t5 lighting - fried

@BigJay wrote:
Is it possible to re-wire in your old fixture ballast in the meantime? Your tank won't get the same overdriven PAR loving said:
Errr.....That's gonna be hard for her to do since her old ballast are probably sitting in my foyer right now. :sad: Angela....should I reroute these back your way. LMK

Cheers,
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Get your ballast fixed regardless.

FYI, every time you shut off an Icecap ballast, wait 15 seconds before starting it. When swapping out bulbs like you were, it is very easy to do this in under 5 seconds flat, and the quick off-on-off-on deal can damage the ballast.
 
It might, depending on how many bulbs she's going to light up. I've never done the actual wiring for T5s to this ballast, and don't know the number of bulbs you can run on it. This page doesn't seem to indicate that it works with T5s.

http://icecapinc.com/icecap%20430%20revised%20wiring%204%2029%202008.pdf
 
bimmerzs- don't worry about the old ballasts. I don't want them back. I dont think a 430 will power 12 ft of bulbs, but thank so much for the offer. It might, but I dont want to risk it and I can't find anywhere that says for sure. All I have found says "up to two bullbs not to exceed 160 watts" Which all four is under that but...
I have the 4 ft tek fixture of the algae tank on there now. Maybe it will hold me over.

I'm going to send the ballast off, but I am really scared that this will just happen again. We are going to do the checks with a volt meter to make sure it's not something with the wiring, etc. IceCap was very nice to talk with, but they did say that a damaged bulb could fry the ballast. I dont know if that's what happened or not, but kind of coincidental that everything was fine until I put that bulb in. I dont know. Very distressing. I should have bought a tek fixture or a good quality fixture to begin with to avoid the rigging.

I am about tired of t5s. I love them, but if a bad bulb can cost you an icecap 660 they are not for me. How many times have you seen a MH ballast fry for some crazy reason? I have never seen it!

I don't really want another mh pendant in my house and I sure don't want two. I don't know if one would work ok on this tank or not.

Thanks for the support guys, regardless of what happens.
 
I was running 4x 4' VHO's on an IceCap 660.

I switched to T5's, got it all wired in, and then upon plugging in the lights they would flash on then turn off and stay off...

Never could get them working. I sent the 660 to IceCap and they replaced the internals and returned it and it worked fine... same wiring, just plugged in the harness to the new ballast...
Kind of odd because it was same wiring, but upon the switch it fried my ballast.

Its been 2 months now with the T5's and still working great! I love them, and they are brighter that the VHO's were.

And that is 110watts x 4 - compared to - 54W overdriven to 80W x 4.

Still brighter than the VHO's even though less wattage.

I still want to add another 4 T5's... but I don't think it is 100% needed, as everything is still growing and looking healthy, and I even have better polyp extension than I did with the VHO's.

PS this is on a 150 gallon.

With 8 4' T5's I will have the perfect wattage/gallon (640watts)
but right now and 320 watts everything seems fine...
 
Info from marinedepot on icecap 430:

IceCap 430 Information: Ice Cap Ballasts are the coolest ballasts available using 40% less electricity and burning 40% brighter. Their unique circuitry prevents premature lamp burn out and fading associated with VHO lamps. You can run VHO, HO, and STD fluorescent lamps in any combination. In summary, the Icecap 430 is a versatile and powerful ballast.

The Ultimate lamp driver for all VHO, PC and T5HO lamps.

One ballast can operate any combination, up to 4 lamps, with a total not exceeding 330 Watts.

SOO. My total wattage is 160 watts so it should work. Up to you guys though. Don't want to risk anyones ballast. FWIW we checked out the wiring and it seems that either the bad bulb got my ballast or it was a very strange coincidence.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks
Angela
 
FWIW I called Icecap and they said the 430 would only power two of the bulbs. I have no idea why. Something about a since output or outlet. SOO that wouldn't really work.
 
Angela, I thought you still needed the 660 from me, so I sent it out to you this afternoon. Could you just send it back to me when you get it?

Thanks!
 
Bump for good thread on T5's using Icecap 430 vs. Icecap 660.

(ps - Im looking for a favorite BULB BRAND of T5 users - I will be powering 8x22")
 
That's a good question, what bulb is everyone using.

I just bought a used Ebay special for $40 to get me by for now but I'll be trying the T5 on my 660 like Ron C did to suppliment the MH and possibly run them exposed to keep from creating a shadow on the 125 AG. The Ebay light doesn't put out that much light so I figured with them exposed they may be able to bounce light off the Lumenarcs.

Ron, do you have any pictures of your setup?
 
@timthetoolman wrote:
That's a good question said:
Here is one view...probably won't make any magazine cover's tho... :lol: I run mine without refletors as well for the same reason since the are actinic's(and fiji purples). Believe me when I say that you won't have a problem with light, it was at least x3 brighter between a cheapo ballast and the 660 pushing the juice to the T5's. I really couldn't imagine these running with reflector's, that would be an insane amount of light focused into the tank, I can see how you could be able to grow anything under T5's. :D I run the Giesemann actinic + and pure actinic bulb's, ATi and UVL are favorite's also for actinic. Pop over to the T5 thread on RC to see what a lot of folk's run.

Cheers,
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Ron nice set up... do you have a how-to thread on that lighting system build pictured above?

If not:

What kind of aluminum/steel is that bracing?
Where did you get it?
What type of screws/fasteners are you using for the lumenbrights?
Is the lighting system on a hinge to lift for easy access to the tank?
 
@deathdealer wrote:
Ron nice set up... do you have a how-to thread on that lighting system build pictured above? If not: What kind of aluminum/steel is that bracing? Where did you get it? What type of screws/fasteners are you using for the lumenbrights? Is the lighting system on a hinge to lift for easy access to the tank? said:
Thanks,

The L bracket's acan be found at home depot or lowes, this is the 2" one but there are smaller sizes. I used SS bolts and locking nuts to secure the bracket's toether, you can also use pop rivets but I have had issues with them. The LumenBrights are just resting in place and nott secured, just a slight pressure fit front to back. I have extended cables and I used cabinet slides on the last rack so I could slide the rack out and remove it when I needed to get into the tank. Quickly realized that once you slide the rack out, you can see anything in the tank without lights. :oops: :lol: :lol: This one is just resting an 1"x4" blocks on each side, I can still slide it out of the way and it's simple. If you put them at the recommended height of 14"-16" you do a lot without even removing the lights.

Cheers,
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