Product Review: Spectral Analysis of 250W Metal Halide Lamps: Giesemann, Krystal Star, South Pacific Sunlight, BLV, Phoenix Electric Company

by Sanjay Joshi | Apr 15, 2006 | 0 comments

Since the last
report on 250W metal halide lamps, I have
received several new lamps. These 7 new mogul base lamps and 4 double
ended lamps were evaluated with 6 ballasts used to drive these lamps.
The lamps are listed in Table 1. As usual these lamps were tested using
the identical setup to all my previous tests, thus allowing for direct
comparison between the lamps.

Table 1: List of 250W Single Ended Mogul lamps and
ballasts tested
250W SE Lamps	250W Ballasts
South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 10000K South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 14000K South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 20000K PFO – Krystal Star 11000K PFO – Krystal Star 18000K Phoenix Electric Company (PEC) 10000K Giesemann Lighting “Marine”	PFO-HQI (ANSI -M80) Standard Magnetic (M58) IceCap (Electronic) Blueline (Electronic) Reef Fanatic (Electronic) EVC (Electronic)
250W DE Lamps
Giesemann Lighting “Blue” Giesemann Lighting “Coral” BLV Nepturion 14000K PFO Krystal Star – 11000K

South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 10000K

Table 1: South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 10000K
performance on all ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	250	121.6	2.19	92.7	17689	0.3708
EVC	258	121.2	2.26	94.4	11343	0.3659
PFO HQI	340	125.2	3.04	125.2	8988	0.3682
ICECAP	249	121.7	2.29	90.4	18602	0.3631
MAGNETIC (M58)	264	121.2	2.59	85.2	19337	0.3227

Figure 1: South Pacific Sunlight (SPS)
10000K Lamps on all ballasts

South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 14000K

Table 2: South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 14000K
performance on all ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	252	120.4	2.23	44.1	na	0.1750
EVC	258	120.2	2.27	40.6	na	0.1574
PFO HQI	338	122.3	3.01	77.8	na	0.2302
ICECAP	252	122.7	2.28	42.1	na	0.1671
MAGNETIC (M58)	287	122.3	2.79	60.3	na	0.2101

Figure 2: South Pacific Sunlight
(SPS)Lamps on all ballasts

South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 20000K

Table 3: South Pacific Sunlight (SPS) 20000K
performance on all ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	252	122.6	2.19	57	na	0.2262
EVC	253	120.4	2.26	56.14	na	0.2219
PFO HQI	341	122.6	3.07	89.4	na	0.2622
ICECAP	252	123	2.3	64.2	na	0.2548
MAGNETIC (M58)	298	120.7	2.81	69.8	na	0.2342

Figure 3: South Pacific Sunlight (SPS)
20000K Lamps on all
ballasts

PFO – Krystal Star 11000K

Table 4: PFO – Krystal Star 11000K performance on all
ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	252	123.7	2.18	100.4	9685	0.3984
EVC	258	121.2	2.26	107.3	9160	0.4159
PFO HQI	358	120.8	3.31	177.6	8378	0.4961
ICECAP	252	121.9	2.29	102.7	9051	0.4075
MAGNETIC (M58)	311	121.3	2.8	131.5	9270	0.4228

Figure 4: PFO – Krystal Star 11000K
Lamps on all ballasts

PFO – Krystal Star 18000K

Table 5: PFO – Krystal Star 18000K performance on all
ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	248	121.5	2.18	62.5	na	0.2520
EVC	260	120.8	2.28	64.4	na	0.2477
PFO HQI	315	120.4	2.8	82.9	na	0.2632
ICECAP	252	121.1	2.3	56.2	na	0.2230
MAGNETIC (M58)	255	121.5	2.58	48.3	na	0.1894

Figure 5: PFO – Krystal Star 18000K
Lamps on all ballasts

Phoenix Electric Company (PEC) 10000K

Table 6: Phoenix Electric Company (PEC) 10000K
performance on
all ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	253	120.1	2.23	88.9	6593	0.3514
EVC	258	120.1	2.27	92.8	7224	0.3597
PFO HQI	349	120.4	3.3	160.7	7100	0.4605
ICECAP	255	119.7	2.35	94.8	6981	0.3718
MAGNETIC (M58)	329	120.7	2.95	133.8	6861	0.4067

Figure 6: Phoenix Electric Company
(PEC) 10000K Lamps on all
ballasts

Giesemann Lighting “Marine” Mogul

Table 7: Giesemann Lighting “Marine” Mogul performance
on all
ballasts
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	249	122.1	2.18	89.6	10249	0.3598
EVC	259	121.6	2.28	101.9	8863	0.3934
PFO HQI	321	120.7	2.86	129	9616	0.4019
ICECAP	252	122.3	2.29	95.7	9767	0.3798
MAGNETIC (M58)	253	121.2	2.6	82.7	8509	0.3269

Figure 7: Giesemann Lighting “Marine”
Mogul Lamps on all
ballasts

Giesemann Lighting “Coral” Double Ended

Table 8: Giesemann Lighting “Coral” Double Ended
performance
on all ballasts (Shielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	253	122.3	2.17	71	8689	0.281
EVC	255	121.5	2.2	67.8	8830	0.266
PFO HQI	335	121.6	2.95	101.7	8765	0.304
ICECAP	251	122.1	2.3	71.2	8700	0.284
REEF FANATIC	258	122.5	2.23	71.5	8376	0.277

Table 9: Giesemann Lighting “Coral” Double Ended
performance
on all ballasts (UnShielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	253	122.3	2.17	88.1	9727	0.348
EVC	255	121.5	2.2	82.5	10187	0.324
PFO HQI	335	121.6	2.95	126.7	9816	0.378
ICECAP	251	122.1	2.3	88.2	9710	251
REEF FANATIC	258	122.5	2.23	93.8	9827	0.364

Figure 8: Giesemann Lighting “Coral”
Double Ended Lamps on all
ballasts (Shielded)

Giesemann Lighting “Blue” Double Ended

Table 10: Giesemann Lighting “Blue” Double Ended
performance
on all ballasts (Shielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	250	122.1	2.15	36.7	na	0.147
EVC	255	122.1	2.19	41	na	0.161
PFO HQI	306	121.5	2.76	46.3	na	0.151
ICECAP	251	121.7	2.32	38.2	na	0.152
REEF FANATIC	258	120.8	2.25	41.3	na	0.160

Table 11: Giesemann Lighting “Blue” Double Ended
performance
on all ballasts (UnShielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	250	122.1	21.5	46.5	na	0.186
EVC	255	122.1	2.19	48.7	na	0.191
PFO HQI	306	121.5	2.76	58.2	na	0.190
ICECAP	251	121.7	2.32	47.9	na	0.191
REEF FANATIC	258	120.8	2.25	52	na	0.202

Figure 9: Giesemann Lighting “Blue”
Double Ended Lamps on all
ballasts (Shielded)

PFO -Krystal Star 11000K Double Ended

Table 12: PFO -Krystal Star 11000K Double Ended
performance on
all ballasts (Shielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	249	123.4	2.12	67.5	6484	0.271
EVC	258	124.5	2.21	63.9	6766	0.248
PFO HQI	295	122.5	2.75	67.5	6205	0.229
ICECAP	252	122.3	2.19	49.4	6116	0.196
REEF FANATIC	258	124.5	2.19	72.6	7224	0.281

Table 13: PFO -Krystal Star 11000K Double Ended
performance on
all ballasts (UnShielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	249	123.4	2.12	87.8	7075	0.353
EVC	258	124.5	2.21	78.8	7256	0.305
PFO HQI	295	122.5	2.75	82.6	6546	0.280
ICECAP	252	122.3	2.19	61	6424	0.242
REEF FANATIC	258	124.5	2.19	94.4	8795	0.366

Figure 10: PFO -Krystal Star 11000K
Double Ended Lamps on all
ballasts (Shielded)

BLV “Nepturion” 14000K Double Ended

Table 14: BLV “Nepturion” 14000K Double Ended Double
Ended
performance on all ballasts (Shielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	253	120.1	2.26	62.8	9376	0.2482
EVC	259	121.1	2.27	68.1	9418	0.2629
PFO HQI	328	120.6	2.94	85.7	9704	0.2613
ICECAP	252	121.3	2.34	62.5	8988	0.2480

Table 15: BLV “Nepturion” 14000K Double Ended Double
Ended
performance on all ballasts (UnShielded)
Ballast	Power Watts	Input Volts	Input Amp	PPFD	CCT	Efficiency PPFD/Watt
BLUELINE	253	120.1	2.26	77.9	10721	0.3079
EVC	259	121.1	2.27	85.2	10632	0.3290
PFO HQI	328	120.6	2.94	106.1	11117	0.3235
ICECAP	252	121.3	2.34	78	10241	0.3095

Figure 11: BLV “Nepturion” 14000K
Double Ended Lamps on all
ballasts (Shielded)

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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