Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board - Icecap 660..NO or VHO?

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Re: Fulham and VHO

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickb

According to Fulham tech support, the Workhorse 7 is not approved to drive multiple VHO bulbs in either series or parallel. They reported that the current rating of the ballast is such that it can not sustain VHO levels. The rating of 220W is based on peak power, not throughput. If you check their wiring diagrams, you will see that the give diagrams for driving 2 NO or PC tubes but not for 2 VHO tubes.

in parralell it will only put out HO levels but I know that it will run in searies flawlessly as I have been running two 3 foot tubes in series for 18 months now, not a problem.

Steve

Here is the reply we got from Fulham. Wiring diagram 11 is for parallel wiring of 2 tubes.

Quote:

Presently the Workhorse line of ballast will only provide enough lamp current to operate one VHO lamp at a time. Some people have attempted to operate two lamps wiring two red lead to each lamp with the yellow lamp in common, this will only provide enough lamp current to operate the lamps at about ½ light level. Some people use wiring diagram #11, but it defeats the purpose of using the VHO lamps as this method only provides the lamps with around 800mA and operate it like a HO lamp. If you try using all four red output wires, the application will overdrive the lamp operating current by as much as 20% which over-heats the cathodes. This is not an approved Fulham application and it voids any warranty of the product itself. We do not assume any responsibility for lamp or ballast system operations.

We also got this comment in another respone from Fulham:

Quote:

In addition, Lamps should NEVER be wired in series. Running the bulbs in series would reduce the total number of turn-on cycles. There is no correct estimate of how much reduction because it depends on the lamp types and its wattages. If the single lamp voltage requirement is close to the ballast starting voltage, the addition of the second lamp will cause problems. We do not recommend series wiring with instant start ballast, however, if you have a continuous burn application then series wiring of lamps is ok

At least one manufacturer using Fulham ballast (CoolTouch lighting) has changed to use one ballast per bulb.

I'm still using the series connection but will be looking into switching over to one ballast per bulb.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickb

Quote:

if you read that they admidt the only thing is going to be reduced turn on/off cycles sence the commen aplication for these ballast is lighting they are turned on and off several times a day, we only do it once. so even at a reduced on/off cycle it will suit us just fine. remember the big key is not to exceed the total lenght though, so you cannot do it with anything longer than 8 feet of tubes.

Steve

From IceCap:
If all you are measuring is wattage consumed then a pair of 250-watt incandescent lamps should be better than an IceCap running 285 to 320 watts (depending on the load it senses) through 4 X 4ft fluorescent lamps.

The other problem with this rule of thumb discussion is it discounts the fact that an IceCap ballasts runs at +/- 27KHz frequency and have a soft start to prolong lamp life. I don't know of any other ballast that can be placed over 100 feet from the lamps and does not need a grounding plane behind the lamps to light them. We use a different technology to light lamps.

Andy

Quote:

Originally Posted by ash08648

I don't know of any other ballast that can be placed over 100 feet from the lamps and does not need a grounding plane behind the lamps to light them.

Andy

great, that will work perfect for me to put the ballast in my niebours house so I don't have to pay the power bill :rolleyes:

We are comparring electronic ballas tot electronic ballast also

Steve

What about the Icecap 430? I'm running 2x46.5" 110w VHO's.

I want to switch out to WH7 now. Will it make a big difference?

Well this is all very interesting it just goes to show buyer beware.
When I bought the ballast I assumed It was for VHO lighting.
To find out that I spent the amount I did for the ballast then the bulbs
only to get a product that is'nt what it is made out to be by retailers
only makes me question who I am doing bussiness with.
I expect 440 watts of light and I got less THAT IS NOT RIGHT :sad:

One thing to keep inmind with this type of thread; while this is really good technical/theoretical discussion, always pay heed to manufacturer's specs and warranty guidelines. Nothing worse than burning your house down and not being covered by insurance because you didn't follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. And although I haven't burnt my house down (yet :rolleyes: ), I'll be careful how I hook these things up in the future.