Since my last review of 400W mogul base lamps [1], I have received several new lamps and several electronic ballasts for these lamps. New 400W mogul lamps by Ocean Encounter sold under the EVC label in 10000K, 14000K and 20000K versions, Helios Lamps in 12500K and 20000K versions, Hamilton 10000K and 14000K and the Aquaconnect 14000K lamp were tested. In addition to the these lamps, there are now more choices available for electronic ballasts for these lamps sold by Reef Fanatic, EVC by Ocean Encounter, Blueline by Champion Lighting and the electronic Icecap Ballast. In addition some of the previously tested lamps the XM 20000K and the Ushio 10000K were also tested with these new ballasts. A total of 64 spectral plots and performance data is presented in this article.

For each lamp/ballast combination listed, data was collected on the Spectrum, Photosynthetic Photon flux Density (PPFD) or PAR, as well as data on the power consumption of the ballasts. The power consumption was determined using a Vector True RMS power meter into which the ballast was plugged. The Vector power meter also records the voltage and current. The test setup used was the same as previous lamp tests [1], thus allowing for direct comparison of the results of these lamps with previously tested lamps [1-4].

EVC 400W 10000K

This is a new lamp introduced by Ocean Encounter (www.oceanencounter.com). As seen from the Table 2 and Figure 1, this lamp provides considerable amount of PPFD, and performs quite well on the standard M59 ballast. The PPFD values obtained on this lamp are comparable to the XM 400W 10000K lamp.

Figure 1: Spectral Plot of the 400W EVC 10000K lamp on different ballasts.

Figure 2: Spectral Plot of the 400W EVC 14000K lamps with different ballasts.

EVC 400W 14000K

Figure 3: Spectral Plot of the 400W EVC 20000K lamps with different ballasts.

EVC 20000K

Figure 4: Spectral Plot of the 400W Helios 12500K lamps with different ballasts

HELIOS 12500K

Figure 5: Spectral Plot of the 400W Helios 20000K lamps with different ballasts.

Helios 20000K

Figure 6: Spectral Plot of the 400W Hamilton 10000K lamps with different ballasts.

HAMILTON 10000K Lamp

Figure 7: Spectral Plot of the 400W Hamilton 14000K lamps with different ballasts

HAMILTON 14000K

Figure 8: Spectral Plot of the 400W Aquaconnect 14000K lamps with different ballasts

AQUACONNECT 14000K

Figure 9: Spectral Plot of the 400W XM 20000K lamps with different ballasts

XM 20000K

Figure 10: Spectral Plot of the 400W Ushio 10000K lamps with different ballasts

USHIO 10000K

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank several people whose help made this study possible. They were kind enough to provide us with lamps and ballasts for testing: Patrick at PFO Lighting, Brian at HelloLights.com, Brad Shaw and Perry at Sunlight Supply, Leonhard Ho for the use of his Taiwan “HQI” ballast, Vince from Ocean Encounter, and TAAM enterprises for the Helios Lamps. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Paul Walker of Penn State University for the use of the spectroradiometer.

References

1. Joshi, S and Mark, T., Spectral Analysis of 400W Lamps: XM,
   Radium, Osram and Sunmaster, PFO, Advanced Aquarist, Feb 2004.
   http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2004/feature2.htm