hamilton and ushio 10K MH's the same thing?...

[thebigblue]

are the 10K hamilton bulbs the same as the ushio 10Ks?...just labeled different?...

i have three of the ushio's over my 125 gal reef right now, and have been really happy with them...but its time to replace them and i thought about saving about $25 per bulb and going with the hamilton's?...

thanks

brad

[Chris Lakies]

The Hamilton (which bought out Ushio) bulb is a little bit more yellow/green than the Ushio. I prefer the Ushio.

I work at a LFS and we ordered a couple of 400 watt 10k Ushio bulbs, but they sent us Hamilton's instead. They are still a decent bulb though.

[kevinpo]

Hamilton Technology Inc. located in Gardena CA. produces lighting fixtures. They do not manufacture the actual bulbs. I believe they are a small privately held company.

Ushio is a publicly held Japanese company that manufactures bulbs for OEM distribution. They private label bulbs for Hamilton. Here is a quote from their site:

"Ushio Inc. is Japan's foremost producer of high-quality light sources, units, and systems. Ushio has earned its reputation by developing products that integrate state-of-the-art lighting technologies and designs with the specific application needs of industry-leading clients in a wide range of fields, from semiconductors, electronics, and image information processing to biotechnology and medicine. Ushio maintains production facilities in Japan, North America, Europe, and Asia and they are complemented by a worldwide marketing network of sales bases."
for more information:
http://www.ushio.co.jp/english/profile/index.html
http://www.ushio.com/uai_intro.htm

Regards,
Kevin
PS: They list a plant in Oregon but all the bulbs I have used say made in Germany.