Giesemann Reflexx HQI

[lzolnier]

This thing has no fan or vents in its body. It has an internal ballast. How can it not overheat or cause some kind of damage? Has anyone had experience with this fixture?

[MandM]

The one I saw has vents on the ends of the lamp housing for ventilation. Never used on myself, try the lighting and equipment forum for anyone that has used this one.

[hogben]

Originally Posted by MandM

The one I saw has vents on the ends of the lamp housing for ventilation. Never used on myself, try the lighting and equipment forum for anyone that has used this one.

I have an old giesemann three hqi 48" long fixture. It was super heavy and ran super hot. The magnetic ballasts are heavy and run hot. No fans but does have vents.

I have since then retrofitted it with new electronic ballasts and new wiring, I basically just kept the fixture and gutted the rest.

A lot of the old wires inside were cracked from what I imagine was the heat. Although I never had any problems with it, I was a little disappointed in what I did see inside. This was an older unit and the new ones may be a lot better with the heat.

[lzolnier]

Originally Posted by hogben

I have an old giesemann three hqi 48" long fixture. It was super heavy and ran super hot. The magnetic ballasts are heavy and run hot. No fans but does have vents.

I have since then retrofitted it with new electronic ballasts and new wiring, I basically just kept the fixture and gutted the rest.

A lot of the old wires inside were cracked from what I imagine was the heat. Although I never had any problems with it, I was a little disappointed in what I did see inside. This was an older unit and the new ones may be a lot better with the heat.

Mine has neither vents nor fans. Must be an older model. But the thing sure does punch through the water better than any HQI ive had before (aqua medic and oddysea). The body gets awfuly hot, too hot to touch for longer than a few seconds. Am I looking at a shorter fixture lifespan because of this. Whats the wrap on these older Giesemann models? What kind of lifetime can i expect?

[dragoneggs]

Interesting topic... I am considering the Infinity because of the style and very low noise characteristics. However, no fans does concern me.

[lzolnier]

I am pretty certain all newer Giesemann models outside of their so called basic HQI units (which looks identical to the Reflexx I have) have fans or at least vents. On the positive side, there is zero noise coming from these units but the heating issue does concern me. At the very least it may shorten the effective lifespan of the bulb. And as the other poster pointed out, the heat inside does tend to damage the inside cords by cracking them, albeit the light will still work, but for how long? Without the vents the heat must still escape from the fixture via tiny gaps, but at a much slower pace. tsk tsk Giesemann. Still for $150 (which is the price I payed for a used Reflexx) I'll take any Giesemann, even a flawed version. The noise level and the sheer punch of the light intensity are much better than any other HQI I've owned.