HQI and IceCap ballast

[ts]

read from some sites that IceCap's new HQI ballast have some problems with 10k Ushio bulb. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks, ts.

[Ninong]

Hi ts, welcome to Reefland! [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

Originally posted by ts:
read from some sites that IceCap's new HQI ballast have some problems with 10k Ushio bulb

I didn't realize that Ice Cap had released a "new HQI ballast" lately. I know that they have been working on a 150w HQI ballast, but I thought it was still in testing. Is this what you are talking about?

Or are you talking about a 250 watt ballast? They make two versions of their 250 watt ballast: 250-MHI for Iwasaki lamps and 250-MH for all other 250w lamps, including HQI. They have been making these ballasts for years now.

Regards,

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


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Irrational Exuberance!

[ts]

Ninong, Thanks for the welcome. :-)

I guess the question then is does IceCap MH250w ballast works well with 250w HQI 10k Ushio bulb?

Thanks, TS.

[Ninong]

I will e-mail your question to PerryinCA. I believe he has experience with this combination.

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

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Irrational Exuberance!

[PerryinCA]

Hey All,

Well, I have used the HQI with both the Iwasaki ballast and the MH ballast from Icecap, which was setup with the intent of using HQI.

My experience (like all I have had with Icecap) has been a good one. For the first week I did notice a slight non-audible pulse to the light, but that ha since subsided and it has been smooth sailing since. I am currantly running the Iwasaki ballast and MH with the Ushio lamp side by side. I really like the HQI. Very intense, and nice coloration. Once my little 'experiment' is donr I will be running two HQI's over my 90.

According to some of Icecaps (non-official) in house tests, the IC drives the lamp 20% brighter than conventional, but with the increased output somtimes comes the slight pulse. If interested they will setup the ballast to run the lamp at conventional output, and no chance of pulsing.

HTH,

Perry

[ts]

Perry,

Thanks for the information. :-)

David

[GregD]

I agree exactly with what Perry said. I am running two 250 watt lamps side by side running both IceCap ballasts tuned for Iwasaki. One ballast powers an HQI the other a Mogul Iwasaki bulb.

I think my flicker period was a bit less than what Perry experienced...it was a previously used ballast though so I don't know if that helped the "break in" period.

Perry - one thing I noticed though was during the break in period my HQI bulb seemed to have a bit of an acrid smell for a day or two. Has this been your experience at all?

Tyanks,
Greg D

[GregD]

Perry,
Nope I was careful not to touch the bulb...it was a new hood though and had some parts taped to the inside. It was probabaly residue from the tape that I didn't clean off completely.

I am definitely looking forward to the effects long term...I do think the color is nicer to the eye with the HQI.
One tidbit of info I am still looking for ... I can't get a consistent answer on the length of life for the HQI bulbs....I see some places that say 12 months whereas others are more like 7-9 months.
(oh well I can always continue to use my anemone as an indicator...I can generally tell when it get's fussy its time to change bulbs [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] )

When I get a dig. camera I'll be sure to post some pics of the lights side by side for ya!

Greg D

[PerryinCA]

Hi Greg,

Nope no smell. If I had to guess I'd say it was soemthing on the lamp left over from manufacturing. Possibly the fixture? Did you touch the glass of the lamp at all?

-Perry

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Some call it evolution,
And others call it God.
Each In His Own Tongue (1908)
William Herbert Carruth 1859-1924

[Flamehawk]

Dug this one out and have a question. Has anybody used a 250watt Ushio 10k MOGUL bulb on a 250watt Ice Cap that was tuned for 10k hqi? How about a 250watt 20k Radium on Ice Cap 250watt hqi? Thanks. JOHNNY

[ASH]

From IceCap:
Both of the bulbs you mentioned will work fine on our HQI tuned ballast. As bulbs have changed, our Model 250-MH now does all 250's except the Coralife 10K.
We make the MHI version for the Iwasaki, but the difference between the MHI and MH ballasts is minimal.
Andy