T5s and their life span

dhoch

dhoch

New member
I have my clubs par meter and wanted to do some tests as the current T5 setup I have bulbs that are ~13 months old, and I have a brand new set of bulbs to replace them with...

Details on my setup can be found @: http://www.danj.com/reef (go to the equipment page and click on any of the lighting links)...

I have now done 3 sets of reading with my setup and the results were interesting (and not what I have been lead to expect) to say the least:

Readings:
Code: 
[b]      Date                    PAR Values @[/b]
[b]Install   Reading   Surface   3"        6"        12"[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------
2/05      9/05       600      305       266       200
2/05      3/06       560      320       255       215
3/06      3/06      1150      570       485       385

Some notes on these readings: (for scientific reproduction)
  1. the surface reading is above the water surface (I'm keeping consistant with what our club is doing)
  2. The bulbs configuration is slightly different from the readings in septemeber to march (I replaced one of the T5 actinic bulbs with a URI VHO actinic)
  3. The new bulbs configuration is again different (the 6000K ATI bulbs have been replaced with 6500K GE bulbs)
  4. I've been running ozone since december which visually makes my water clearer (at least to me)

So in conclusion I would say there is an ~10% drop off in my bulbs intensity (based on the surface PAR) over the last 6 months, but the ozone has made up for it with better penetration...

Overall the readings have dropped almost 50% off the newly installed bulbs!!!!! Do I need to replace my bulbs at 6 months? Or is the GE bulb that much better than the ATI bulb? (I want to do some bulb comparisions now....)

I will be keeping this as a database and update my website... I'll try to do readings once a month if I can.

Dave
 
I should also note that I am using IceCAP ballasts wich do overdrive the bulbs (and shorten lifespan, so I'm told).

Dave
 
All bulbs... (except the actinic T5 and the actinic VHO)... the only bulb swapped was the 6000K ATI was swapped out with the GE 6500K (other than that identical bulb configurations)... you can see all details at my web site.

Dave
 
Well according to Icecap overdriving them doesn't decrease the life span but I dont see how it cannot decrease them. BTW great input. Would be very interested in seeing different combonations of lamps like 2 aquablues and 2 blue+ combos as well.
 
What I find more interesting is the 10% drop from 7 months to 13 months. Evidentaly they lost 50% in the first month then dropped very slowly. I'm wondering if the GE's really did make that much of a difference. I have read on several sources that the GE are really bright. It could be about like trying to compare VHO super actinics to T5 actinics which are worthless.
 
I went and did a little searching back through some of grims posts and here is what I found...

there is a 10-15% difference between the 11K bulb (Aquablue) and the GE bulb, with the GE bulb producing more PAR... He also states the ATI 6000K is the brightest ATI bulb, but never does a direct comparision...

So I can belive a 10% difference between the GE and the ATI at ~6000K, but that still leaves a pretty signifigant drop off in intensity after 13 months.

crash... I think the bulbs lost somewhere between ~40-50% (figuring in the difference between the GE and the ATIs) over the first 7 months, and then 10% over the next 6 months (which is why I want to do a month to month comparison)...

Dave
 
Could be that the GE are that much better. I find it a little hard to believe that it will loose 50% in the first month or so then go south slower after that. Grim has always liked the GE better might be the reason why.lol
 
guys read the data closely please...

the bulbs DID NOT LOOSE 50% in the first month, but lost ~30-50% (depending on the difference between the GE and the ATI 6000K) over the FIRST SEVEN MONTHS!!!

Dave
 
I just caught that sorry. A month to month comparison will be great and I will be watching this thread and your site great site btw.
 
Not that you would do it, but I'd be interested to see what happens to them daily! I bet you see the intensity fall really fast to begin with. Kind of a "break in" period per say. I bet the first month has the highest percentage of loss. ie.. if the loss over 6 months was 50%, the loss in the first month was probably 35-40% then slowly tapers off in intensity. I wonder if it has to do with the icecap overdriving them.

I wish I had the resources to do test like that with various ballast and see the difference between the icecap, advance and workhorse.
 
As per The Grim Reefer

"The GE lamps are that much better. The ATI sun lamp has just a tad more PAR than the Blueplus, The Aquablue has the highest PAR of the ATI/D&D lamps and the GE smokes it. Grim say Hi."
 
I just did a little bulb comparision, cause I thought it would be interesting (I don't have time to do all the swap outs and test the old bulbs, but I will tommorow)..

FOr the new bulbs: (PAR tested 3/4" from the bulb as Grim did it):
GE bulb ~1500
ATI Aquablue ~1150
Blue Plus ~1000

For cross reference: here is grims posting on his measureurment:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...erpage=25&highlight=t5 glarathon&pagenumber=2

Note that grim and mine Aquablues are very close 1150 vs 1120

Grims month old GE was 1311 vs 1500 for my new GE (13% drop over 1 month!!!)
Grims month actinic plus 961 vs my 1000 (4% drop over 1 month)

Dave
 
very interesting. Good information for sure. If you want to talk with Grim he is on creativereefing.com if you register please let them now that dwdenny refered you.

Doug
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6910801#post6910801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dwdenny
Well according to Icecap overdriving them doesn't decrease the life span but I dont see how it cannot decrease them. BTW great input. Would be very interested in seeing different combonations of lamps like 2 aquablues and 2 blue+ combos as well.
Click to expand...

yep, i cant see how overdriving wouldnt decrease life span.

and yeah, the ge is that much better than the ati day

while i have not taken par readings on my tank, it sure seems as bright as it did on day 1 as at 15 months...

i wish my club had a PAR meter

as far as comparing grims numbers to yours, well, dont try to compare them. i want to see what your ge reads after a month.
 
so, by the numbers it would seem that T-5 bulbs should be replaced every 6-9 months just like all other flourescents.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6914686#post6914686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyrrhus
so, by the numbers it would seem that T-5 bulbs should be replaced every 6-9 months just like all other flourescents.
Click to expand...

maybe if overdriven..

remember, these numbers are all overdriven by icecap ballasts.....


i bet normally driven they last 18-24 months no problem...
 
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