T5s on Icecap Ballasts

[JUICE!]

My question is.....will an Icecap 440 burn four 48" 54W T5 Bulbs?

I have an icecap 660 right now, but I think putting that much wattage to the bulbs are a bit much! I have actinics that will overdrive at 80 watts per bulb on that ballast, which is 320 watts total which happens to be the wattage being put out by the 440

but it bothers me to see them saying not to run bulbs over 2 ft long on that ballast....but I was thinking that was for VHOs

Is anyone currently using an IceCap 440 on four 54W 48" T5s?

Also, does anyone know whether the icecap ballast put the full wattage to the bulb or are they like the e ballasts that only put the proper wattage to the bulb

I'm trying to make my tank as "green" as possible so If I can use the 440 instead of the 660, I'd rather do that!

and I'd really like to know whether they will send the full wattage to the bulb or only what the bulb can take! I guess the proper question would be.....when I'm using the 660, am I putting 320 watts to the bulbs total or am I sending the full 464 watts?

thanks in advance! I guess I can call IceCap and ask them, but I figured that someone on here would know!

[yeldarbj]

I'm pretty sure the answer to the first question is no. The IC 440 is supposed to only be able to run 2 T5 bulbs, although I read a thread recently where someone was able to run 3 24" bulbs on one. I think people get confused b/c I believe you can run 4 vho's on the IC 430.

I don't know the details on the wattage to the bulbs, but I do believe the 660 overdrives the bulbs more than the 430 does.

[JUICE!]

well...I'm curious because the 440 (the 4 bulb model) says that it will run 4 VHO bulbs,,,but 2' bulbs.

but it puts out the wattage and then some for the 4 foot T5 bulbs.

I was hoping that I could use the 440 instead of the 660 since I'm running T5 bulbs.

The bulbs that I'm using are 54 watt bulbs, but they say that they can handle 80 watts per. the 660 is exceeding that, but the 440 would match that perfectly. I have the 660 on my actinic bulbs, but I didn't want to drive the 12K that hard. Maybe I'll just put the 14 K bulbs in instead. It seems like the spectrum is different when over driving the bulbs. When I put a UV super actinic, I burned a color that looked closer to the giesseman 12K bulb than to an actinic bulb!

I'm sorry! I meant the icecap 430! it is a 4 bulb ballast max wattage 320 watts, but it says max bulb length 2 feet per bulb....but again, that is for VHOs, not T5s

[8BALL_99]

From what I understand No if you want to run 4 t5 bulbs you have to use the 660 But the 660 will only fire 3 of the 58" 80 watt bulbs.. Its not just the wattage its the length of the bulbs.. Thats the problem with using a 430. It can't handle 16' of bulbs only 8'. The 660 can handle a Max of 16' thats why it will only fire 3 of the 58" bulbs even though the wattage matches. Any icecap ballast overdrives T5s. I'm not sure why they haven't came out with a new ballast that was built for T5s.. I just bought 2 VS ballasts even though I have a 660 sitting on the shelf not being used.. I don't like the idea of overdriving the bulbs so much. Not just that but I don't have a need for the extra wattage either.

[nikon187]

no you can't run 4 T5 bulbs off a 440.

[JUICE!]

I read it in the icecap forums! I guess I should have checked there first! I didn't realize that they had a sponsor forum!