Spectral Analysis of 250 Watt Double Ended Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts: EVC, Happy Reefing, IceCap, AB, and Coralvue

by | Feb 15, 2005 | 0 comments

Since the previous two articles [1,2] on 250W Double Ended metal
halide lamps, I have received several more 250W DE lamps, and some more
250W Electronic ballasts – Blueline, Reef Fanatic, and EVC.

10 more 250W DE metal halide lamps available within the reef hobby
were evaluated along with 5 ballasts used to drive these lamps. The
lamps and ballasts are listed in Table 1. As usual these lamps were
tested using the identical setup to all previous tests, thus allowing
for direct comparison between the lamps.

Table 1: List of lamps and ballasts tested

250W DE Lamps

250W Ballasts

EVC 10000K

EVC 14000K

EVC 20000K

AQUALINE BUSHKE 20000K

HAPPY REEFING 10000K

HAPPY REEFING 14000K

HAPPY REEFING 20000K

ICECAP 10000K

ICECAP 20000K

Coralvue 15000K

PFO-HQI (ANSI -M80)

IceCap (Electronic)

Blueline (Electronic)

Reef Fanatic (Electronic)

EVC (Electronic)

Spectral Output of the Lamps (single ballast)

Since the ANSI-M80 is the recommended ballast for 250W double ended
lamps, we decided to compare the lamps using this ballast to establish
a baseline of performance.

Figure 1 below shows the spectral output of the 10 different lamps
when operated by the same ballast – the M-80 ballast. These spectral
plots are for the shielded lamps

Figure 1: Spectral plot showing a comparison of the spectrum all the 250W DE lamps tested

Table 2: Comparison of PPFD, CCT, and Power use of the different 250W DE lamps with the M80 ballast – unshielded and shielded

Lamp

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

AB 20000K

308

122.1

2.78

57.7

na

45.7

na

EVC 10000K

365

124.8

3.18

179.9

5988

147.2

5700

EVC 14000K

333

122.5

2.91

82.8

na

66.78

na

EVC 20000K

338

122.8

2.95

81.8

na

64.7

na

HAPPY REEFING 10000K

315

122.3

2.84

124.6

9050

101.2

8170

HAPPY REEFING 14000K

290

122.5

2.75

76.2

6784

59.2

6299

HAPPY REEFING 20000K

325

124.5

2.87

103

na

84.4

na

ICECAP 10000K

305

123

2.74

78.7

na

63.1

na

ICECAP 20000K

296

122.1

2.69

66.2

na

53.7

na

CORALVUE 15000K

285

123.4

2.66

66.6

na

54.1

na

Comparison of Lamp Performance Under Different Ballasts

This section presents the results of testing the different lamps
using different ballasts. For each lamp tested different ballasts were
used to fire the lamp and data is presented for the unshielded and
shielded case. Spectral data is only provided for the shielded case,
since we feel that most lamps will be used in this manner.

Aqualine Bushke 20000K

Table 3: Aqualine Bushke 20000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

308

122.1

2.78

57.7

0

45.7

0

IceCap

250

123

2.3

47.3

0

38

0

Blueline

250

122.7

2.15

51

0

40.1

0

Reef Fanatic

256

123.1

2.19

47

0

38.5

0

EVC

272

123

2.31

51.7

0

40.6

0

Figure 2: Spectral Plot of the Shielded Aqualine Bushke 20000K Lamp with the different ballasts

EVC 10000K

Table 4: EVC 10000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

365

124.8

3.18

179.9

5988

147.2

5700

IceCap

254

124.3

2.25

119.6

6844

97.3

6446

Blueline

252

123.9

2.14

117.4

6641

95.4

6240

Reef Fanatic

255

123.5

2.17

113

6308

94.16

6172

EVC

272

122.3

2.32

119.8

5983

97.38

5629

Figure 3: Spectral Plot of the Shielded EVC 10000K Lamp with the different ballasts

EVC 14000K

Table 5: EVC 14000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

333

122.5

2.91

82.8

na

66.78

na

IceCap

248

122.1

2.26

63.3

na

50.7

na

Blueline

250

122.4

2.14

66.7

na

54.1

na

Reef Fanatic

250

122.4

2.15

67.3

na

53.8

na

EVC

269

122.2

2.31

68.19

na

55.12

na

Figure 4: Spectral Plot of the Shielded EVC 14000K Lamp with the different ballasts

EVC 20000K

Table 6: EVC 20000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

338

122.8

2.95

81.8

0

64.7

0

IceCap

252

121.8

2.31

64.1

0

51.2

0

Blueline

252

122.9

2.16

65.3

0

51.6

0

Reef Fanatic

254

123.1

2.18

65.5

0

53.1

0

EVC

271

120.9

2.34

69.4

0

55.1

0

Figure 5: Spectral Plot of the Shielded EVC 20000K Lamp with the different ballasts

HAPPY REEFING 10000K

Table 7: HAPPY REEFING 10000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

315

122.3

2.84

124.6

9050

101.2

8170

IceCap

208

123.7

1.97

50.5

6346

41.2

5975

Blueline

250

122.6

2.14

83.4

7652

66.4

7044

Reef Fanatic

255

123.3

2.18

85.1

7862

65.2

7076

EVC

272

123.8

2.28

87.8

7867

70.9

7166

Figure 6: Spectral Plot of the Shielded HAPPY REEFING 10000K Lamp with the different ballasts

HAPPY REEFING 14000K

Table 8: HAPPY REEFING 14000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

290

122.5

2.75

76.2

6784

59.2

6299

IceCap

252

123.8

2.28

96.5

8113

78.5

7508

Blueline

248

121.3

2.15

71.68

7018

57.1

6584

Reef Fanatic

256

122.6

2.19

87.1

8517

70.6

7707

EVC

272

123.1

2.31

118.1

9326

95.2

8484

Figure 7: Spectral Plot of the Shielded HAPPY REEFING 14000K Lamp with the different ballasts

HAPPY REEFING 20000K

Table 9: HAPPY REEFING 20000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

325

124.5

2.87

103

na

84.4

na

IceCap

248

124.6

2.26

81.8

na

65.9

na

Blueline

251

124.3

2.12

83.1

na

67.6

na

Reef Fanatic

256

124.3

2.17

82.9

na

67.1

na

EVC

272

124.6

2.28

92.8

na

75.1

na

Figure 8: Spectral Plot of the Shielded HAPPY REEFING 20000K lamp with the different ballasts

ICECAP 10000K

Table 10: ICECAP 10000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

305

123

2.74

78.7

0

63.1

0

IceCap

245

122.4

2.27

63.3

0

48

0

Blueline

250

122.9

2.13

66.1

0

52.8

0

Reef Fanatic

255

123.8

2.17

62.1

0

49.2

0

EVC

272

124

2.28

68.8

0

56.8

0

Figure 9: Spectral Plot of the Shielded ICECAP 10000K Lamp with the different ballasts

ICECAP 20000K

Table 11: ICECAP 20000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

296

122.1

2.69

66.2

0

53.7

0

IceCap

246

121.7

2.31

56.9

0

45.4

0

Blueline

250

122.7

2.16

55.6

0

44.4

0

Reef Fanatic

255

122.6

2.19

57.9

0

47

0

EVC

272

122.1

2.3

62.8

0

50.3

0

Figure 10: Spectral Plot of the Shielded ICECAP 20000K Lamp with the different ballasts

CORALVUE 15000K

Table 12: CORALVUE 15000K

Ballast

Power

Voltage

Current

Unshielded

Shielded

PPFD

CCT

PPFD

CCT

M80

285

123.4

2.66

66.6

0

54.1

0

IceCap

DNF

Blueline

248

124.1

2.08

56.3

0

45.5

0

Reef Fanatic

256

123.7

2.17

58.7

0

47.9

0

EVC

271

121.9

2.31

59.8

0

48.0

0

Figure 11: Spectral Plot of the Shielded CORALVUE 15000K Lamp with the different ballasts

Acknowledgements

We 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, Andy at IceCap Inc, Perry at
Sunlight Supply, Vince at Ocean Encounters, Moonpod at RC, and Champion
Lighting, Reef Fanatics. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Paul
Walker of Penn State University for the use of the spectroradiometer.

References

  1. Joshi, S. and Marks, Timothy, 2004. Spectral Analysis of 250W Double Ended Lamps and Ballasts, Advanced Aquarist, Feb 2004
  2. Joshi, S. More Spectral Analysis of 250W Double Ended Lamps and Ballasts – Part II, Advanced Aquarist, August 2004
  • Sanjay Joshi

    Sanjay Joshi in real life is a Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State University. He has been a reef addict since 1992, and currently keeps several reef aquariums at home including a 500G SPS coral dominated reef. He also co-manages the 500G aquarium at Penn State. He has published several articles in magazines such as Marine Fish and Reef Annual, Aquarium Frontiers, Aquarium Fish, and Advanced Aquarist. In addition, he has been an invited speaker at several marine aquarium society meetings in the US and Europe. He received the MASNA award in 2006, for his contributions to the marine aquarium hobby.

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