Eating Crow and Overdriving T-5s

I love my T-5HO I have been running my Coralvue rig for 6 months now and really like them. I fryed one of my 3 ballast by slipping water on it. So I was running my old JBJ PC with the remaining 4x54W T-5s. It came time to replace the PC bulbs and I figured I never liked the PC light any way so it was time for a upgrade.
My down spiraling addiction to SPS demanded some real hard core lights. So I started research my options. I considered MH but I never really liked the drawback(cost, HEAT, alot of fans, chillers, really tall hood for clearance...). So I decided to get the most possible out the my T-5s. My original Coralvue retro came with a 1 piece flat reflector. There has always buzz around the single bulb parabolic reflectors and I started checking them out. there are Two companies that make them Sunlight Supply and Icecap. I when with the SLS reflector. They claim"up to 300% increase in light output" thats a joke but they do help. No matter what kind of light you have good reflector help.

Well here where it get interesting. I spent a little to much time in IceCap's forum. I have now decide to try overdriving my T-5HO with a IceCap 660 ballast. I taked to IceCap and this is what the have to say
"Despite overdriving the 54-watt lamps to 80 - 85-watt per lamp output, the lamps are still good for reef use for up to two years. Our ballasts also shut down power to a lamp if it fails, which is required for T-5 HO ballasts." Inspite of some misgivings I decided to try it.

 

The overdriven bulbs look about 30% brighter than the standard driven bulbs. That seems about right consider IceCap says they are running at 80-85 watts a piece now. They do produce noticeably more heat now. I finally DIY a proper hood and set them up with 65 CFM fan. It seem to be handling the heat which is pretty good considering I have about 448 watts of light in there now. I never ran ANY fan on my normally driven T-5HOs but the new setup only heats the water a degree or two. So that cool. I have got a tons of pictures to post. So stay tuned if your interested. ;D

 

Yes, interested...please follow up

 

Very intresting. Reminds me of stepping up the bus speed on the old AMD processors. What does all this overdriving do to the par and kelvin ratings. Does it make the actinics more white?

Jay

Post post post the pics covey

Heres some sunglasses for your soft corals

 

To the best of my knowledge it should not do anything to the PAR or Kelvin rating that has more to do with the phosphor in the bulbs. I will probaly, god help me, set up a small reef for my softies as this seem to be a bit much for most of them even if they are just above the sand bed!

 

Try one of Ice Cap's SLR reflectors, they will put about 20% more light in the tank at 18" below the surface than the SLS reflector, a lot easier to clean too.

The Ice Cap ballast might actually increase the amount of blue light the lamp produces but I don't think you could see a noticable difference. Your PAR does increase, my 80 watt lamps pick up by about about 18%. The 54 watt lamps benefit a lot more from overdriving so your 30% estimate is probably dead on. I don't think I would try to push the lamps 24 months. I know a guy who designs lamps and he says any lamp, T5, T12 halide or PC will have a noticable shift in spectrum within 6 months. Your corals can easily adapt to a slowly changing spectrum but what happens when you hit them with brand new lamps after a couple years? Get out them coral shades I think i'd change the lamps at 18 months which is as far as the blues are supposed to go anyway.

 

I was just going on what IceCap said on bulb life. I am sure I will get bored and start tinker long before then! I am posting a bunch of pics today so check back

 

Okay here are some pics to show the difference. Also the SLS reflector work great and the IceCap reflectors were a 1/2" wider with 6 reflector the extra 3" inches would not have fit in my hood. I also would have had to going off the staggered lights so it defiantly would not fit.

 

You can see the differance far easier in person than in pics. I guess bright is bright. Anyway it is a little easier to make out in this pic.

 

OK so you are using Ice Cap's reflectors. When you referred to "SLS" I thought you were talking Sunlight Supply's Tek reflectors. The Ice Cap's are "SLR".

Be very carefull, you probably about doubled your light output if you did reflectors and ballasts. What brand of ballast did your light come with.