Over driving T5's

S

Saltpro

If you use any bulb and its a certain color..lets say a 54w ati blue+. Will it be the same color when its over driven as it is when its ran at normal watts? Meaning will it be less blue , but just brighter. I dont want to buy bulbs thinking there going to be a certain color then find out they have changed to not the color i want if i over drive them. Just trying to decide if i want to use a icecap ballast for my t5 lights if i get them or just use a regular ballast.
 
You should not need to overdrive unless your tank is deeper than 24". You will also need to change out bulbs every 6-9 months if overdriving versus 12-18 months if normally driven and the heat output is <u>greatly</u> increased when overdriving and cooling the ends are really necessary to maintain spectral output and life. The output is pretty signifigant when overdriving and it looks like the output is not as blue but that is the brightness that throws you off. I found that my bulb colors didn't change when I was overdriving so my 14K look remained a 14K look either way.

Cheers,
 
Thanks for the answer thats what i was wondering. But one more question. Do all the icecaps ballast over drive the bulbs automatically..meaning no choice?
 
If you don't want to overdrive the bulbs just get a workhorse ballast
 
@Saltpro wrote:
Thanks for the answer thats what i was wondering. But one more question. Do all the icecaps ballast over drive the bulbs automatically..meaning no choice? said:
Yes the icecaps overdrive in all configurations unless you add more bulbs than recommended then you don't know what you have. Either overdrive or get a normal output T5 ballas, AtoT lighting in lewisville has very good prices on T5 ballast, on RC is is reported the workhorse ballast do not properly drive T5 bulbs but you need to check out the T5 forum to investigate further.

Cheers,
Click to expand...
 
Ya i knew you could get other ballasts that didnt overdrive. I was just kind of liking how you could disconnect the ballast like theres has. I guess i could always just get a quick disconnect and use it on a regular ballast. I really dont want to overdrive the bulbs and the setup i was looking at already came with the icecap.
 
If the setup is priced nicely I would get it....you can always sell the icecap ballast and then buy regular T5 ballast.

Cheers,
 
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