More Spectral Analysis of 400W Lamps and Ballasts: EVC, Hamilton, Aquaconnect and Helios Lamps and EVC, Blueline, Reef Fanatic and Icecap Ballasts

by Sanjay Joshi | Jan 15, 2005 | 0 comments

Since my last review of 400W mogul base lamps [1], I have received several new lamps and several electronic ballasts for these lamps. New 400W mogul lamps by Ocean Encounter sold under the EVC label in 10000K, 14000K and 20000K versions, Helios Lamps in 12500K and 20000K versions, Hamilton 10000K and 14000K and the Aquaconnect 14000K lamp were tested. In addition to the these lamps, there are now more choices available for electronic ballasts for these lamps sold by Reef Fanatic, EVC by Ocean Encounter, Blueline by Champion Lighting and the electronic Icecap Ballast. In addition some of the previously tested lamps the XM 20000K and the Ushio 10000K were also tested with these new ballasts. A total of 64 spectral plots and performance data is presented in this article.

Lamp	Ballast
EVC 10000K	Magnetek Ballast (M59)
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
EVC 14000K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
EVC 20000K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
HELIOS 12500K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
HELIOS 20000K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
HAMILTON 10000K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
HAMILTON 14000K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
AQUACONNECT 14000K	Magnetek Ballast
PFO – “HQI”
“HQI”-Taiwan
Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
USHIO 10000K	Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic
XM 20000K	Icecap
Blueline
EVC
Reef Fanatic

For each lamp/ballast combination listed, data was collected on the Spectrum, Photosynthetic Photon flux Density (PPFD) or PAR, as well as data on the power consumption of the ballasts. The power consumption was determined using a Vector True RMS power meter into which the ballast was plugged. The Vector power meter also records the voltage and current. The test setup used was the same as previous lamp tests [1], thus allowing for direct comparison of the results of these lamps with previously tested lamps [1-4].

EVC 400W 10000K

This is a new lamp introduced by Ocean Encounter (www.oceanencounter.com). As seen from the Table 2 and Figure 1, this lamp provides considerable amount of PPFD, and performs quite well on the standard M59 ballast. The PPFD values obtained on this lamp are comparable to the XM 400W 10000K lamp.

Figure 1: Spectral Plot of the 400W EVC 10000K lamp on different ballasts.

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Blueline	386	120.0	3.37	151.2	10047	0.39
EVC	412	123.2	3.46	164.8	8600	0.40
HQI	450	121.3	5.26	173.3	8441	0.38
Icecap	420	120.6	3.58	172.2	8371	0.41
Magnetic	485	120.3	4.27	204.7	8330	0.42
Reef Fanatic	423	120.6	3.66	175.9	8935	0.41
Taiwan	492	120.2	4.37	220.1	8194	0.44

Figure 2: Spectral Plot of the 400W EVC 14000K lamps with different ballasts.

EVC 400W 14000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Icecap	422	121.9	3.58	111.9	na	0.265
Blueline	381	122.7	3.22	102.8	na	0.269
Reef Fanatic	425	122.3	3.61	116.6	na	0.274
Magnetic	388	123	3.59	92.6	na	0.238
HQI	541	121.3	5.08	146.6	na	0.270
EVC	412	123	3.47	114	na	0.276
Taiwan	465	122	4.14	131.5	na	0.282

Figure 3: Spectral Plot of the 400W EVC 20000K lamps with different ballasts.

EVC 20000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	EfficiencyPPFD/Watt
Icecap	419	121.3	3.57	95	na	0.226
Blueline	386	121.9	3.31	88.6	na	0.229
Reef Fanatic	423	121.8	3.63	97.8	na	0.231
Magnetic	402	121.8	3.7	81.8	na	0.203
HQI	543	121.7	5.24	122.9	na	0.226
EVC	414	123.6	3.48	118.6	na	0.286
Taiwan	465	121.8	4.07	107.6	na	0.231

Figure 4: Spectral Plot of the 400W Helios 12500K lamps with different ballasts

HELIOS 12500K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	EfficiencyPPFD/Watt
Taiwan	443	123.3	3.83	124.6	17965	0.281
Icecap	412	123.2	3.45	115.2	24427	0.280
HQI	525	123.2	5.33	155.3	10728	0.296
Blueline	378	123.4	3.18	93.9	97715	0.248
EVC	415	123.6	3.49	121.2	15778	0.292
Reef Fanatic	420	123	3.55	136	13911	0.324
Magnetic	398	123.9	3.64	82.5	na	0.207

Figure 5: Spectral Plot of the 400W Helios 20000K lamps with different ballasts.

Helios 20000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Magnetic	385	121	3.62	96.5	na	0.251
HQI	526	122.9	4.94	149.6	na	0.284
Taiwan	465	122.7	4.07	137.1	na	0.295
EVC	416	123.2	3.52	125.5	na	0.302
Reef Fanatic	424	123.2	3.6	127.7	na	0.301
Blueline	383	123.3	3.22	112.2	na	0.293
Icecap	420	122.9	3.52	119.9	na	0.285

Figure 6: Spectral Plot of the 400W Hamilton 10000K lamps with different ballasts.

HAMILTON 10000K Lamp

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Taiwan HQI	514	122.8	4.38	191.2	9262	0.372
PFO HQI	519	123.1	5.54	208.5	8418	0.402
Reef Fanatic	426	122.4	3.62	171.3	8402	0.402
Magnetic	471	122.3	4.08	184	8788	0.391
Blueline	386	121.6	3.31	122	8946	0.316
EVC	414	122.9	3.5	148.9	8199	0.360
Icecap	419	121.2	3.57	143.6	8978	0.343

Figure 7: Spectral Plot of the 400W Hamilton 14000K lamps with different ballasts

HAMILTON 14000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Taiwan HQI	450	123.3	3.97	115.3	0	0.256
PFO HQI	512	122.4	5.6	140.5	34583	0.274
Reef Fanatic	426	123	3.61	125.1	79735	0.294
Magnetic	449	122.9	3.98	96.5	0	0.215
Blueline	387	121.6	3.31	84.97	0	0.220
EVC	412	122.2	3.49	104.2	0	0.253
Icecap	414	122.2	3.49	80.93	0	0.195

Figure 8: Spectral Plot of the 400W Aquaconnect 14000K lamps with different ballasts

AQUACONNECT 14000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Taiwan HQI	448	122.8	4.14	134.8	na	0.301
PFO HQI	536	123	4.8	170	na	0.317
Reef Fanatic	428	122.9	3.63	141.5	na	0.331
Magnetic	341	120.6	3.35	80.8	na	0.237
Blueline	378	121.6	3.23	124	na	0.328
EVC	416	123.2	3.51	146.2	na	0.351
Icecap	418	121.5	3.56	143	na	0.342

Figure 9: Spectral Plot of the 400W XM 20000K lamps with different ballasts

XM 20000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Icecap	414	121.9	3.51	99.26	na	0.240
Blueline	385	122.5	3.28	91	na	0.236
EVC	412	122.9	3.48	94.8	na	0.230
Reef Fanatic	422	122.6	3.59	96.4	na	0.228

Figure 10: Spectral Plot of the 400W Ushio 10000K lamps with different ballasts

USHIO 10000K

Ballast	Power	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
Reef Fanatic	424	122.8	3.59	149.4	7267	0.352
Blueline	384	120.8	3.32	119.2	7199	0.310
EVC	413	122.7	3.5	143.1	7233	0.346
Icecap	419	120.6	3.59	138.1	7191	0.330

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank several people whose help made this study possible. They were kind enough to provide us with lamps and ballasts for testing: Patrick at PFO Lighting, Brian at HelloLights.com, Brad Shaw and Perry at Sunlight Supply, Leonhard Ho for the use of his Taiwan “HQI” ballast, Vince from Ocean Encounter, and TAAM enterprises for the Helios Lamps. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Paul Walker of Penn State University for the use of the spectroradiometer.

References

Joshi, S and Mark, T., Spectral Analysis of 400W Lamps: XM,
Radium, Osram and Sunmaster, PFO, Advanced Aquarist, Feb 2004.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2004/feature2.htm

Sanjay Joshi

Sanjay Joshi in real life is a Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State University. He has been a reef addict since 1992, and currently keeps several reef aquariums at home including a 500G SPS coral dominated reef. He also co-manages the 500G aquarium at Penn State. He has published several articles in magazines such as Marine Fish and Reef Annual, Aquarium Frontiers, Aquarium Fish, and Advanced Aquarist. In addition, he has been an invited speaker at several marine aquarium society meetings in the US and Europe. He received the MASNA award in 2006, for his contributions to the marine aquarium hobby.

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