the only thing available to me at that time. After they started burning out, I began the process of replacing them with All-Glass units, but now I've switched to Current. After taking apart fixtures made by All-Glass and Current, I can see why Current cost less.
I've still got old CSL units in my home fishroom and at the shop (and no, the shop not open to the public.)

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9584094#post9584094 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firefish2020
I knew CSL was in there but wasn't sure where they fell chronologically. I believe they went on to become what today we call Current? but that's just what I heard as well BTW the new Current "sundial" looks a lot like an old CSL relic I found while cleaning out at the shop once. I think almost all of this stuff originates from the same factories for the most part. We just pay for those names and re-designed and re-packaged goods.

Some lighting company, maybe current honestly I don't remember, took over their inventory and warranties.

I'm 99% sure you're right Ron.

 

[fishmon]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9584527#post9584527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralreefer
I'm 99% sure you're right Ron.

Yea, you are Ron, csl=current.
csl used workhorse ballasts, current uses another brand now, heck maybe the same w/ another label.