View Full Version : Anyone run 14k hamilton se on HQI ballasts?
I was told if I do this it will burn out my bulbs in a couple months. From what I got from hamiltons website its fine. I got a hamilton 250wat HQI ballast to try, to see if I liked it. The color of the bulb turned real white. If anyone has any experience with this any info would be appreciated?
Thanks,
Robert
Here's a picture with the 250watt standard ballast with the hamilton 14k bulb on the left, and the hamilton HQI 250watt ballast on the right.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/rxdi1/DSC04550.jpg
justin-branam
01/30/2007, 10:08 PM
Here's a picture with the 250watt standard ballast with the hamilton 14k bulb on the right, and the hamilton HQI 250watt ballast on the left.
do you mean the HQI is on the right (whiter color) and the standard is on the left?
Yeah I had that backwards. Fixed it.
Thanks
exoticaquatix
01/30/2007, 11:21 PM
does an ice cap count? unless overdriving the bulb makes it whiter i think my ballast does the opposite, either that or you need to tweak the white balance. mine are yellow. not happy.
-nick
gabe3d
01/31/2007, 01:22 AM
Let me throw some more confusion in the topic.
I run 250watts 14k hamiltons on a HQI icecap ballast and they have a reallly nice blue to them. My favorite bulb.
I know that as time goes by (after 7-8 months) the bulbs become whitish / yellow for me.
aclos3
01/31/2007, 02:05 AM
man, I know you cant trust pictures, but my 14k hamilton se looks nothing like either of those two bulbs. My bulb is not as white/yellow as the HQI and it is lighter/more purple than the bluer color on the left. I run it on an EVC e-ballast and to me the color looks fantastic.
gabe3d
01/31/2007, 02:07 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9121466#post9121466 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aclos3
man, I know you cant trust pictures, but my 14k hamilton se looks nothing like either of those two bulbs. My bulb is not as white/yellow as the HQI and it is lighter/more purple than the bluer color on the left. I run it on an EVC e-ballast and to me the color looks fantastic.
Sounds like yours looks like mine.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/503/40655front.jpg
aclos3
01/31/2007, 02:08 AM
HAHA, after looking at a digital photo of my tank, it looks quite a bit like your HQI picture. IRL it has a lot more blue/purple look to it, but in the pic, I only see whitish light... damn pictures.
I was about to say that I didn't like either of your bulb colors, but now that my picture looks exactly the same color as your HQI hamilton, I bet it looks fine!
vBulletin® v3.8.4, Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.