Ballast

[MINIATUS]

Looking for a ballast other than ICECAP or Workhorses that will drive 2 110 watt VHOs. Can you let me know whats available.

Thanks AgaIn

Alan aka MINIATUS :help:

[Oakville Reef Gallery]

sorry allan but for vho we only carry ice cap.

[Michael_Lambert]

Allan,

Ice Cap is the only Ballast that will drive 2x 110 VHO bulbs ( safely) , WH States that there ballast can not drive more than 1 VHO bulb per Ballast... the only other company is Reef tech, and they have been accused more than once of rebranding WH Ballast with there own name.. So i would be very careful with them until someone can finally show some evidence they are not what other claim they are.

[thecoralreef]

Al, URI has a new ballast out on the market that will drive 4 - 110w VHO lamps. This ballast is made by Icecap for URI. I personally have one of these ballasts and it works great. It says right on the ballast that it was made by Icecap for URI. The onlt difference is that you don't get the heatsink and it has a 2 year warranty instead of a 3 year with an Icecap brand name.

[Red-Sea]

Actually the diference with URI & IceCap 660 ballast is only $15-20, for the minumum diference I'll take the IceCap for 3 year warranty & better known costomer service also they've been around for long time.

As for VHO ballast that fires 2x110W I just got myself an ARO AS220 ballast and it's a true electronic ballast that fires 2 4ft VHO lamps without any problem, you can check out the specs @ www.hellolights.com (http://www.hellolights.com), and for $75CDN you can't go wrong and it's pretty compact unit comparing to WH7.

[rickg]

I'm also using the ARO AS-220 ballast that Red-Sea mentioned. Running dual 4' without any issues in the 6 months it has been on my tank. I am considering getting another or going to T-5's.

Rick

[rickg]

Sorry for not posting that if I go T-5's it will be a fixture. I like the Geissmann fixtures that ORG carries. They look very nice over there tanks.

Thanks for the warning

Rick

[MINIATUS]

Just a heads up that I've read at this link Rickg:

http://www.quickpets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=314

FAQ:
Q. Can I run T5 HO (High Output) lamps on this? I saw another raw ballast on another site, and it claims to 'run anything'.
A. Well, don't let all the mis-information out there confuse you. This ballast will "run" all those lamps in the question above, however, it's not recommended for T5 due to performance degradation. Sure, the AS-220 will light those lamps, but you will not get the performance out the lights that you think you are getting. Remember, if it claims to "do it all", be wary. With lighting, you should use the proper ballasts to drive the lamps they were designed for. This will give you the best possible performance for your aquarium.

Mike

So you are thinking its not what it appears to be.

MINIATUS :worried:

[Oakville Reef Gallery]

the uri ballast has been out for 2 yrs and not sure its still in production as for 20$ most people went with the ice cap.giessmann has a new fixture due end of january that wilol be much cheaper but same quality.

[MINIATUS]

Sorry
But who is Giessmann

MINIATUS

[Oakville Reef Gallery]

at the moment i dont have specs,as soon as i do i will post it.