Stircrazy and other lighting gurus

[StirCrazy]

Ok, sorry I didn't see this sooner, but I just left India.

Ok so as you have been told yes you can upgrade and yes it is fairly easy.

the question I have is are you running and electronic ballast or a normal ballast, if it is electronic then you will get a small increase in output but you will get the other benifits of a larger more even foot print.

If it is a normal M80 ballast you will get all the benifits of the other plus a huge increase in light out put.

as for bulb use, any one is usble as they are all based off German bulbs, even the USHIO which has a probe starter in it still works on an pulse start ballast.

XM bulbs respong suprisingly well to HQI power supplies so they are a good choice in bulbs.

it is definatly not worth it to go to a 400 set up, you already have the ballast, so for the most part you would not gain any output from a 400 over the HQI as there is realy no good ballast for a 400 set up that is made for high output like a HQI. the 400 HQI's are not a HQI ballast and actualy decrease bulb life instead of increasing it as a good HQI setup will.

Steve

[marie]

They are not electronic ballasts. I decided to go with the xm bulbs because first off they are cheaper and second, according to sanjay they are a bit whiter then the ushios.

So in your opinion Steve, how often should I be changing the bulbs. Are they being overdriven to the point where the bulbs need to be changed more often then every 12 months?

[StirCrazy]

actualy they are not being overdriven at all and should last longer than normaly. I would go a minimum of a year on them and even up to 1.5 years, you have to play it by ear and decide when you want to change them. one way is to have a new set of bulbs and say at 1 year put one new one in and over a coupel days see the differance, then put the old one back in and in a month do it again.. if you start getting a huge change month to month time to change them. the other way is to have a PAR meter and do measurments on them instead.

Steve

[marie]

Thanks Steve, just what I was hoping to hear .



These lights are crazy bright, well worth the money I spent to upgrade and so far I don't miss the vhos at all. The 10k xms have a way nicer colour with these ballasts