IceCap 660/430 question.

[Reefmike]

On their website it states -

Am I understanding that to say I can run a combination of 2x 60" 80w HO-T5 & 2x 48" 54w HO-T5 on either of their ballasts?

 

[dixonallred]

As long as you don't go over one of these other limitations:
IC430 – 330 watts or 12 ft of bulbs
IC660 – rated at 440 watts or 16 ft of bulbs, although w/16 ft of bulbs you can go up to 464 watts

 

[masharp1126]

Good questions, I've been wondering too. Here's what it says about the 430 on reefgeek.com

"Solid state electronic ballast complete with 6 ft wiring harness. Capable of driving T12 VHO, HO and standard fluorescent bulbs, T5 HO fluorescent bulbs and Power Compact fluorescent bulbs. Rated to run multiple combinations of up to 4 T12 fluorescent bulbs with a total wattage not exceeding 324 Watts. Rated to run multiple combinations of up to 2 T5 fluorescent bulbs with a total wattage not exceeding 160 Watts. Maximum distance from ballast to bulbs is 50 feet. Power Consumption: up to 330 watts depending on bulb configuration. Warranty: 3 Year; fully transferable."

Which leads one to believe that it can only handle 2 T5 bulbs. :?:

 

[bimmerzs]

You can run a total of 4 VHO or T5 lamps totalling 16 total feet of lamp length on the 660 ballast. It will run VHO lamps to their prescribed wattage and will over drive HO and NO lamps. A Model 430 can operate up to 12 lamp feet with a total of 330 rated lamp watts. Individual lamps can be 2 through 6 feet each. Icecap gives out conflicting info on the number of lamp a 430 can drive, it gives a 4 lamp hookup in the wiring diagram but they have given a response of that being for VHO since it was printed prior to T5's being used and that a 430 can only run a max of 3 T5 bulbs. We have folk's here running 4 t5 bulbs off of a 430(not sure of length). I say hook it up and see if they fire up and keep in mind that this overtax the ballast somewhat and may or may not drive the bulb's it's full potential. :lol: I doubt the 430 would handle this realistically but the 660 would probably fire them.

Cheers,