Some MH bul & ballast questions

[Tab28]

I recently replaced my bulbs and decided the next time I have to switch I am undating to SE bulbs. To me they seem easier to replace. I do not need to remove the canopy. This is the 2nd brand new bulb I have broken tring to get them into the slots. These are my rants.

Now my questions. Are there any benefits of DE other than space? I have read that DE has better PAR and intensity, but it seems after you place the UV glass any bonus would be taken away.

Now ballast questions. If you buy a switchable ballast does this mean you can go from 150-1250 since the screw end are the same size? In DE there is a difference between 250 and 175 in the ends. Which are better ballast magnetic or electric? And when choosing a brand what do you look for? I see many bulbs refer to codes but when I search online the ballast does not list this code, only if it is electric or magnetic.

 

[tinkerman]

I think the DE have better par because they are supposed to have hqi ballasts which put more power to the bulb. The hqi give like 330 watts to bulb where the electronic give the standard 250 watts. SE bulbs all use the same socket. Ballasts will determain which bulbs ou can have. The radium, phineox, and ushio bulbs are hqi spec bulbs and should be run on hqi mag m80 ballasts, you could run them on selectawatt ballasts they will be under driven by a little bit. The draw back I have read about with electronic ballasts are if they go out they are garbage where the hqi you can get parts for. The hqi will cost more to run and have more heat.

 

[Tab28]

Thanks you explained it far easier than what I found online. So I am guessing the Electric ballast running the HQI bulbs under running is what I have read causes the thise blulbs to burn more blue. For me that is not much of a drawback, the bulbs may actually last longer too, since they are not over charged.

 

[tinkerman]

Yes the hqi spec bulbs burn bluer on elcetronic ballasts. The exstending thier life I am not so sure on. The hqi bulbs run on electronic ballasts like the radium for example will decrease the par output so not as bright. I run radiums on reeflex cubes hqi m80 ballast and the color is white with blue tint, I have run them on electronic and were much bluer and not as bright. An hqi bulb is meant to be run hotter so your not overdriving the bulb. Take an XM, Reeflux, ect for electronic bulb and run it on a hqi then you will get more par and shorten the life of the bulb.

 

[Tab28]

I believe you are correct questioning my comment on the length of HQI bulbs running on electric. It seemed to me running at the lower electric wattage would prolong the bulb life. The opposite seems to be true. Running the HQI bulbs (seems all are European made) that are made for the magnetic ballast run bluer. At the lower electric ballast have a much shorter life span in some cases 30-50% less life. Some references menion that some LFS that do run the radiums, if not using magnetic (M80) ballast are using electric that have the switch that you overdrive the bulbs. Others state it does not really increase the bub to the M80 par/color standards. Electric ballast running the magnetic 20k bulbs would cause the blue color that to my eye is more appealing. But the shorten bulb life, possible ignighting failure and flickering are a real drawback. I am guessing that running bulbs made for electric ballast (seem all are US/Asian made) on a magnetic ballast would cause the same shorted bulb life. Buying magnetic ballast in US seems to becoming harder to obtain. Wonder what that will do for those type bulbs?

Are there any people running M80 bulbs on electric ballast that can chime in on what they have noticed any of the bulb problems?