Overdriving lights.

[Reefmaster]

steve our tank has dual 400 MH and a few 4' NO's. i'd be really interested in seeing the output. email me if you have a chance to check it out cuz i'm really curiuos how these suckers stack up against your guys black magic lighting projects here. shane

[StirCrazy]

Ok out of curosity I flashed up my 36" 96 watt PC's and measured the light only on them
my 10000K was putting out 410 foot candles @ 12"(4413 lux) and 5100 foot candles at the surface (54896 lux).

the 6500K was putting out 375 footcandles @ 12" (4036 lux)and 4600 at the surface (49514 lux).

with both bulbs running I took a measurment at 12" and I got 630 foot candle @ 12" or (6781 lux)

I am going to be taking my light meter out with me so when i stop by stores and such I willl try to get a reading off there lights.

Steve

[Reefmaster]

if you're out and about with your magic light reader i'd be interested in our numbers from two 400w MH. just a thought... shane

[DJ88]

mmmm.. 440 3 phase.. miss it.. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Watched my smart a$$ boss try and show us youngins how it is done and change a fuse(120v) on one part of an equipment rack without isolating BOTH power sources. The 440 threw him 8 feet [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]. We figure all the grease and slime from not showering for a week saved him.

He also tried to re-write the laws of physics and electricity one day.. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

moron.. He left all the fuse changing to us youngins after that. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

We could take a light meter and wrap it with a clear water proof bag. What do you think of that ?

- Victor.

[StirCrazy]

hehe then how much does the bag reduce the light. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
ok I had the opertunity to test a VHO actinic bulb run by a ice cap 660 ballast today. at the bulb the output was 650 footcandles @ the surface on a fairly new 110 watt bulb, by comparason a 96 watt PC at the same place was almost 6000 footcandles @ the surface.

Steve

[ 07 December 2001: Message edited by: StirCrazy ]

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

We can measure the difference between with and without a bag in air. Future measurements with bag can be calibrated out.


BTW, were those URI Actinic VHOs ?


- Victor.

[ 07 December 2001: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]

[StirCrazy]

true.. to simple actualy just compare them at the distancethat you will be using in the tank...

Steve

[ldzielak]

Can't wait to overdive my 2 NO lights on my Refugium. They are not giving me the growth I need. And this is much better than taking my nice PC box apart and using those lights.

So has anyone been thinking of doing a test to compensate for the water. Take an empty tank, no DSB and measure from the bottom glass with lights on the top of the tank. Yes you loose some from the bottom glass, but how much? Maybe this would be more representative, at minimum this give a worst case number. What do you all think?

Lee

[titus]

Hello All,

Interesting thread. Nice to see the work/results of us trying to get ever more factful on the equipment we purchase. I wonder when we could do the same on protein skimmers and calcium reactor. um......

Anyway. I do have one major concern. While all these numbers are possibly useful when comparing the same bulb driven by the same ballast with different overdrive level, I don't know how well the test data can be used to compare different bulbs with different ballast.

Just like measuring radio signal's energy, we need to have available a receiver with a wide enough band to capture all of the signal's energy. Best thing is to be able to hook up a spectrum analyzer and have the machine show us the power response and total power. However, even at a low 300nm wavelength for blue light, the frequency is at 1tHz. To my knowledge, no spectrum analyzer operate at that high of a frequency.

Unless we have access to a light spectrometer somehow, we still are a step behind from being truly factful.

Just a thought.

Titus