E- Balast or Ice cap

[clamlvr]

After many months of saving penies .I'm finally ready to buy metal halide lights for my tank.its a 110gal RR oceanic its 5 feet long and 24in high by 18in wiade. I wanted the 400 watt E-balast but they are out of stock untill november I been told.
suggestions on which one is best good or bad would be appreciated.

Here are my questions

1. E-Balast or ice cap

2. 250W 10k or 250W 20k (Radium)

3 or should I forget the whole Electronic Balast thing and go with a PFO HQI Balast with 400w Radiums


the metal halide will be supplumented with 2-50/50 and 1-03 VHO bulbs

 

[chance_11]

I've had both the Icecap and the E-ballast. I like the E-Ballast. I currently have 3 Icecap ballast sitting in the closet all broken. 2 have wires that came loose from the harness, and one sounds like a rattle when shaken. I've had and E-Ballast for 1 year, and I am very happy with it.

10K or 20K is like asking what kind of lighting do I need for ... Everyone's got an opinion. I run 10K's now, but I am changing to 20K's.

PFO HQI overdrives the bulb, which burns it out faster. They are also less efficent, and generate more heat. Don't know about noise, as I have never owned one. However, I have compared electric costs and it's not that much more for a PFO HQI vs. Icecap or E-Ballast. The difference I calculated was about $20/year.

 

[fishmanII]

Since they repair all ballasts, why do you have them in the closet?? They can easily repait them and also the harness.

 

[chance_11]

I have sent one of them in 3 times. (440 running 2-6ft VHO) It keeps burning out. The last time I had it mounted upside down in the canopy. A cap actually came unsodered and fell out (the one that rattles). The other two (440 and a 175) have both been sent in 1 time each. While they do repair them, the keep breaking. The harness is very fragile. For some reason mine would burn out if you plugged them into the wall directly. I had to always plug them into a timer, make sure it was off, then plug that into the wall, and then turn it on. If I didn't do it that way, I would get a spark, and that's it. Back to the factory they go.

Don't get me wrong, the ICECAP folks are great, I just haven't had any luck with their ballasts. It could be something I am doing wrong. After all I am an EE, and probably should not be wiring up circuits! Finally, I tried an E-Ballast. No problems whatsoever. I also have a couple of Advance tar and coil ballast sitting in the closet. Man I need to get rid of this stuff.

 

[coryc]

clamlvr:
I believe the IceCap ballasts have problems with the Radium bulbs. If you want an electronic ballast for the Radiums I'd wait for the E-Ballast. If you choose to run 10Ks, I'd vote for IceCap.

IME, the PFO HQI ballast does not have a noise problem. I ditto Chance_11's opinion of this ballast pulling more current and creating more heat (P=IV or P=IE for the old timers ).

I personally like the looks of the 10Ks over the Radiums, but it's just that...my opinion........I prefer Iwasakis overall, FWIW.

Cory

 

[suckair]

I am running 5 Ice Cap Metal Halide seups and all work perfectly. I also hae 7 660's and they two work perfect! Two of these units are HQI, two are Iwasaki 6500's and one is Radium 10k. I am very happy with their performance. The two 6500's are a bit over 3 years old now however I plan to relamp them in the next few weeks.

I did have to tune the HQI setup to prevent flicker but it was easy and IceCap told me how. I wanted to do this rather than send them in so I could adjust for lamp changes on the fly. "I would not recomend this unless you were a electronics guy and knew what you were doing"! I would just purcahse your HQI lamps, burn them for a while, then send them in with the ballast to be tuned.

I believe that the IceCaps whan setup properly with proper ventalation and instalation are the most efficient choce and they are soft on the lamps to extend their life. IceCap is my choice.