T5s Q&A

I figure I've seen a good amout of T5 questions lately, I suggest adding your bulb questions, fixture questions and so on here on this thread to make it simple and efficient. T5 of course. Lets see how this works out...

 

Why do the Ice Cap Ballasts overdrive?

How much do they overdrive each size bulb 24"? 36"? 48?

When using an Ice Cap should you use a fan to cool the bulbs?

Any other ballasts that overdrive?

 

Fan is a must when you overdrive.

I don't know what you mean by why they overdrive? Its like asking why a car with a powerful engine drives faster

I think they overdrive 31W ...but it can vary.

so a 54W bulb would run @ 85W and would definetly require cooling if you want them to last more than 3 months.

They also have 80W T5's maybe they are the ones overdriven to 85 i dont know

Im sure there are others that overdrive...i don't use any other brand ballasts so i have no clue

 

I plug in my new fixture it looking good, but here is the problem. at first it was very very bright, then the following day it was still looking good then I heard a pop and the light dimed a little. I didn’t really notices because i have two fixture on my tank. A few hours later I turned off one of the fixture and then i notice the light was not as bright as it was. Any idea what happened?

all 4 bulbs do light up.......

 

1) Because they can!

2) I'm not sure.

3) YES! With my new T5 fixture the ballasts stay very cool, but the bulbs do get rather warm at the ends. I may have to add an acrylic shield so that more air is forced in from the ends giving better cooling in theory anyway.

4) Not that I know of.

Here is a picture of my latest creation:

 

The reason I ask why is did they make the ICE CAP for a different light? Like VHO's in the 36" are 90 watts so is that what it is overdriven my 36" T5's? With my setup I only run the day light bulbs on Ice Cap and the others on workhorse. The Actinic looked a little washed out and didn't give the color I wanted.

 

Great looking hood!! What bulb combination? Are they all on Ice Cap? I was told that it will shorten the life of the bulbs not running a fan on the overdriven ones.

 

I don't know the scientific reason they overdrive, if I remember correctly it has to do w/ amount of current from the ballast.
I know a 48" 54 watt pushes close to 80 watts and a 80 watt 5'er is boosted to about a little under a 100watts. I don't remember off hand what the 24" and 36" go to as I am more familiar w/ the big boys.
I use a fan on my "regular" driven bulbs, the cooling will extend the life of the bulb, increase PAR and keep your tank cooler. Actually my little 3.25" fans (2) took my tank from 81 to 75 in two days. Its the first time I've used a heater in years.
Overdriven bulbs also tend to have shortened life by a few months and the spectrum tends to shift down in kelvins.
As for other ballasts that overdrive, not that I'm familiar w/

Good luck

 

Yup, they are all overdriven. 4 on a 660, 2 on a 430. I do have 2 3" fans in the fixture, and they pull a fair amount of air, that is noticeably warmer then ambient. So far I have not noticed a reduction in bulb life overdriving the t5's. I replace them about every 12 months or so.

 

Poseidon, w/o going off topic here, do you use a LUX meter? That will tell you of teh bulb degradation even if you don't know it.