Ice cap VS Coralvue Ballast

tony varrell · 05/22/2008, 11:16 AM

I am trying to determaine which ballast will operate the most efficiently. The Ice Cap electronic Ballast is more expensive then the Coralvue. Is there a tangable reason for that? I will be running 400Watt mogle bulbs in LB large reflectors. For those of you with experience on both items your comments will be appreicated. Tanks size is 30X30X78 300 gallons..

naprestsleep · 05/29/2008, 10:07 AM

ever get an answer? I am interested in comparing the two ballast also.

turtleman9100 · 05/29/2008, 10:13 AM

I will be able to provide you an answer tomorrow. I bought a coral vue 250 last week and just ordered 2 ice caps today. They are all 250 watt though. I will be able to see a difference, if any because I will be running the same bulbs. I'll let you know.

naprestsleep · 05/29/2008, 10:14 AM

much appreciated

jc9394 · 05/29/2008, 10:26 AM

I'm considering replacing my Bluewave to IceCap or Galaxy. But also interested in the Coralvue/IceCap comparison.

turtleman9100 · 05/30/2008, 07:48 PM

I recv my 2 new ice cap 250 ballast today from marinedepot.com. I purchased a coralvue 250 watt ballast last week. I was actually going to try 3 coralvue but the LFS only had 1 in stock and was goign to be a couple of weeks getting more in. I figured, well I will try the new ice caps and send back the one I liked the least. I am running 3 phoenix 14k DE 250 watt bulbs. My fixture is 72 inchs long with 3 250 MH. I stuck the coralvue in the center and the 2 icecaps on each end. I must say that once they are all on, you cannot see nor tell a difference. The colors the same, they are both equally bright and they damn near fully light the bulb at the same time. I think they are both great ballast as far as construction. They both look good too. If I were just nic picking, I would gripe about the fact that the power cord and the lamp cord on the ice cap are on opposite sides. The coralvue are on the same side which will make for a neater install. I paid the same price for both the icecap and the coralvue. 129.99. If I had to recommend one of the other, I would say they are equally great.

Tbone675 · 06/01/2008, 10:45 PM

any other opinions out there?

bmwaaron · 06/02/2008, 08:40 PM

I have both the new Icecap 400 watt and the Coralvue 400 watt ballast. I run 3 400 watt ballast on my tank and I got the Icecap to replace one of the Coralvues.
I would highly recommend the Icecap Ballast. There is a definite reason they are more expensive and belive me there is nothing worse then a ballast that is noisy or doesn't fire.
I've been through 5 Coralvue ballast now and only have 1 that works correctly the other one that fires is noisy, I am having a very hard time getting them warrantied. I am going to go with the 2 more Icecap ballast as soon as I get the money.
Please learn from my mistakes. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

gary faulkner · 06/02/2008, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bmwaaron
I have both the new Icecap 400 watt and the Coralvue 400 watt ballast. I run 3 400 watt ballast on my tank and I got the Icecap to replace one of the Coralvues.
I would highly recommend the Icecap Ballast. There is a definite reason they are more expensive and belive me there is nothing worse then a ballast that is noisy or doesn't fire.
I've been through 5 Coralvue ballast now and only have 1 that works correctly the other one that fires is noisy, I am having a very hard time getting them warrantied. I am going to go with the 2 more Icecap ballast as soon as I get the money.
Please learn from my mistakes. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

xtm · 06/02/2008, 11:57 PM

No experience with Coralvues, but I know that IceCap has excellent customer service... I think that alone is worth paying for.

8BALL_99 · 06/03/2008, 12:24 AM

Well I've got 5 Ice caps and 2 Coral Vue's.. All the Ice caps are 250s and the coral Vues are 400s. I'm still up in the air on them.. I've had issues with both brands. I like the Icecap 250s well enough and I think they are worth the few extra dollars.. But its a little hard for me to see spending the extra 30-40 bucks on the icecap 400s over the Coral Vue 400s.. My biggest beef with Coral Vue is you can't get a reply from the.. If you call they dont answer, If you email them they wont email you back..I had a Ballast go out on me under warrenty. After trying to contact them several times about returning it I just gave up and mailed it to them. I figured the warrenty was going to run out with it just sitting dead so I had nothing to loose.. To my suprise in about a week or so I had a new ballast at my door.. So even if they are hard to get in touch with they do seem quick to honor warrenties.

benf · 06/03/2008, 03:44 AM

I have both...2 Coralvue 400w dimmable, 1 standard 400w Coralvue, and 1 New Icecap 400w and dont have issues with any. Only reason i have the Icecap, is one of my standard Coralvues got splashed and shorted out and the only thing i could get locally fast was the Icecap.

gary faulkner · 06/03/2008, 04:15 AM

Are the metal halide icecaps repairable at the factory like their florescent ballasts?

Lagger · 06/03/2008, 08:39 AM

The CV dimmable ballasts are appealing. Im thinking about using the 400w CV ballast dimmed down to accomidate a Radium (360w) bulb.

Benf: maybe you can tell me, does the dimmer really work well or is it more of a novelty feature?

benf · 06/03/2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lagger
The CV dimmable ballasts are appealing. Im thinking about using the 400w CV ballast dimmed down to accomidate a Radium (360w) bulb.

Thats what i did...i turned down the power to my Radium! It seems to be a nice feature...turn it down for more blue and up for a brighter whiter look. I am currently running 14k AC/20k Radium/14k AC/12K Reeflux...it gives a nice balance...not too blue...not too white. The jury is still out on the 12k cause i just put it in a couple weeks ago, but trying to decide if i would replace the 2 14k AC with the 12k or keep it as is. I found having a Radium on the end to be to dark and blue, thats why i flanked it with the 14k and by adding the 12k on the end i picked up more blue to balance things out. Funny that the 12k looks bluer so far than the 14k.

JRaquatics · 06/03/2008, 11:54 AM

I have had nothing but great success with CoralVue Ballasts. I own 3 250 dimmable CV ballast and find them to be the best ballast I have used yet. I have always heard good things about CoralVues Customer service and support. In fact I have not personally ever had a problem with any of their products or customer service and is one of the main reason I use and recommend so many or their products.

Icecap also makes a great ballast but from my experience it is not inferior to CoralVue ballasts. Because of the lower cost and my personal experiences with CV ballast I highly recommend them.

juststartingout · 06/07/2008, 02:39 PM

Previously I have owned 3) 400 wt Coralvue ballasts. This was about 4 years ago. All of the three had to be repaired or replaced, although this was under warranty. They would always crap out when we lost power for some reason. Even though they were covered, thankfully, under warranty, you still were without the ballast for a week or so. Through the years CV had changed designs, but in my opinion never really upped my confidence in the product as they still failed. I will say that Dave's customer service was fine.

Present day, I now have 4) 250wt IC ballasts. I've had them for just over a year and have not had one concern with them, even through several power outages. I am contemplating going back up to 400wts when I change bulbs, which will be very soon. I have looked into the CV & IC ballasts and found that the CV have a 2 year warranty, and IC have 3, (please verify this info on thier respective websites) Although the CV ballasts will offer slightly more ppfd (173 compared to 157) with the bulbs that I plan on running (Geisseman Coral), I feel that the additional money for each ballast is worth the added 1 year warranty, and peace of mind.

I'm not trying to bash either product, this is my honest experience with both ballasts. Hope this helps with your choice.

JRaquatics · 06/08/2008, 11:11 AM

FWIW the new UL approved CoralVue Ballasts do come with a 3 year warranty.

juststartingout · 06/08/2008, 11:57 AM

Coralvue should update thier website then. Here is a link that I just pulled off now.

faq #4-
"All of our electronic ballasts come with a 2 year warranty. All of our metal halide bulbs come with a 30 day warranty. PLEASE PACKAGE THE PRODUCT WITH EITHER PEANUTS, BUBBLE WRAP, OR OTHER PROPER PACKING MATERIAL. Once we receive the ballast or bulb we will repair or replace it and send it back to you in a timely manner. Please send the product in question with proof of purchase to:

http://www.coralvue.com/faq.html

As a consumer in the market to buy a ballasts, the warranty might influence my decision. I know the new ballasts are not the same ballasts that I had concerns with. If that is the case, then their warranty is competitive with the IC warranty. I did like the internal fan that is in the CV ballasts.

I know the CV are more affordable, but for me, once bitten, twice shy. I would have to see alot of positive feedback for the newer design.

twon8 · 06/08/2008, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gary faulkner
Are the metal halide icecaps repairable at the factory like their florescent ballasts?

yes, i sent one in a few weeks ago and had it back within a week (250w icecap). I had bought it used here on rc,

benf · 06/08/2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JRaquatics
FWIW the new UL approved CoralVue Ballasts do come with a 3 year warranty.

True for the 2 dimmable i just got

JRaquatics · 06/08/2008, 02:23 PM

Annother thing to consider is that CoralVue ballast are UL approved! Icecap ballast are not UL approved. I was told that starting June 15th any manufacturer that does not sell have UL approval on electronic devices sold to consumers faces huge fines from the FCC. UL is the most stringent safety and reliability testing approval that can be placed on a consumer product.

juststartingout · 06/08/2008, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JRaquatics
Annother thing to consider is that CoralVue ballast are UL approved! Icecap ballast are not UL approved.

Interesting, I never realized that IC ballasts were not UL approved. I guess I never thought to look.

Ah, but wait, I just took a looky see. I have the 250wt E ballast and I see the UL stamped right on the label.

All 4 of my 250's and my 660 IC ballast show the UL label as seen on the 660 in their product manual here... http://icecapinc.com/completed%20manual.pdf

I can say that my MH ballast's do not look like the ballast they show in this manual, I guess they have changed designs as well. Maybe it's the newer design that is not UL listed

gary faulkner · 06/08/2008, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by twon8
yes, i sent one in a few weeks ago and had it back within a week (250w icecap). I had bought it used here on rc,

Thanks for the reply Anthony, I had given up on an answer. So thanks again.

05/22/2008, 11:16 AM	#1
tony varrell Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ft. lauderdale,fl Posts: 772	Ice cap VS Coralvue Ballast I am trying to determaine which ballast will operate the most efficiently. The Ice Cap electronic Ballast is more expensive then the Coralvue. Is there a tangable reason for that? I will be running 400Watt mogle bulbs in LB large reflectors. For those of you with experience on both items your comments will be appreicated. Tanks size is 30X30X78 300 gallons..

05/29/2008, 10:13 AM	#3
turtleman9100 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Memphis, Tennessee Posts: 570	I will be able to provide you an answer tomorrow. I bought a coral vue 250 last week and just ordered 2 ice caps today. They are all 250 watt though. I will be able to see a difference, if any because I will be running the same bulbs. I'll let you know. __________________ Let's make better mistakes tomorrow....................... Current Tank Info: 150 gallon tall mixed reef, 1/2 HP Chiller, Bubble King Mini 180, GEO 818cr

05/30/2008, 07:48 PM	#6
turtleman9100 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Memphis, Tennessee Posts: 570	I recv my 2 new ice cap 250 ballast today from marinedepot.com. I purchased a coralvue 250 watt ballast last week. I was actually going to try 3 coralvue but the LFS only had 1 in stock and was goign to be a couple of weeks getting more in. I figured, well I will try the new ice caps and send back the one I liked the least. I am running 3 phoenix 14k DE 250 watt bulbs. My fixture is 72 inchs long with 3 250 MH. I stuck the coralvue in the center and the 2 icecaps on each end. I must say that once they are all on, you cannot see nor tell a difference. The colors the same, they are both equally bright and they damn near fully light the bulb at the same time. I think they are both great ballast as far as construction. They both look good too. If I were just nic picking, I would gripe about the fact that the power cord and the lamp cord on the ice cap are on opposite sides. The coralvue are on the same side which will make for a neater install. I paid the same price for both the icecap and the coralvue. 129.99. If I had to recommend one of the other, I would say they are equally great. __________________ Let's make better mistakes tomorrow....................... Current Tank Info: 150 gallon tall mixed reef, 1/2 HP Chiller, Bubble King Mini 180, GEO 818cr

06/02/2008, 08:40 PM	#8
bmwaaron Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 999	I have both the new Icecap 400 watt and the Coralvue 400 watt ballast. I run 3 400 watt ballast on my tank and I got the Icecap to replace one of the Coralvues. I would highly recommend the Icecap Ballast. There is a definite reason they are more expensive and belive me there is nothing worse then a ballast that is noisy or doesn't fire. I've been through 5 Coralvue ballast now and only have 1 that works correctly the other one that fires is noisy, I am having a very hard time getting them warrantied. I am going to go with the 2 more Icecap ballast as soon as I get the money. Please learn from my mistakes. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. __________________ Aaron Current Tank Info: Reefer 350 (73 gallon)

06/02/2008, 11:57 PM	#10
xtm Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Panorama City, CA Posts: 4,703	No experience with Coralvues, but I know that IceCap has excellent customer service... I think that alone is worth paying for. __________________ Function before fashion Current Tank Info: 120g SPS Tank (48x24x24)

05/29/2008, 10:07 AM	#2
naprestsleep blank Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 987	ever get an answer? I am interested in comparing the two ballast also.

05/29/2008, 10:14 AM	#4
naprestsleep blank Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 987	much appreciated

05/29/2008, 10:26 AM	#5
jc9394 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 422	I'm considering replacing my Bluewave to IceCap or Galaxy. But also interested in the Coralvue/IceCap comparison.

06/01/2008, 10:45 PM	#7
Tbone675 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 86	any other opinions out there?

06/03/2008, 12:24 AM	#11
8BALL_99 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Toney, AL Posts: 3,724	Well I've got 5 Ice caps and 2 Coral Vue's.. All the Ice caps are 250s and the coral Vues are 400s. I'm still up in the air on them.. I've had issues with both brands. I like the Icecap 250s well enough and I think they are worth the few extra dollars.. But its a little hard for me to see spending the extra 30-40 bucks on the icecap 400s over the Coral Vue 400s.. My biggest beef with Coral Vue is you can't get a reply from the.. If you call they dont answer, If you email them they wont email you back..I had a Ballast go out on me under warrenty. After trying to contact them several times about returning it I just gave up and mailed it to them. I figured the warrenty was going to run out with it just sitting dead so I had nothing to loose.. To my suprise in about a week or so I had a new ballast at my door.. So even if they are hard to get in touch with they do seem quick to honor warrenties. __________________ The problem with political jokes is they get elected. OK, so what's the speed of dark? Why do we drive on the parkway and park in the driveway? Isn't is it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"? Current Tank Info: Custom Starfire 300,92Gallon,35 Gallon Hex,Two 40Gallons,125Gallon,

06/03/2008, 03:44 AM	#12
benf Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: wesley chapel, florida Posts: 4,031	I have both...2 Coralvue 400w dimmable, 1 standard 400w Coralvue, and 1 New Icecap 400w and dont have issues with any. Only reason i have the Icecap, is one of my standard Coralvues got splashed and shorted out and the only thing i could get locally fast was the Icecap. __________________ Ben Current Tank Info: None :(

06/03/2008, 04:15 AM	#13
gary faulkner Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1,468	Are the metal halide icecaps repairable at the factory like their florescent ballasts? __________________ Gary Current Tank Info: 300G SPS

06/03/2008, 08:39 AM	#14
Lagger Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 1,068	The CV dimmable ballasts are appealing. Im thinking about using the 400w CV ballast dimmed down to accomidate a Radium (360w) bulb. Benf: maybe you can tell me, does the dimmer really work well or is it more of a novelty feature? __________________ mad-hyphenated euro-braced deep-dimension bare-bottom 90g

06/03/2008, 11:54 AM	#16
JRaquatics Awaiting Email Confirmation Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On RC Posts: 3,609	I have had nothing but great success with CoralVue Ballasts. I own 3 250 dimmable CV ballast and find them to be the best ballast I have used yet. I have always heard good things about CoralVues Customer service and support. In fact I have not personally ever had a problem with any of their products or customer service and is one of the main reason I use and recommend so many or their products. Icecap also makes a great ballast but from my experience it is not inferior to CoralVue ballasts. Because of the lower cost and my personal experiences with CV ballast I highly recommend them.

06/07/2008, 02:39 PM	#17
juststartingout Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago area Posts: 828	Previously I have owned 3) 400 wt Coralvue ballasts. This was about 4 years ago. All of the three had to be repaired or replaced, although this was under warranty. They would always crap out when we lost power for some reason. Even though they were covered, thankfully, under warranty, you still were without the ballast for a week or so. Through the years CV had changed designs, but in my opinion never really upped my confidence in the product as they still failed. I will say that Dave's customer service was fine. Present day, I now have 4) 250wt IC ballasts. I've had them for just over a year and have not had one concern with them, even through several power outages. I am contemplating going back up to 400wts when I change bulbs, which will be very soon. I have looked into the CV & IC ballasts and found that the CV have a 2 year warranty, and IC have 3, (please verify this info on thier respective websites) Although the CV ballasts will offer slightly more ppfd (173 compared to 157) with the bulbs that I plan on running (Geisseman Coral), I feel that the additional money for each ballast is worth the added 1 year warranty, and peace of mind. I'm not trying to bash either product, this is my honest experience with both ballasts. Hope this helps with your choice. __________________ "Ability will never catch up with the demand for it."-- Malcolm Forbes Current Tank Info: diy 500 gallon glass tank, XP5000E Skimmer, Ozone, DIY 150 gal sump, 114wt UV, 3 LuninarcIII's w/ Reeflux 12k's, 4) four bulb Tek Elite T5's, Apex Control

06/08/2008, 11:11 AM	#18
JRaquatics Awaiting Email Confirmation Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On RC Posts: 3,609	FWIW the new UL approved CoralVue Ballasts do come with a 3 year warranty.

06/08/2008, 11:57 AM	#19
juststartingout Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago area Posts: 828	Coralvue should update thier website then. Here is a link that I just pulled off now. faq #4- "All of our electronic ballasts come with a 2 year warranty. All of our metal halide bulbs come with a 30 day warranty. PLEASE PACKAGE THE PRODUCT WITH EITHER PEANUTS, BUBBLE WRAP, OR OTHER PROPER PACKING MATERIAL. Once we receive the ballast or bulb we will repair or replace it and send it back to you in a timely manner. Please send the product in question with proof of purchase to: http://www.coralvue.com/faq.html As a consumer in the market to buy a ballasts, the warranty might influence my decision. I know the new ballasts are not the same ballasts that I had concerns with. If that is the case, then their warranty is competitive with the IC warranty. I did like the internal fan that is in the CV ballasts. I know the CV are more affordable, but for me, once bitten, twice shy. I would have to see alot of positive feedback for the newer design. __________________ "Ability will never catch up with the demand for it."-- Malcolm Forbes Current Tank Info: diy 500 gallon glass tank, XP5000E Skimmer, Ozone, DIY 150 gal sump, 114wt UV, 3 LuninarcIII's w/ Reeflux 12k's, 4) four bulb Tek Elite T5's, Apex Control Last edited by juststartingout; 06/08/2008 at 12:07 PM.

06/08/2008, 02:23 PM	#22
JRaquatics Awaiting Email Confirmation Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On RC Posts: 3,609	Annother thing to consider is that CoralVue ballast are UL approved! Icecap ballast are not UL approved. I was told that starting June 15th any manufacturer that does not sell have UL approval on electronic devices sold to consumers faces huge fines from the FCC. UL is the most stringent safety and reliability testing approval that can be placed on a consumer product.