PC brands - does it matter?

[MyColorYellow]

Do they make German or Japanese PC bulbs? Is it best to go with German made ones? Is 7100k & 10,000k a good mix for LPS and softies?

[bajathree]

Someone will correct me if I am wrong but I do believe not all manufacturers will fit all fictures. IMO I would stick with CSL.

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[Schottman]

Wow there has been a lot of debate over this lately and from the reading of many different posts I have made. I have come to conclude that: there is a difference in the lamps labled 7100K and the true 03 actinic blue. In the 55 watt bulb size I believe the germans are true 03 actinic and that the japanese also make true 03 actinic as well as 7100K bulbs. The have also made super daylight bulbs that are 8800K and 10K. The last two are much brighter and more of a pure white than the original 6700 bulbs. The same is true for the 96 watt bulbs size except i think the japanese have just recently got the 03 actinic bulbs in this size. A good places to look is www.lampsnow.com I have found them very helpful and informative when i have talked or written them. Thanks very much HTH

Schottman [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

[stang69]

Yes this is true there are as far as I know 2 diff pin configs 4 pin in a line and 4 pin square so make sure you get the right pattern

Jeff

[MyColorYellow]

I relize there are two different pin configurations and I will use a CSL lighting system. Is it best to stay with German made bulbs-4 pins in a line? 6700k and 7100k(I don't like), 8800k and 7100k,10000k and 7100k(I do like), or 03 in there somewhere?

[Ninong]

Originally posted by MyColorYellow:
I will use a CSL lighting system. Is it best to stay with German made bulbs-4 pins in a line?

MCY ~

If you are using a CSL lighting system, you will have to use the Japanese bulbs. CSL uses only Panasonic bulbs (they rebrand them by placing their labels on them).

CSL does not actually manufacture any bulbs.

Ninong [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]



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Irrational Exuberance!

[MyColorYellow]

I've heard better things of German bulbs than Japanese. Is this right or will I be ok with what CSL offers?

[Ninong]

MCY ~

I believe the concensus of opinion is that the German PCs last longer than the Japanese PCs (especially the 55w size). The major difference between the two is in the appearance of the "blue" PCs. The Panasonic 7100K tubes emit at 450nm and do not bring out as much coral fluorescence as the German 03/actinic tubes which emit at 420nm. There are a lot of newer PCs on the market now like the ones available from the online vendor lampsnow.com that appear to offer the darker blue "actinic" tubes even in the 96w size.

If you check around you may be able to find some of these newer lamps in either the "German pin configuration" or the "Japanese pin configuration."

What size tubes are you looking for? Because the Germans don't even make the 96w size.

Ninong [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

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Irrational Exuberance!

[MyColorYellow]

Ninong~
I'm getting 96w. I was, as you know, looking at MH HQI's
but PG&E tagged me good last month and those brown outs are just starting to be a problem in my area.

[Angel 1]

If you are getting 96w you can't get German lamps. The German PCs only come in 55w size.

[MyColorYellow]

This saddens me! I hope Japanese bulbs will do then. I hope German bulbs come soon.

[Canadian]

The only company that makes a REAL 03 actinic is Philips.

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[Angel 1]

Canadian is right "03" isn't a type of actinic it what philips calls their actinic lamps. What you want is an atinic lamps that peaks at 420nm.

[SKRIZ]

I bought the german G11 55 watt pc's from www.flyingfishexpress.com for really cheap. I had to call them because they are not on their website. I think they were $20 each and shipping was only $5. Hope that helps anybody.

[Drew]

Hi,

earlier in the thread Schottman mentioned of the 8800K and 10K bulbs being more of a pure white and brighter. After asking around to different vendors all of them have said that with these bulbs you lose some brightnes versus the 6700K bulbs. More with the 10K than the 8800K. Yes they are "whiter" but not as bright. Does anyone else have any more info?

Later
Drew

[tben]

I have a 55 gal setup with 4x55watt pc. I recently got them from www.ahsupply.com. This is a great and inexpensive diy kit, you might want to check it out. I got 2 german actinic 03, and 2 10k bulbs. The color is perfect for me, basically a bright white with a touch of blue. HTH

[wgscott]

The German ahsupply bulbs are Sylvania. Does anyone know if the lampsnow bulbs are Sylvania, or are they a Chinese copy? If the latter, are they in any way inferior? Also, how much more dim is a 10,000K vs 8800K, and do they contain different ratios of the same 3 phosphors, or are they completely different (in the latter case I will get one of each to fill out the spikey spectrum)?

[Greekreefer]

Originally posted by wgscott:
do they contain different ratios of the same 3 phosphors, or are they completely different (in the latter case I will get one of each to fill out the spikey spectrum)?

In the new CSL website are charts for the new and old lamps, but being a physicist by profession, I have a little difficulty in accepting them as true.

They look very much identical and I have been looking at fluorecent bulb charts for years. No two are alike except if they are manufactured by the same company. The 6750 chart must be very close to the NO bulb 'Ultra tri lux' by Penn Plax - a Japanese bulb also. But I can not believe espesially the amount of green that the 8800 and the 10000 appear to emmit in the charts. I would like to hear opinions on this one.

Can anyone actually test these bulbs for spectrum?

[wgscott]

Ok, here is what the CSL website shows as the emission spectrum for their 10,000K lamp:


The huge green spike is what gives it the "ultra-daylight" look because of the fact the human eye sees yellow and green light frequencies more efficiently than red or blue. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean it is the best bulb for the photosythetic organisms, because the green light is used least efficiently (at least by chlorphyll a and b):



The other one they show, for their 50/50 mixture of 10,000K and actinic, looks like this:



It looks similar, but more blue, because it has the so-called actinide phosphors as well as the other ones.

[wgscott]

Originally posted by Greekreefer:

In the new CSL website are charts for the new and old lamps, but being a physicist by profession, I have a little difficulty in accepting them as true.

They look very much identical and I have been looking at fluorecent bulb charts for years. No two are alike except if they are manufactured by the same company. The 6750 chart must be very close to the NO bulb 'Ultra tri lux' by Penn Plax - a Japanese bulb also. But I can not believe espesially the amount of green that the 8800 and the 10000 appear to emmit in the charts. I would like to hear opinions on this one.

I couldn't find the link for the 8800K emission spectrum on their website. Can you post it please? Also, I agree that the spectra they are posting are a bit hard to read. You would think, since blue light is higher in energy, that the integrated intensity shown on the "smart light" is grossly exaggerated compared to the 10,000K if both are of the same wattage.