Why not T12 VHO's ??????????
- Thread starter hollywood300m
- Start date
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
That is the manufacturer's website. They really aren't an E-tailer so it can be a PITA to order from them. They do the website to help people who can't get their equipment from a LFS. If you e-mail them you should get a response.
The company is based in California but their products are made in Asia. I used some of those 6 footers when I was upgrading my halide system and they had nice color. I wasn't thrilled with the actinics but the combination of a blue actinic and a actinic combo looked pretty cool. If they have a Superblue in 6 foot that would be the way to go, a sweet looking lamp, about the same thing as an actinic plus from D&D.
The company is based in California but their products are made in Asia. I used some of those 6 footers when I was upgrading my halide system and they had nice color. I wasn't thrilled with the actinics but the combination of a blue actinic and a actinic combo looked pretty cool. If they have a Superblue in 6 foot that would be the way to go, a sweet looking lamp, about the same thing as an actinic plus from D&D.
From IceCap:
I recently switched over to T5HO and think it's a big improvement in light delivered where you want it. The new lamps GE has in 6.5K, and I'm told the new UVL T5HO line, are Eco in that at end of life the mercury bonds with a metal surface in the lamp. You also use less glass to make them. We found that even overdriving them they were good for two years. Because of the thin design, it's easy to direct the light where you want it. As to not having room for enough lamps, you will not need as many.
Andy
Andy,
You make these claims but never see any data to back this up. Do the bulbs over a 2 year time Shift in color spectrum, changes in intesity, Power factor how many watts does it take to produce a certian amount of lumens. I have been doing this for a long time and yes bulbs will remain lit for a long time period however if tested bulbs ouput in Par or lumens loss effecincy as time passes.
When you replace your bulbs in your aquarium, does the aquarium look the same. No matter what type of bulb metal halide, T-8, T-12 or my T-5's my aquarium is brighter and color is better.
Question: "recently switched over to T5HO" Then how can you say "We found that even overdriving them they were good for two years"
I recently switched over to T5HO and think it's a big improvement in light delivered where you want it. The new lamps GE has in 6.5K, and I'm told the new UVL T5HO line, are Eco in that at end of life the mercury bonds with a metal surface in the lamp. You also use less glass to make them. We found that even overdriving them they were good for two years. Because of the thin design, it's easy to direct the light where you want it. As to not having room for enough lamps, you will not need as many.
Andy
Andy,
You make these claims but never see any data to back this up. Do the bulbs over a 2 year time Shift in color spectrum, changes in intesity, Power factor how many watts does it take to produce a certian amount of lumens. I have been doing this for a long time and yes bulbs will remain lit for a long time period however if tested bulbs ouput in Par or lumens loss effecincy as time passes.
When you replace your bulbs in your aquarium, does the aquarium look the same. No matter what type of bulb metal halide, T-8, T-12 or my T-5's my aquarium is brighter and color is better.
Question: "recently switched over to T5HO" Then how can you say "We found that even overdriving them they were good for two years"
horkn
New member
i saw a study on the GE 6500k day t5ho that showed even after 3 years it still had over 90% of its useable light output. but that was normally driven.
heck, i found this info so long ago that i dont even know where i found it. I do know that i ran across this info when i was heavily researching my lightingt choises for my 35g. that was 2 years ago.
heck, i found this info so long ago that i dont even know where i found it. I do know that i ran across this info when i was heavily researching my lightingt choises for my 35g. that was 2 years ago.
Horkin,
three years was it a GE ballast and GE bulb. You need to post this report if you can find it.
Still nothing on overdriven bulbs. I do not think that GE intended them to be overdriven as they would then state that on packaging. Most companies I know what there product to be used for its intended purposes.
three years was it a GE ballast and GE bulb. You need to post this report if you can find it.
Still nothing on overdriven bulbs. I do not think that GE intended them to be overdriven as they would then state that on packaging. Most companies I know what there product to be used for its intended purposes.
Horkin,
three years was it a GE ballast and GE bulb. You need to post this report if you can find it.
Still nothing on overdriven bulbs. I do not think that GE intended them to be overdriven as they would then state that on packaging. Most companies I know what there product to be used for its intended purposes.
three years was it a GE ballast and GE bulb. You need to post this report if you can find it.
Still nothing on overdriven bulbs. I do not think that GE intended them to be overdriven as they would then state that on packaging. Most companies I know what there product to be used for its intended purposes.
horkn
New member
Ge, nor any t5ho (except the UVlighting) bulb was made to be overdriven.
I for one am not a fan of overdriving lamps. If it's meant to be run at 54w, running it at 80w can't help the life of the bulb. But, then again, we all replace our bulbs way before they need to be replaced.
i will see if i can find that study. It wasnt done by GE, and IIRC, they used some sort of spec t5ho ballast from an industrial application
I for one am not a fan of overdriving lamps. If it's meant to be run at 54w, running it at 80w can't help the life of the bulb. But, then again, we all replace our bulbs way before they need to be replaced.
i will see if i can find that study. It wasnt done by GE, and IIRC, they used some sort of spec t5ho ballast from an industrial application
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
There are specs listed on some manufactures websites listing the number of hours T5 last for commercial applications. 20,000 hours is the number usually used. Of course in that application they are only looking at lumen maintanance on lamps generally around 3000K color tempature. The more blue light the lamp produces, the sooner it will lose intensity. That 20,000 hour number is really not applicable to aquarium applications.
I have never seen anything other than an estimate on the life of the GE. It might stay solid 18 months or longer but I think 3 years is unrealistic for an aquarium. I know Iwan has adverse effects on his 24" tall SPS tank at around 9 months. Even assuming he has no margin for error to begin with his exerience demonstrates a noticable drop in intensity and/or change in spectrum in less that a year. Running a couple GE lamps might buy him a few more months of the performance he expects.
I would just be prepared to replace lamps at 12~18 months if you want to have good performance from them..
I have never seen anything other than an estimate on the life of the GE. It might stay solid 18 months or longer but I think 3 years is unrealistic for an aquarium. I know Iwan has adverse effects on his 24" tall SPS tank at around 9 months. Even assuming he has no margin for error to begin with his exerience demonstrates a noticable drop in intensity and/or change in spectrum in less that a year. Running a couple GE lamps might buy him a few more months of the performance he expects.
I would just be prepared to replace lamps at 12~18 months if you want to have good performance from them..
RichConley
New member
Efficiency factors. VHO are basically really innefficiently overdriven NO fluorescents with heavier end pieces. A TON of the energy is lost as heat. A 48" VHO bulb puts out about 6000 lumens at 110w. A 32w NO T12 puts out 3500 lumens.
The T5s are more efficient than VHO, and then you get to add that theyre smaller, so theyre easier to reflect, and you can fit a lot more of them.
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