Amount of wattage?

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

I only have a PAR sensor as I couldent afford the 13000.00 for a spectral analizer last year

Steve

Hey Steve ... with a PAR sensor would you be able to tell when your bulbs need replacing ? ... how much was it and where did you get it ? TIA

Cheers

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Rasta

Hey Steve ... with a PAR sensor would you be able to tell when your bulbs need replacing ? ... how much was it and where did you get it ? TIA

Cheers

yup, if you do monthly measurs of the bulbs you could tell how fast the intensity is droping off and chang acordingly.

it is a QUANTUM SENSOR (Model QSO-ELEC)

I got it from Apogee in the US for about 100 US plus shipping and duity and all that junk. then you also need a good digital multi meter to use it so that cost me another 150 CDN. I have spent more on testing equipment for lights than I have on my lights themselves

if you want to read more about it here it is
http://www.apogee-inst.com/qso_spec.htm
maby you might get 10 Cowtown naitives to go in one it and then check everyones tanks.

Steve

[Buccaneer]

Thanks for the response Steve ... do you know what the intensity level is of 6500K / 10000K bulbs at end of their usefull cycle ?

PS ... sorry to hijack your thread Wilty

Cheers

[StirCrazy]

hehe, thats for you to decide. if you ask 100 reefers how much of a drop is acceptable you will get 100 different answers and changing bulbs seams to be a personal preferance. the AB's I am using have been running for a year now with no visual indacations of needing to be changed (I need to measure them though to see how much they have dropped off)

one of the big problems with stating a fixed intensity for changing you bulbs is that from the factory there can be a 10%(or more) difference between new bulbs. so it is easyer to take a inital measurment and see how fast they drop off and set a % of drop off for your change.

Steve

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

the AB's I am using have been running for a year now with now visual indacations of needing to be changed

When you say "now" do you mean to say:
- after a year's use, "only now" there are visual indications (pardon me "indacations") that they need to be changed; or
- there are no visual indacations of needing to be changed, even after a year's use

If by "now" you mean "now" then I guess it's the first interpretation (pardon me, "interpratations") but if by "now" you mean "no" then it is the second interpatashun.

Have you looked into getting that darned keyboard of yours fixed yet? Or is the problem in my non-phonetic display? Stupid computers, always doing what they're told, not doing what we want.

[Wilty]

Dear oh Dear, Did we hit a soft spot? I dislike bashing someone for spelling since as soon as you do YOUR spelling and grammar comes into question

BTW I don't feel Hijacked this is just more of the same topic. As for different ballasts and European to American power. Of course you'll get more light using an European one, your over-driving the ballast 50hz ~ 60hz. Much like over-driving NO fluorences, they get brighter and half there life. I'm going to do some serious research into ballasts & MH of the same wattage and compare the outputs.

I was really hoping to buy an industrial grade ballast (from work) and stick a proper bulb in the socket. An industrial bulb will be 2700K or 4500K . . . Little low. lol

[Delphinus]

Not a soft spot it's just that I don't know what he means so I thought I'd better ask. I can make fun of him all I like because HE makes fun of ME all he likes.

If you have the serious questions or the serious research as you say Steve is the guy to bug because he has done all this research. Odds are pretty good any questions you come up with are ones he's already answered for himself.

As for the industrial grade ballast idea your idea is fine but it does get a little more involved than that. At the end of the day a ballast is a ballast it doesn't really mean anything to say "industrial" or .. um .. well whatever the opposite of "industrial" is. What you are concerned with is the ANSI designation, ie. for 400W is it M59 or is it M159 (I forget the numbers offhand so please forgive my transgression if I just listed a 250W instead of a 400W or something like that). Each bulb manufacturer has a recommended ballast to use so that's where you get that info from (the bulb you want to use). Then you want to look at the power tap. Can the ballast run on 110V? 220 or whatever. Last (and most confusingly) there is constant wattage autotransformer, or super lag something or other, linear reactors ... and I have absolutely no idea what that means. I think most "typical" ballasts are CWA (constant wattage autotransformer) types. I'm not sure one really needs to know what the difference is unless one really wants to geek out on it. Oh and then you want to look at something in the specs like "power crest factor" and I'll let Steve explain that one because I don't know about it. And last but not least if you are going to use a pulse start with a starter you want to check the "BTL" (ballast to lamp) distance because if you intend on remote mounting the ballasts this measurement needs to be taken into account. Many standard pulse-start starters offer a BTL of only 2 feet. If you want something larger (so the ballast isn't right in your hood) you need a long-distance ignitor/starter. (This is only for the pulse-start ballasts i.e. M137 M157 whatever). Probe-start ballasts (i.e. M59 M58 M57) do not use an ignitor.

[Wilty]

I'm going to have words with my co-worker, electrician by trade. When I said industrial grade I was meaning its ugly and a simple TAR ballast (non electronic). I did find this quote off the ICECAP website. I'm not sure if this is illegal to post but I kept the copyright on it.

IceCap has chosen to "overdrive" the metal halide bulb to generate more light. There are those who believe that the IceCap approach will shorten the usable life of a metal halide bulb, although IceCap argues that it does not. I have begun a long-term study that should answer the question in a few months. In the meantime, the hobbyist seeking maximum light will find that the IceCap produces more light. We will have to wait a few months to see whether there is any cost in longevity.

©Copyright, Aquarium Frontiers and Fancy Publications Inc. All rights reserved.

[Delphinus]

Ahhhh Ok yes and then there are electronic ballasts such as Icecap's. All my comments above were in regards to "cap and coil" aka "tar" type ballasts.

If I think I know next to nothing about cap-n-coil ballasts I know even less of electronic ballasts. Those are, I think, fairly specialized and although there are a number of manufacturers who are getting into electronic HID ballasts (Workhorse and Advance are I think working on a 175W version but I don't know if they are out to market yet). I have no idea how electronic ballasts will relate to ANSI designations.

I think you now have the sum total of all my knowledge on the topic! Maybe Steve can now jump in and add some sanity (phonetic sanity, but sanity nonetheless).

[Wilty]

Oh my god, my brain hurts. Bouncing around looking at website after website. Heat aside what am I do be looking for in a ballast? whats most important? I think I should avoid the ballasts from work now and buy the ballast that matches the bulb at the store. But thats sooooo much more money. I can get a 250W ballast for 70 bucks.