400 Radiums & Blue Wave ballasts.

[Doug]

Hi all. I have started another thread on this topic, as the other is getting long winded and this one will also. :D There have been many questions on it, so as an owner of both products, here are some observations.

I was driving my 20K with my regular PFO ballast. I was looking at both the Blue Wave and Stephane,s excellent priced ballast to drive the bulbs or scrap them all together and go back to a lower "K". As Mike bought all my 175 watt 10K equipment, I decided to stick with them.

I purchased a 400 watt Blue Wave ballast from Jayson. Its one of the best & nicest looking ballasts I have owned. It does look, {outside only}, somewhat similar to my PFO. Has very nice features though. Long, good thick, quick dis-connect cables, lighted on/off switch and even an extra plug-in at the back.

I tried both the pendant and now the retrofit reflector. Both very nice units. I have settled on the reflector, as its behind a wall anyways. On a side note, anyone looking for a pendant to hang over their tank in a living room, that is one very nice unit, at an excellent price. { I have purchased others, so I can compare}.

Now, on to the important part. Here is all I have to compare with at the moment & what I propose. I would say its a fair bit brighter than running the bulb on a normal ballast. I only have one Radium bulb though.

I ran my 400 watt 20K and a 400 watt 12K, side by side, on a normal ballast. IMO, and thats what this is, [img]smile.gif[/img] , there was no difference, NONE. When I now run the 12K on a normal ballast & the 20K on the Blue Wave, there is a large difference. Much brighter.

Of course I have no comparison with either the HQI or electronic ballasts. I wanted at least a year from the bulbs, and electronics are another story.

What I would like to do, is to get another 20K bulb and run it side-by-side. A normal PFO ballast & a Blue Wave ballast. Then we shall see. As my bulb is a month old, I would need the same for a comparison. I will ask Jayson if he has one. [img]smile.gif[/img]

To me at least, I will run the ballast. Its a quality product, with a good warrenty. As a matter of fact, I was thinking about getting the duel instead and selling both my single Blue Wave & my PFO. Any takers. :D

On a side note, for those looking for my web page, I apologize. I have finished my contract with Homestead and am making a new page. It will reflect all the changes I have made recently. I only have the 170 now, no sandbed, tons of live rock, filtered only by a large ATS unit.

[ 16 August 2002, 06:24: Message edited by: Doug ]

[Aquattro]

DOug, from reading the Blue Wave homepage, it looks like the ballast can contain 1 of 3 diffeent ballasts. Which type do you have? Advance, magnatek or Venture?

[Bryan]

This is a e-mail I received from Sunlight Supply who puts together the bluewave ballasts. Looks like they recommend and use the Pulse Start for the Radiums. I left another e-mail with Perry on the use of a straight S51 400 watt HPS ballast vs a pulse start MH ballast. He seems to know his stuff.

-=Bryan=-

>>>>>>>>>
From an e-mail I received from Sunlight Supply, should help you decide.

>>>Hello Bryan,

Many people do in fact use the SON AGRO ballast for this lamp. It lights because it has an ignitor, being that it is a HPS ballast. There are some problems with this configuration. 1) it shortens lamp life. 2)It causes severe spectral shift in 5-8 months 3) radium says that overdriving the lamp by this much can actually cause the lamp to blow up (I wouldn't worry about that, I've never seen/heard of it happening before).

The fact is that the SON AGRO puts about 70 more watts through the lamp than should be. The Radium lamp is an 'energy saver' and is rated at 360watts. Radium Has said it will not warrant the lamp for the above stated reasons.

The m59 does burn more blue, and the firing is not always consistent.

What radium has told us to use is the m135 ballast. Its a 400w pulse start MH ballast. It does burn more blue than the HPS, but less so than the M59. So far it looks like burning with this ballast will add about 2-3 months to usable lamps life (this is just per a source, and should be verified).

We don't sell the SON AGRO for aquarium use because it is misleading, and has a higher inherent risk. The pulse start is the ballast we use for 400w pulse start lamps.

Regards,

Perry

>>>>>>>>>

[Doug]

Brad, its the magnetic. Thanks for posting that Bryan. I seen it on RC and was going to ask if you could post it on this thread. :D That basically sums up my reasoning for going with it. Plus knowing Perry, it has to be a top quality product.

[BC_Grl]

I just bought the dual Bluewave from Jayson. (Sorry Doug- Jayson said you wanted to buy another, but I emailed him to hold onto that one-whew!). Jayson said it is the "BlueWave 2" he sells. I am looking forward to getting my stuff from him.
All we'll need is sand & rock (along with other stuff) and then soon we'll be set. But first, all we'll need is the money to buy all of this! LOL :D
Brad warned me that this hobby was expensive before we bought a thing. But we have no regrets! We'll just take our time piecing it all together. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Bryan]

Additional e-mail from Perry on the correct ballast.

>>>Bryan,

Your assumption about the S51, and the radium is correct, more white than the MH, but easier on the lamp (inherently, also more blue) than the SON AGRO.

The pulse start and standard domestic ballasts have different open circuit voltages, push slightly different wattages, and therefore, different amp pull.

Radium has specifically said that the M135 is the best domestic ballast for this short lived lamp, and thats what I recommend, and how I base my recommendation.

Difference with the HPS, and PS_MH is the ignitor is different, and the HPS runs at a much lower open circuit voltage.

-Perry

-----Original Message-----
Subject: RE: Regarding ballast for Radium

Thanks for the reply Perry:

I am skeptical about the SON AGRO ballast as well. From looking at the specs the power factor is only around 80 and it draws over 5 amps, not very efficient.

I do have a question if you don't mind, I thought rhe only difference between a M59 and a M135 ballast was the ignitor in the M135 ballast. Otherwise the ballasts are more or less the same, if true how does this whiten up the bulb,or is there some other differences.

What about running the radium bulb with a 400 watt S51 HPS ballast. Would this burn the bulb whiter than the pulse start but easier on the bulb than a 430 watt SON AGRO.

While on the subject what is the difference between a HPS ballast and a Metal Halide pulse ballast.

Thanks

-=Bryan=-
>>>>>>>>

[Doug]

Ah-ha. Jeanna, thats why there was no more in stock. :(

Bryan, more good info. Thanks again.

[Jayson]

Doug, We have ordered more in we have a pallet of ballast and reflecters coming in this week. We are now the exclusive Canadian distributer for this product! The results and feed back comments are amazing! Let me know if you would like another one.

[Doug]

and what do I do with my single. :D

[Doug]

As I am asked about this, thought I had better post.

I did get a duel 400 Blue Wave. My tank looked great with the pair of 400 watt Radiums running. Perhaps one could even say, stunning.

However, when selling my equipment, the vho buyer liked them also. So I gave him his choice and he took the halides for his 120.

I did like them however and they were not sold because of any dislike. From pics I have seen, perhaps they were not as bright as with an electronic ballast or HQI, but they were very nice to me, and bright, far more so then my 400 12K, flanked by the 175watt 10K,s