teebone110
Distinguished Member
Found this awesome post over on reefcentral....
Get the most out of your T5 bulbs
Here is a simple way to get increased PAR and bulb life out of your T5HO bulbs.
T5HO Bulbs have what is know as the cold spot. The cold spot is on the end of the bulb where the manufacturer's label is on the far end of one side of the bulb.
This area is very important to understand to get the maximum life and intensity out of your bulbs. To have a properly functioning bulb you must cool this "cold spot" or label end of the bulb. Too much cooling and the bulbs wattage will increase and PAR will drop, sounds backwards, huh? The optimum temperature is around 95*F.
Anyone with an ATI fixture know the importance of proper cooling. ATI fixtures have a switch on the fans A/C plug where you can change the voltage and fan speed. The recommended voltage for most in house temperatures of 68-80*F s 9v. If your fixture is in a cooler area you may be best served at 6-7.5v or less in extremely cold areas. Only a PAR meter will tell you exactly how much PAR your gaining or losing but this is a generalization to help you make an informed choice for your setup.
Notice the holes above the label ends of the bulbs? Cool air is blown past the ballasts and onto the cold spot of the bulb, notice the labels on the bulbs are all on the same side where the cool air is hitting the bulb? That's what we want!
What about those of us that don't have an ATI fixture? There is a simple way to get the increased PAR and extended bulb life too! It's as easy as removing any splash shield that may increase internal temperatures of bulbs and ballasts and adding a small fan pointed at either the fixtures vent holes near the bulb's label ends (cold spots) or blowing across the label ends themselves. If you have a PAR meter handy ( not many of us do unfortunately ) you can test the bulbs before and after and find the best spot and fan speed to get the best results. Unfortunately some fixtures with waterproof end caps like HAGEN GLO fixtures make this more difficult.
There are more factors like good independent reflectors to add to the list of things to get the most out of your T5 bulbs. Here's a 4 bulb ATI Sunpower, notice the reflectors and the reflection on the water...
Notice how consistent the light is.
Now Current's reflectors( a popular brand )
And the reflection on the water...
Here's another example of poor reflectors...
Notice the difference between good and poor reflectors? The bulbs blend in on the ATI's reflection while the other poor quality reflectors don't direct the reflected light into the tank. You are losing A LOT of light that should be directed into your tank, instead it is wasted with poor reflectors.
Also good bulbs are a must! ATI,KZ,GEISSEMAN have proven themselves and are much better than cheap bulbs that come with most low/mid end light fixtures. I recommend not getting a fixture that comes with bulbs unless they come with ATI or GEISSEMAN bulbs which are the most common aftermarket bulbs that you can get with a fixture like ATI.
Hope this helps you get the most out of your T5HO bulbs!
see the rest on reefcentral....http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2220663
Get the most out of your T5 bulbs
Here is a simple way to get increased PAR and bulb life out of your T5HO bulbs.
T5HO Bulbs have what is know as the cold spot. The cold spot is on the end of the bulb where the manufacturer's label is on the far end of one side of the bulb.
This area is very important to understand to get the maximum life and intensity out of your bulbs. To have a properly functioning bulb you must cool this "cold spot" or label end of the bulb. Too much cooling and the bulbs wattage will increase and PAR will drop, sounds backwards, huh? The optimum temperature is around 95*F.
Anyone with an ATI fixture know the importance of proper cooling. ATI fixtures have a switch on the fans A/C plug where you can change the voltage and fan speed. The recommended voltage for most in house temperatures of 68-80*F s 9v. If your fixture is in a cooler area you may be best served at 6-7.5v or less in extremely cold areas. Only a PAR meter will tell you exactly how much PAR your gaining or losing but this is a generalization to help you make an informed choice for your setup.
Notice the holes above the label ends of the bulbs? Cool air is blown past the ballasts and onto the cold spot of the bulb, notice the labels on the bulbs are all on the same side where the cool air is hitting the bulb? That's what we want!
What about those of us that don't have an ATI fixture? There is a simple way to get the increased PAR and extended bulb life too! It's as easy as removing any splash shield that may increase internal temperatures of bulbs and ballasts and adding a small fan pointed at either the fixtures vent holes near the bulb's label ends (cold spots) or blowing across the label ends themselves. If you have a PAR meter handy ( not many of us do unfortunately ) you can test the bulbs before and after and find the best spot and fan speed to get the best results. Unfortunately some fixtures with waterproof end caps like HAGEN GLO fixtures make this more difficult.
There are more factors like good independent reflectors to add to the list of things to get the most out of your T5 bulbs. Here's a 4 bulb ATI Sunpower, notice the reflectors and the reflection on the water...
Notice how consistent the light is.
Now Current's reflectors( a popular brand )
And the reflection on the water...
Here's another example of poor reflectors...
Notice the difference between good and poor reflectors? The bulbs blend in on the ATI's reflection while the other poor quality reflectors don't direct the reflected light into the tank. You are losing A LOT of light that should be directed into your tank, instead it is wasted with poor reflectors.
Also good bulbs are a must! ATI,KZ,GEISSEMAN have proven themselves and are much better than cheap bulbs that come with most low/mid end light fixtures. I recommend not getting a fixture that comes with bulbs unless they come with ATI or GEISSEMAN bulbs which are the most common aftermarket bulbs that you can get with a fixture like ATI.
Hope this helps you get the most out of your T5HO bulbs!
see the rest on reefcentral....http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2220663