T-6 Lighting

[gpodio]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8887311#post8887311 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roland Jacques
The only problem is getting the VHOs. No one sells them online and All Seas is being difficult. All Seas marine is a wholesale only. You could get them though a LFS. But they dont even sell to many LFS, none in GA. And even then they only want to sell in big quanitys.

For a bulb that has not been tested par, lummens ... by anyone I hate to buy 10 bulbs that may not be that good.

Have you compared, tryed, tested them? im looking for some data, any writing info on them?

If these are VHO versions of other existing bulbs they carry, looking at the specs of those bulbs may give you a hint as to what the VHO versions are all about. Even with the T6 bulbs, I don't believe we have much info on them either...

Keep in mind that VHO bulbs don't differ all that much physically from their NO/HO counterparts. If I recall this correctly, the density of the gas, pressure and electrodes are the biggest changes between NO and VHO bulbs of the same type. The phosphors used I believe remain the same.

I'll check with my LFS if he can get me some in.

 

[Roland Jacques]

gpodio

i would like to see specs on the VHO t-6 PAR & LUMMENS is the main thing i was looking for.

It does not seem that helios really wants to sell these bulbs at all. Helios says contact All Seas Marine and AMS says contact Helios.

 

[gpodio]

I know, but unfortunately not many disclose such info on bulbs. It's usually up to us to test and post such data unless you find the real manufacturer and their product code...

I hope they start to market them properly, perhaps they are waiting to roll out new fixtures made for these bulbs? It's harder to sell bulbs that have no market besides the DIY'er who is willing to retrofit existing fixtures and such... who knows!

 

[Roland Jacques]

They do have fixtures, I just think it is poor marketing or the product is no good, and not worth marketing. wish i no which.

Have you tried to OD the t-6 HO yet with the "real" ballast? im wondering how it compared with ODing the Workhorse. do you have a meter to test with? im looking at a spectrometer for $30 to test with, i'm not to sure about it. I think Daina Ridel calls it a poor mans Quantium meter. i might just get a cheap $30 lux meter to go with the spectrometer.

i plain on doing some comparasion testing myself. ODNO, ODHO ("real" t-5) and IceCap. I cant find that any one has done that yet.

 

[gpodio]

I have fired the T6HO bulbs on just about every ballast I have, I have tried 32W, 55w, 64W, 96W and 110W through the 54W tubes and they performed without surprises... I don't know how long they would hold up to 96 or 110W but they are great on 64W and best of all it's just using cheap 32W T8 ballasts. I need to buy some T5 ballasts to see the difference, I'm spending too much on my new tank right now to do so...

I use my SLRs for light metering, it's sufficient for my needs. A cheap spectrometer would help reveal any large gaps in the spectra but it likely won't tell you much more than that... hard to tell the intensity at various frequencies for example. A LUX meter would be fine in determining the differences between various ballast configurations and OD rates.

If you need to evaluate the bulbs themselves, not the way they are powered, you may want to see if there are any labs, universities or "backyard scientists" in your area that already have the equipment needed to test PAR and give an accurate spectral graph of the bulbs. But soon hopefully more T6 bulbs will become available along with more information directly from the manufacturers... remember when T5s first came out?

 

[Roland Jacques]

I did get some feedback on the VHO T-6. Very positive, twice the PAR as HO t-5. sonds good to me.

They out of stock on the longer sizes 72" - 48" they said they be full stock in 4-5 weeks.

 

[gpodio]

Awesome. Keep us updated!

 

[thriceanangel]

Any news in this, just found this, and I am very interested. Could you take a NO fixture with 2 40w bulbs, and OD it for use with T6's?

 

[kodyboy]

Roland,
Sorry to hear about your hand, I hope the middle finger heals well.

 

[pjf]

T12NO -> T6NO -> T6HO

T12NO -> T6NO -> T6HO

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9376897#post9376897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thriceanangel
Any news in this, just found this, and I am very interested. Could you take a NO fixture with 2 40w bulbs, and OD it for use with T6's?

I had a NO fixture with 40w T12 bulbs and 40w electronic ballasts. When I replaced my 40w bulbs with 55w T6HO bulbs, the new HO bulbs only produced normal output. Before selling the fixture, I had planned to replace the 40w ballasts with 64w (the next wattage above 40w) ballasts for high output.

Before replacing my 40w T12 bulbs with 55w T6HO bulbs, the retailer (www.naturallighting.com) insisted that I check to make sure that my 40w ballasts were electronic. He stated that magnetic ballasts may not work when matching (or mismatching) bulbs. Natural Lighting has both long ballasts and compact cube-shaped ballasts for retrofitting in fixtures.

 

[Roland Jacques]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9376897#post9376897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thriceanangel
Any news in this, just found this, and I am very interested. Could you take a NO fixture with 2 40w bulbs, and OD it for use with T6's?

if you overdrive it with Normal Output E-ballast "ODNO" X2 (wiring Two 32 watt outlets into one) it runs High output lamps right about 55 Watts.

There are a few who do this with HO lamps

Like in the "DIY Ice cap ballast" thread.

kodyboy, middle finger and thumb are working pretty good, about 60% Thanks. I just have remember not to try and give the peace sign anymore.

 

[kodyboy]

good to hear!

 

[pjf]

Good to hear that you are doing better, Roland!

 

[EvilE]

I am using T6 lighting--so far so good!! I changed from PC, to T5 NO, to T6 HO now. I use three 54 watt 12k , and two 54 watt blue actinics in my canopy over my 55 gallon tank....

 

[EvilE]

bump (I want more T6 talk!!!!)

 

[pjf]

I'm glad that the T6 lamps worked out for you. I've sold my MH-T6 fixture but had no problems with it. I was much happier with my lighting after replacing the the T12's with T6's.

I purchased my T6's from www.naturallighting.com but I am leery of other T6 vendors. Aqua Traders and Jalli sell "T6" tubes that seem to be a couple of inches shorter than standard T8 and T12 lamps.

The AquaTrader "T6" (http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=340) is listed as 45.75" in length and costs $29.90. This is very close to a T5 length. There is speculation that these "T6" lamps are actually T5's with T6 endcaps.

 

[EvilE]

I have the Aquatraders T6's---I hope they are ok! So far they have been very nice, and my corals are all happy....

 

[pjf]

You may be in good company. AquaTraders, Jalli, Catfish Lighting and Custom Aquatic all seem to sell T6 tubes that are closer to T5's in length.

 

[EvilE]

Jalli doesn't have T6's.....? Thanks for all your info on them, I appreciate it!!

 

[kodyboy]

has anyone actually measured the diameter of their t6s or tried a t5 in their place for an aquatraders / jalli/ catfish fixture? Being 54 watts it sounds like they might be interchangable, but I am probably wrong.