Is the 150x2 HQI ballast perfected

[Mike W]

I need new bulbs on one of my tanks and was thinking of switching to the 150w 10k HQI using the Icecap 150x2 electronic ballst from 175w 10k US bulbs.

Is this ballast ready for sale yet?
Is it stable?

[ASH]

From IceCap:
Reefers, http://www.reefers.tv , has been the only re-seller we have continued selling our dual 150-MH ballast with two hoods and a ballast, not placed near the bulb's heat. For some reason, those sold this way have worked pretty well. One of the bulbs always has a heartbeat to it.

Alternatively, our new 150-MH ballast for a single bulb should be available in several weeks. It has many new features, is smaller and will replace the double 150-MH when in full production.
Andy

[Mike W]

"dual 150-MH ballast with two hoods and a ballast, not placed near the bulb's heat. For some reason, those sold this way have worked pretty well. "

Please elaborate on the above. Do you mean to imply that the ballast should be placed far away from the bulb? If so it seems that that would be the desired way of installing them anyway. I can't see anyone installing the ballast under the hood where it is exposed to saltwater. Am I missing somthing here?


"""One of the bulbs always has a heartbeat to it. """

Define "heartbeat"..
Does this mean flicker?
Does it adversly affect the operation of the bulb?
Shorten the bulbs life?

Why have you discontinued selling this setup through other vendors? I generally do most of my busines with Brian anywhy. Are there other technical issues that make it impracticle to sell?


"Alternatively, our new 150-MH ballast for a single bulb should be available in several weeks. It has many new features, is smaller and will replace the double 150-MH when in full production. "

One of the benefits of the 2x150 is that the price point is very reasonable. Do you have any idea of the unit pricing once it becomes a single ballast? If it looks like it will be in the same range as your other ballasts I cannot see much in the way of sales for this. The initial startup costs will be too high.
I need to replace my system VERY SOON since my 175 10K Coralife bulbs are 2.5 yrs old. I did not think they were this old but they are. Your 2x175 is too expensive for me for a softie/lps reef tank.
I have 1 of your 250W on order to use with a 250 Ushio 10K to evaluate on my 180 SPS tank. For this tank it makes sense to spend the money, not on the smaller one.

Thanks for you replies and you help.

[Timbo]

I am also very curious about the same questions that batman just posed. In particular, the price concern. Please let us know, I need to change my lighting soon as well.

Tim

[ASH]

Batman:
1. Placement of ballast- Champion sold a 2X150-MH long narrow hood which placed the same ballast between the lamps. It looked great, worked pretty good and failed with time every time. We discovered the problem was heat since when we tried a similar application using two separate hoods wired together the ballast didn't cook.
2. Heartbeat?- A flicker is defined by me as when the arc that leaps from one terminal to the other is so erratic that it touches the arc tube's sides. This will cut your lamp life and drive you crazy. It not a close call once you've seen a slight movement vs. a storm inside a bulb. We use welders glasses.
3. We do this through Brian because it has worked well in the past. Why not across the board? We aren't looking push this ballast since issues like inconsistencies between MH bulbs are the rule and an unbalanced load on the same ballast can cause problems. We'll continue doing this in small numbers to see how they work out. The application seems to work well with a pair of Ushio 150-watt 10K's.
4. Pricing on the Model 150-MH - As of now it looks like it will be about $20 - $30 less than a Model 175 or Model 430. As we are trying to market this ballast to both aquarium and non-aquarium markets there's the potential for some economies of scale that may bring it down further once it catches on.

I have a beta Model 150-MH on my tank and if they all work as well and consistently we'll have a winner. It will be cost effective because it uses less electricity, puts out more useable light per watt and has upgrades like a re-start built into it. We'll try to keep the price within reach.

Andy