I have seen a tar ballast and an E ballast with the same lights (same age
to) next to each other, and I can tell you, the ones on the E ballast burn
brighter. You can see it with the eye. There have also been numerous tests
done, and they show the bulbs burn brighter and hold thier specturms longer
when run by an electronic ballast. I looked into all of that when I made my
purchase. I am glad I went electronic. The ballasts run very cool, they run
the bulb itself cooler (helps with heat issues), they burn brighter and hold
their specturm longer. Thos are all benefits of running an E ballast, not to
mention that they do use less electricity. That may not mean much if you are
only using one bulb, but once you start running multiple bulbs, it does add
up.
Also, you can have a restart intsalled into an icecap ballast that will
cause the ballast to try and restart the bulb if it fails. It will continue
to fire it again and again until it lights. I have that in both of mine
(they installed it for free when I sent the ballasts in to be tuned with
these bulbs). So that takes care of the failure issue.
However, as Craig points out, the tar ballasts are a lot less expenisve up
front.
IMO, E ballasts cost more up front, but if you can afford it, they are the
way to go.
FWIW
Shane C.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neptune [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 12:05 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: lighting question
>
> Why do you want to use an electronic ballast? They will cost you a lot
> more
> money, and IMHO they have a better chance of failing compared to a TAR
> ballast. They probably use a little less electricity and produce less
> heat,
> but I don't think they have any affect on the light output. The bulbs are
> rated at a certain wattage and voltage. That's all that matters. I have
> been running two 250 watt 6500k Iwasaki's off of standard TAR ballasts
> from
> a local electrical supply store for over 5 years now. They cost me about
> $65/each. FWIW
>
> Craig
>
>
> > The main reason i'm asking is because i want to use an electronic
> ballast.
> > The icecap will only use 250W Iwasaki bulbs, and the other company
> (ocean
> > motion i believe) works with only 400 Watt bulbs. I know the Iwasaki
> bulbs
> > are great, but will it provide enough light for sps, clams and the odd
> lps?
> >
> > While i would like to try comparing the two different bulbs the ballasts
> > won't allow it.
>
> ________________________________________
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