Lumatek, Galaxy, Ice cap. Electronic ballast, which one

[kdblove_99]

Looking to get a good 250W Eballast. Reliable,Warranty,CS and one of course one that gets the most out of a bulb/Runs it closest to its wattage.

I know the lumatek and Galaxy have great Warranties

[jc9394]

I believe Galaxy will over drive the bulbs to around 10%. IC have great warranty too, I'm running IC with my Maristar now.

[JRaquatics]

I have had good experiences with CoralVue and Ice Cap electronic ballast. Great customer service and support from both companies. What bulb do you plan on running?

[kdblove_99]

Radium,Reeflux,Helio,Xm and Ushio. Different times of the yr i like different bulbs

[cato]

Originally posted by JRaquatics
I have had good experiences with CoralVue and Ice Cap electronic ballast. Great customer service and support from both companies. What bulb do you plan on running?

I second this^^^. IME

[psteeleb]

so far I'm happy with my Lumateks, I've only had them a few months and no issues so i can't speak to customer service. But that's a good thing.

The Lumateks are burning my Reflux 12k bulbs brighter and whiter then my old Hamilton magnetics so plan your kelven accordingly.

[kdblove_99]

Good a lumatek owner. I'm leaning that way for sure with Galaxy being 2nd.

[africangrey]

I also run two lumentek's to drive the 400w Helio 20K, not sure if they are overdriven but they are much brighter than the Blueline e-ballasts I had. Has anyone measured the wattage drawn by the Lumentek? I would like to know since my PG&E bills have gone up by $5-$10 ever since the switch.

[psteeleb]

Originally posted by africangrey
I also run two lumentek's to drive the 400w Helio 20K, not sure if they are overdriven but they are much brighter than the Blueline e-ballasts I had. Has anyone measured the wattage drawn by the Lumentek? I would like to know since my PG&E bills have gone up by $5-$10 ever since the switch.

I compared my Lumatek's to my Hamilton magnetics. As expected the Lumateks use less wattage but it wasn't a huge savings, only about 10% if I recall. I may have it posted on my build log with some pictures. They do run a heck of a lot cooler.

[kdblove_99]

Oh my another PG&E guy hey? I hate them, such a rip off, yes i unfortunely have them also.

psteel, so the Lumateks use less watts than your M58 but you get brighter and better colors from them>?

[KEEPERZ]

I would like to know how the Galaxy compares to the Lumatek-400w style-same?

[orangekush4]

Lumatek on radium for me.I have sold them for a few years and had just a few come back do to user.

[orangekush4]

I have used old icecaps and coralvue.The lumatek put out more light then the icecaps on a meter.I did owned a meter when i had the coralvue.

[BreadmanMike]

Been running Galaxy ballasts for two years. They get my vote.

[psteeleb]

Originally posted by kdblove_99
psteel, so the Lumateks use less watts than your M58 but you get brighter and better colors from them>?

less watts - yes, 10%. I checked my build log, here is what I posted "The older model Hamilton ran steady after 5 minutes of warm up at 307 watts. The Lumatek ran at 272 watts, so just about a 10% less energy use."

brighter - yes definiitly, but I did't have a meter. Strictly by eye and I did take pictures, I know those are on my build log.

more colors - hard to say, the magnetics had more blue, but these bring out more red.

should be some pictures here (page 8 about 1/3 down):
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=8

[thebradybunch]

I also have the Lumateks and love them. I am running 250w 14k Phoenix bulbs and have been very impressed. The bulbs fire and are at full strength in seconds.

[kdblove_99]

Nice build Psteel and thanks for the Pics.

Its close between the Galaxy and Lumatek. BUt think i am leaning toward teh Lumatek at this time.

Any other input about these 2 ballast?