T5 Ballast Placement - Heating issues?

[Shoreliner11]

Hi Everyone,

I'm getting ready to wire in 6 36in T5 bulbs in my aquarium hood. I've never had T5's before and I'm not sure if the ballast placement I have in the photos would provide for adequate protection from saltwater (the ballasts will be almost completely protected from salt spray due to the reflectors) and would also not cause any heat issues. I do have a apex controller so I think I could plug a fan into the I/O port if needed. What are your thoughts? Thanks for the input.

Aaron

 

[Reef Reactor]

Put the fan, but most important, protect the bulbs and reflectors with acrilyc as salt can damage the bulb or the reflection of the reflectors

Enviado desde mi HTC One_M8 mediante Tapatalk

 

[4Hummer]

T5's do best with active cooling. you want to cool the Cold spot on the Bulb (The part of the bulb with the label)

Best to have fans blow past the Ballasts then out past the cold spot of the bulb (That's how ATI Does it)

I would personally run those ballasts left to right instead of front to back. Put the Cold spot of the bulb on the Right Side, Install Fans on the Left (Sucking air in from the Top of your canopy, blowing over the Ballast and onto the bulb label)

I have started a build thread for the T5H0 fixture I'm currently building, It has Months of research in it,

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2622944


Any questions send me a PM