I just read the FAMA April '99 article

[SteveP]

Has any more testing with IceCap ballasts and NO bulbs been done? I'm definitely buying a 660, but now I'm wondering what bulbs I should get. Are NO & VHO really interchangeable in a reef tank application?

Steve
8{I

[ASH]

From IceCap:
The testing has moved to T-8's. T-12 NO, HO or VHO will all produce similar amounts of light. You will get 2 years and probably a better spectral spread with a quality VHO bulb like a URI. Depending on the NO lamp, you may get 90 to 100% of what a VHO would produce initially.
Andy

[mgk65]

Andy:

Do you have anything a little more concrete? I mean like any tables showing drop off of intensity, measurements, etc. for each type of bulb. Are you going to write anything up describing your experiences?

Thanks,
mgk

[ASH]

From IceCap:
It's a good question and one we have researched but not complied data on. I'm currently doing a depreciation test on driving 4 NO T-8 lamps on a Model 660 to see how fast the output falls off. At 6 months it lost about 17% when compared to a new lamp with 100 hours of use on it.

I have found the PC bulbs do not seem to get the large increase in lamp life associated with using an IceCap ballast that linear lamps do.

Because the means of getting accurate light readings are expensive (to do it the right way you need a sphere to monitor all light) and often subjective I have preferred to use independent information. The misinformation that everyone accepts, that lamps shift with age, still is the biggest reason people throw away good fluorescent lamps since they distrust their eyes and the health of their corals.
Andy

[nematode]

ASH,
the t-8 testing. Do you have the 1 year results. could you tell us how many hrs a day these bulbs run?