Heat and Floro bulbs

[Ltspd]

Does heat effect the performance of floro bulbs?

The reason I ask is I just fired my actinic bulbs, 40w NO on my just completed HQI DIY setup. Last night they seemed MUCH brighter. Tonight they arent as bright, actually quite dim. I check the wiring and it seems fine, although I havent soldered the connections yet. They way I see it is if they fire they are wired correctly. So why would the bulbs be dimmer?

They are URI super actinic's run by a standard 2 bulb ballast

[Ltspd]

They were bright this morning, after everything cooled off overnight.

Tank temp is 77 deg, and the 3 mh HQI lights made it rise to 79.5 deg after all day of lighting. There is a pc of tempared glass between the light canopy and the tank, but sufficinet vent holes to keep the canopy from feeling hot.

I am baffled

[naser]

brand new bulbs are usually pretty bright. see if there that bright after a month.

[Ltspd]

These are brand new bulbs

The question is why were they dim last night after not being run while the HQI halides were on, but bright this morning?

They were the only bulb on both last night and this morning. The halides were off.

[naser]

not really sure. any pc or floresent bulb i own allways stay the same. and slowley get duller. im clueless

[Ltspd]

Help!!!

Same thing tonight

They were very bright this morning. This evening they are dull, almost to the point of asking "are they on?"

[golfish]

Paul,
Try plugging them (NO bulbs) into another outlet\circuit. I don't know if this will help but its worth a try. If you switch off the HQI's do the NO bulbs look brighter? Do you have any old NO bulbs laying around ? If so try them and see if they work.

I have 4x55 watt PC 03 actinics mounted (some are 2" away and some are 5" away) in the same reflector as my 400 watt Iwasaki. This sucker gets HOT, a lot hotter then the HQI's and it doesn't effect the PC's at all.

Do you think maybe the HQI's are so bright that there drowning out the NO bulbs?

Mark

[scubadude]

First off you need to see if the bulbs getting hotter is the reason for them dimming....unplug just one of the NO bulbs...and let one of them fire throughout the day...then when you see that the one is starting to get dim plug in the other bulb and see if it is real bright....if so then i would say that heat is the issue. If the newly plugged in bulb is dim like the one that has been on all day then I would think its another issue

[scubadude]

another thing i was thinking about was the reflector....do you have some type of V barrier built into the reflector to create a barrier to say from direct light shining onto the NO's? Is there anyway you can post a pic of the setup with the NO's in the reflector....ill go look at yer other post but i dont think they where in there then

[Ltspd]

Mark, Tried the diffrent plug thing the first time I noticed it, didnt help.
The bulbs dont look brighter if I all of a sudden turn off the HQI's, but they are much brighter in the morning. One thing I have not checked is if they become brighter after the HQI's have been off a while. I have them come on after the HQI's go off as a dusk, this is late in the evening and I usually am in bed about that time. Maybe the NO bulbs just cant handle any high temp heat.

Scuba, dont have a real good way to take a picture now that the canopy is back up. The NO bulbs are on the same centerline horzontially as the HQI's (same distance from water). They are at both sides with the HQI's in the center.

[ASH]

From IceCap:
Unlike MH bulbs, fluorescent lamps don't like heat. If you try the lamps after they've been heated, whether they have been on or not, they will not be as efficient as they would be in a vented hood. If your MH bulbs have glass shields on them a fan will not cool them off but will keep your fluorescent lamps cooler. The temperature in your tank is not a good indicator of your hood's temperature in the short run.

Fluorescent lamps also don't work as well in cool applications with conventional ballasts. I'm sure you've experienced a fluorescent bulb struggling to come on in a very cold room.
Andy

[Ltspd]

Well thats the problem, the HQI's do not have that outer sheild, so blowing air across them is suppose to be a bad thing.

I dont need the actinics while the HQI's are on, or atleast I dont think so, but is there a way to keep them cool so they can be used as a dusk blue? Without blowing on the HQI bulbs?

Would PC's or VHO's be a better choice? They get hotter so can they handle the heat?

[thezookeeper]

Check out my reply in your other lighting thread. I have the same issue.


Joanne