Difference in 400 W MH ballasts

[sunfun]

I have seen MH ballasts on eBay that appear to be seperated into 2 different categories. One for salt water aquariums and the other for hydroponics. Does anyone know if they can be used interchangably. Below are the details of the ballasts. Maybe one of you electronic gurus can help me out.

Hydroponic Auction:
Future-Brite 400 watt Digital Ballast MH / HPS Dual V

Future-Brite 400 watt Digital Ballast MH / HPS Dual Voltage 120/240 - NEW IN BOX - New design that operates on both 120 and 240 watt power, Just unplug one cord and plug in another. 120 watt power cord included / 240 power cord available for purchase separately. This ballast can be used with either a Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium bulb. This lightweight electronic ballast will improve lamp life by up to three times and it will reduce energy consumption by about 30 percent. The ballast comes with a 12" detachable universal socket on a 13' cord. It also includes a 4' detachable power cord that plugs directly into your wall outlet.

Secifications:
Dimensions: (L x W x H) 10.4 in. 4.5 in. 3 in.
Maximum Lamp distance from ballast: 0.99
Efficiency: 94%
Harmonic Component: < 10%
Imax: 1.8-3.6 Amp

Output Features:
Output Power: 400w + or - 5%
Current crest factor: < 1.5


Saltwater Auction:
Sun System Remote DUAL Pulse Start Ballast Dual 400 Watt


• Unit has dual ballasts for burning 2 lamps simultaneously.
• Heat dispersing extruded ballast enclosure with durable blue powder coated finish.
• Major brand domestic ballasts.
• High temperature 100° capacitor.
• A Cool Wall™ uniquely offers two barrier walls between the ballast and the capacitor/ignitor keeping these critical components cool.
• Louvered end plates allows better cooling.
• Accommodates the lamp cord from all Reef Optix® and Lumen Max® reflectors.
• Key-way handle for easy carrying or hanging.
• Back lit on/off switch.
• Rubber feet reduce vibration and noise.
• Has one 8 foot - 120 volt power cord so both lamps turn on and off at the same time.
• 2-Year replace or rebuild warranty

BW2 Dual Magnet Ballast MH 400 Watt

 

[aentrop]

They should be interchangeable, the only difference between hydophonics and saltwater would probably be the bulbs.

hydrophonics should have a lower color temperature (around 6000K) than saltwater tanks (10000-20000K).

 

[Guest]

you need to be careful buying hydroponic ballasts as you want to make sure it will fire the bulbs you want to use and wont shift the color of the bulbs to more yellow.

if you watch the for sale forums you can find a great deal on name brand reef ballasts.

ebay type ballasts i would steer away from as usually the warranty is junk

 

[Serk]

IMHO, I've gone with cheap stuff to save money, and paid dearly for it in the long run...

Just go with quality equipment from the get go (I'm really liking my Icecap ballasts!) and save yourself the money and headaches in the long run...

 

[Charlie]

Icecap always seems to have lousy PAR readings compared to other top of the line ballasts (see Sanjay's test results). It'll be interesting to see the PAR readings of different member's setups once we get the PAR meters later this month.... I had Icecaps and Lumatek ballasts recently, and don't plan going back to icecaps.

 

[Guest]

mbz runs 400 watt icecap ballasts

his corals are doing awesome in his tank.. :shock:

par is not everything good colorization of the bulbs is also important...

http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=38546

 

[Charlie]

There wasn't much spectrum differences in the ballasts Sanjay tested. The bulb appeared to be primarily responsible for the spectrum in his test results. Go to:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

Select Lamp & Ballast, you can put in 400W, The bulb manufacture, type of bulb, then leave the ballast unchanged. It'll list the 4-10 ballasts he tested with a specific. Play around and you can find a 250W ballast that can output as much or more PAR as the icecap 400W. The spectrum charts are listed, I just don't see much variance in his test results based on different ballasts.

 

[bimmerzs]

@Charlie wrote:

Charlie,

Where did you find the data for your lumatek ballast/bulb selection. I can only find data that shows that the lumatek output overdrive's the bulbs, but not PAR data. If the bulbs are over/under driven, that can/will affect the bulbs spectrum output. Are you able to use the lumatek ballast on your DC8's without max current issues.

Cheers,

 

[Charlie]

A couple friends I know tested the PAR on the Lumateks, it performs very similar to the PFO on sanjay's test. I had icecaps on the new 100 gallon and it wasn't very bright, at least to my eyes. It will be interesting once we get the group buy PAR meters, then we can get much more data on ballast / bulb types. Of course everyone will have reflectors and other things that impact the measurements...

 

[bimmerzs]

@Charlie wrote:

Charlie,

My IC's/bulbs are pretty bright(and I'm half blind). Sanjay's data show that the PFO ballast overdrive all bulbs ~80 watts (32%)past their rated power, so instead of 250W they are pushed to ~330W. That's a lot... and I am sure the bulb life/spectrum would suffer, no wonder the icecap's look dim. :lol:

Cheers,

 

[Charlie]

@bimmerzs wrote:

Charlie,

My IC's/bulbs are pretty bright(and I'm half blind). Sanjay's data show that the PFO ballast overdrive all bulbs ~80 watts (32%)past their rated power, so instead of 250W they are pushed to ~330W. That's a lot... and I am sure the bulb life/spectrum would suffer, no wonder the icecap's look dim. :lol:

Cheers,"]

Did you look at the spectrum charts on a bulb with the PFO vs. spectrum chart with the icecaps? I didn't see any real difference or changes at all. Bulb life may be impacted, that's something that we can see with the PAR meters hopefully. I think Pete has lumateks, many members will have Icecaps so should be able to get quite a bit of data.

 

[bimmerzs]

@Charlie wrote:

The spectrum change may be slight and not so noticeable to "us ", it may or may not be different if you come from a coral's perspective. :lol: Sanjay give's us good information but it's just a snapshot, what happens to the spectrum shift/par three month's out....six month's out?? Does the ballast output power increase over time as the bulb's age and it becomes harder to "keep em lit"?? Maximizing PAR is like the skimmer folks that try to maximize air input, there is a point of diminishing return. Boy we can sure sidetrack a thread huh.....

 

[Guest]

on another sidetrack par will be different on different reflectors...for myself i run lumenbright...so par output on a ballast isnt as important as color the bulb is on the ballast

for myself if i was going to go with 400 watt ballasts galaxy, icecap and lumatek are my personal reccomendations

 

[bimmerzs]

@kuyatwo wrote:

The galaxy's generate a lot of rf interference Pampee....at least the older one's did before they were updated.

Cheers,

 

[Guest]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/10/review

On another sidetrack if you look at this article by sanjay on 2 out of the 4 test results the icecap ballast out performed the pfo ballast. So to say icecap is not a good ballast has lousy readings is a false general statement. Both lumatek and icecap are great ballasts i reccomend them both.

A good ballast is important but matching all three ballast, bulb and reflector is the key to get the most light to your tank. Use sanjays site or look at other reefers tanks to see what growth rate and colorization of the tank and corals fits your style before buying a ballast..As not all ballasts are the same

 

[Charlie]

@kuyatwo wrote:

I've never said icecap isn't a good ballast. In the test data, icecap has consistantly lower PPFD measures than the other top suppliers. The article you reference is mainly testing icecap bulbs. Of the top 50 performing bulb / ballast combos in the article you quoted, icecap had only 5 in that top 50 for a 400W bulbs. The main area PPFD readings of the icecap, you can get with a different 250W ballast.