T5s and their life span

[Perureef]

Thanks for the info. obviously from these figures overriding appears to result in a lot of waste, but what is known about the kind of benefits this 30% in light provides to growth, repoduction, etc.?

 

[dhoch]

hahnmeister.... do you have alink to those tests?

I'm trying to compile as much information as possible.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[hahnmeister]

I can tell you that a 54watt bulb that Grim tested on a regular ballast produced a PAR of 135, and on an IC that was 183. That sounds good until you realize that the IC was pumping 80+ watts into each 54watt bulb.

 

[philagothos]

Hahnmeister, that still doesn't sound too terrible to me. It's a 35.6% increase in PAR for a 48.1% increase in wattage. Not ideal by any means, but not too terrible, especially if you are trying to get maximum light or you have a 24"+ tank.

 

[dwdenny]

Same as using an mag ballast on some MH bulbs. If you want more PAR then it is a good thing for you if not then use the spec ballast for the bulbs easy as that. When they start a little material blows off the electrodes. A good soft start ballast does minimize that but that isn't the only reason Ice Cap claims their ballast doesn't decrease lamp life. They run the lamps at a higher frequency which causes less wear and tear. They also have built in protection circuits to shut the ballast down if you have an arc or blown lamp.

 

[doody]

Interesting thread. I'm trying to make lighting decisions for a future 125g. So Im gonna follow this.

Hahnmeister, Are you saying its better to overdrive 5' bulbs?

 

[doody]

Ohh, and whats a spec ballast and GE bulbs?

 

[dwdenny]

GE is a brand of bulb 6500K and spec ballast(ballasts made for T5 lighting)

 

[hahnmeister]

I don't know that I would consider using an Icecap on any T5 bulb until further testing shows how much they overheat or shorten bulb life/PAR. FWIW, the IC660 only runs the 80wattT5s at 100watts...this is only a 20% increase and shows a more proportional PAR increase than the 3 & 4' bulbs that are 50% overdriven and only give a 30% boost.

To be on the safe side, it just seems to make sense to use regular spec T5 ballasts (triad, advance, fulham, etc) and simply use 50% more bulbs+ballasts+reflectors if you want more...rather than wasing potential and maybe shortening bulb life with a IC ballast.

 

[zapata41]

hahn, what i think you are overseeing is this, its not the number of bulbs, since that only betters coverage, its the par that the number of bulbs is producing which is the advantage to running IC ballast, more par been better light penetration and thus better coral growths at all depths. also i think if you are running proper cooling over the T5s, then heat from ODing them isnt a problem. I feel that is one thing that people ignore is the fans, they figure t5s run cooler so i shouldnt need a fan. now look at the halide guys, no one really runs them without cooling.

just some thoughts as i used to run a IC driven T5 setup in slr reflectors and have since switched to halides. my observation thus far, i am geting far better growth now and colors are better too.

Tim

 

[tomnmaddie]

very interesting thread I am going to be running 4 T5's with 2 175w MH all using IC ballast, but I also have two 4" IC thermo fans venting. will let u know who it goes, funny thing is I have temp prob in the hood and during a 24hr test burn the hightest temp was 79 degrees this with it sitting on the floor in a garage fans running in Florida

 

[zapata41]

yes, the ambient air in the hood may be low but the temp immediately surrounding the bulbs is much higher, and if left uncooled the stagnent air will cause extra heat for the bulbs reducing the lifespan. also one bad thing with the slr & sls reflectors is that they also trap in alot of air that would narmally rise up off the bulb, so proper cooling is a must for them.

Tim

 

[dhoch]

Tim,

I have 2 fans blowing accross my bulbs (both IC variable speed temp fans)...

The hood is vented at the bottom back with both fans blowing in from the back.....

I don't know if it's the right design or anything, but I don't know what else I would do (other than maybe mount them at either end blowing in.

Dave

 

[zapata41]

i mounted one 4" fan on one side of my canopy, then used carboard to makes some oakey ductwork so all the air that the fan blew in had to go down the length of the bulbs in order to go out the exhaust duct. seemed to work quite well. as long as your fans are working properly, meaning the temp sensor is good, i have to IC variable fans and both temp sensors broke, then you should be fine, does the air leaving the hood feel warm, this is a good idication of how efficient the fans are working

Tim

 

[tomnmaddie]

The fans are blowing out the center top of the hood with the back of the hood open ie. best air flow that way, and yes the air coming from the fans is warm to the hand :>)

have a pic of the hood in my gallery if interested

 

[zapata41]

looks good except i dont see the front t5s getting much airflow but unless they are super hot to the touch or are getting black rings around the ends then you are probably fine.

Tim

 

[dhoch]

For those interested I've added a miscellaneous section to my website (http://www.danj.com/reef ) and I'll be updating it on a weekly basis with par readings rather than here...

If there is an interesting piece of information I'll post a new topic here.

Dave

 

[drew22to375]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6934826#post6934826 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
I don't know that I would consider using an Icecap on any T5 bulb until further testing shows how much they overheat or shorten bulb life/PAR. FWIW, the IC660 only runs the 80wattT5s at 100watts...this is only a 20% increase and shows a more proportional PAR increase than the 3 & 4' bulbs that are 50% overdriven and only give a 30% boost.

To be on the safe side, it just seems to make sense to use regular spec T5 ballasts (triad, advance, fulham, etc) and simply use 50% more bulbs+ballasts+reflectors if you want more...rather than wasing potential and maybe shortening bulb life with a IC ballast.

I thought icecap is about your only choice for the 80watters. I haven't seen a spec t-5 ballast for the 80watt. There are some out there that are compatible like the workhorse. but do they now make a spec t-5 ballast for the 80 watt bulbs.

Drew..

 

[tomnmaddie]

dhoch


your web site is truely amazing and a wonderful thing to behold. Also your par readings for the T5's really have put me in a cunundrum!!

 

[dhoch]

Tom,

Glad you like the site... I've got a bunch still to add (I'm missing a ton of my soft and SPS corals)... I've also got another miscellaneous article I want to write on power consumption.

Dave