Coralife small PC ballast for T5's Pics Included!

[Zoos]

I have a bunch of these ballast and I was wondering if anyone new if they would work for t5's they come with the Coralife 2x96w PC retros, I just opened up the case hoping I would find something like a small workhorse 3 but this is what I found. Could it be a workhorse relabeled? Has anyone else tried this or wondered about these ballast I'm sure many of us have these old PC ballast laying around the house collecting dust. Let me know Thanks in advance.

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[PaulErik]

That ballast is not a relabeled Workhorse ballast. It is made by Skynet Lighting Co LTD according to the UL file number on the ballast. It is only designed to operate 96-watt PC lamps. It will not operate T5 lamps properly. A T5HO lamp has a higher lamp current and lower lamp voltage requirement than 96-watt PC lamps. A Fulham Workhouse ballast works on a different circuit design which allows different lamps to be used.

[corbett_n]

great answer

[Zoos]

Thank you. If you don't mind I have another question, now that I know these won't work I will be buying a new ballast. Is there a significant difference between the workhorse 5 or the advance T5 ballast? Is one better than the other, and if I do buy the advance I will be powering 2x39w which Advance do I need to buy the one labeled for 2x24w or 2x54w they don't seem to make one specifically for 39w bulbs.
Thanks again,
Felix.

[PaulErik]

The Workhorse ballast is a universal ballast allowing many different lamps to be used on it. The down side is the ballast is not optimized for any lamp. If you plan on using T5HO lamps a spec grade ballast (designed and optimized for these lamps) would be better. This assures optimal lamp operation and light output.

Advance makes one for 39-watt lamps (model: ICN-2S39). Most places sell this one because it is compatible with 24-watt lamps as well. The 24-watt model (ICN-2S24) is only suitable for one 39-watt lamp. The 54-watt model (ICN-2S54) is not recommended for 39 or 24 watt lamps. The lamp operating current for a 54-watt lamp is much higher.

[Zoos]

So model: ICN-2S39 is what I need. That will fire 2 lamps correct?

[Zoos]

I forgot to ask about the coralvue T5 ballast, It claims it fires the 24, 39, and 54 watt bulbs, I called coralvue and the tech told me it was called smart technology, I felt like he was just making it up as he went along, but maybe I'm wrong. This is out of topic but, while we're on the subject of ballast, I have heard your explanations of under driving a MH lamp and how it is not good and it just occurred to me that the Iwasaki 175w 15k lamp is supposed to be the most efficient 175w MH on the market specifically when it is being powered by an icecap ballast. On Sanjays website it shows how well it does with that ballast but it runs at 165watts what are the effects of that on the lamp, I was about to buy that lamp and ballast combo but after reading many of your posts I'm having some second thoughts, what are the consequences, and is under driving it by 10 watts a big deal? Thanks

[Zoos]

^

[PaulErik]

There are a few T5HO ballasts that are rated for 54, 39 and 24 watt lamps. The majority of them are spec’d for 54 watt lamps (designed for 54 watt lamps). They will overdrive 39 and 24 watt lamps. I’m on a business trip right now so I do not have access to some of those ballast specs but if I remember correctly the 39 watt lamps are about 15 percent overdriven and the 24 watt lamps are about 20 percent overdriven. The major brand ballasts like Advance, Sylvania and Universal make spec grade ballasts and will not overdrive a lamp more than 12 percent in any lamp configuration as long as approved lamps and configurations are used. The 12 percent limit conforms to most lamp manufacturers for these lamps. Anything higher the lamp degrades at a faster rate and is not recommended by most lamp manufacturers.

It is difficult to know the long term performance of the Iwasaki 175-watt lamp operated on the older version Icecap electronic ballast which Sanjay tested. The newer Icecap ballast on the other hand provides more lamp wattage from discussions I’ve had with others. The recommended driving/operating wattage of a metal halide lamp should not vary more than 5 to 7 percent (depending on the lamp design) of the actual rated wattage. Sanjay reported it uses 165-watts on the old version Icecap ballast. This is the total wattage used by the ballast and lamp together. With ballast losses the lamp is actually under driven by about 15 or more watts. If it was only 10 watts I personally would not worry about it. I personally do not know how this will affect the lamp in the long run. Metal halide lamps are designed to be operated at a certain wattage to assure proper halide mixing occurs and they reach the arc stream. Each halide has a different boiling point. This is noticed when a metal halide lamp is switched on. The lamp goes through color changes as each halide type vaporizes. If the lamp never reaches the ideal lamp wattage some of the halides may not reach the boiling point and vaporize fully. This could cause color shifts and the excess liquid or solid halides during operation could react with the heated and softened quartz glass arc tube. This can accelerate arc tube blackening, accelerate color shift and shorten the usable lamp life. Another thing is a probe start magnetic ballast (ANSI M57) ballast (Iwasaki lamp is designed for) uses a very distorted current wave form to drive lamps. This alone degrades a lamp at an increased rate. Both ballasts have ups and downs. No long term tests have been performed so no one really knows what the outcome is.

[PaulErik]

The Advance ICN-2S39 is designed to operate 2 lamps. It is spec’d for 39-watt lamps meaning it provides 100 percent lamp power. It is compatible with 24-watt lamps. With 2 24-watt lamps the ballast provides approximately 10 percent more power. With 1 24-watt lamp the ballast provides about 12 percent more power.

[Zoos]

Thanks Paul.

[Zoos]

Hey Paul, thanks again I tried replying to your message but your mailbox is full.

[PaulErik]

Mailbox should not be full now. Sorry about that.