New ATI Dimmable Sunpower coming next month.

[pmrossetti]

http://atiintheusa.com/sunpower_dimm...p?tabbedtabs=0

[NyReefNoob]

and will be some $$$$ the dimmable ballast are the highest cost part of it as i looked to turn my powermodule into a dimmable

[pmrossetti]

but less than the powermodule.

[solitude127]

Do you think there's an affect on the bulbs if dimmed?

[pmrossetti]

not according to ATI.

[PokerReefer]

I saw one in person at Baymac last weekend. They are pretty sweet. I talked with the rep about buying just the ballasts. I want to install them In my Giesmann infinti.  He showed me a price list for the ballasts. It is like 60$ for a ballast to power 2 48" t-5's. They will be controlled from my apex of course. 

[dustinc]

Originally Posted by solitude127

Do you think there's an affect on the bulbs if dimmed?

When I called reefgeek about a dimmable powermodule, they told me unless I needed to be able to dim, they would recommend the standard model because ramping the bulbs up and down does decrease lamp life.

I have no first hand experience, but I do trust the guys at ReefGeek

[pmrossetti]

Direct from the source..

It does not require special bulbs and it does not significantly reduce bulb life as long as the user (1) breaks the bulbs in by running them for about 100 hours at full intensity and (2) does not do extreme turning up and turning down of the bulbs on a repeated and regular basis. Normal sunrise, daylight, cloud cover and sunset simulations are no problem.

[muffe]

I love it when two credible experts have conflicting opinions.

[rtparty]

They aren't that expensive. Reef Builders had prices from them last week sometime.

I have heard differing accounts about dimming T5's. I was messaged by an individual who said that he was losing over 50% of the PAR in less than 6 months with his dimmable Powermodule.

I don't think any manufacture is going to come out and tell you that bulbs will last half the expected amount. That will turn off a lot of people IMO.

[ReefGeek-George]

Hello everyone...


Just wanted to jump in here.


Now dimming T5 Bulbs will decrease bulb life...however we confirmed through ATI, that you would just need to "break in" the bulbs for about a 100hrs before dimming..this would allow them to be dimmed without affecting the bulb life.

Sorry for any confusion from earlier information.

contact me directly for any addl questions.

Thanks

George

[JG1]

Originally Posted by ReefGeek-George

Hello everyone...


Just wanted to jump in here.


Now dimming T5 Bulbs will decrease bulb life...however we confirmed through ATI, that you would just need to "break in" the bulbs for about a 100hrs before dimming..this would allow them to be dimmed without affecting the bulb life.

Sorry for any confusion from earlier information.

contact me directly for any addl questions.

Thanks

George

How do you go about doing that without frying your tank? I mean if your running the bulbs at 75%, then you have new bulbs that need to be ran at 100% for 100 hours, that's gonna cause a lot of stress. 100 hours...thats like 16-17 days at full intensity before being able to dim them down

[JG1]

Originally Posted by rtparty

I have heard differing accounts about dimming T5's. I was messaged by an individual who said that he was losing over 50% of the PAR in less than 6 months with his dimmable Powermodule.

I don't think any manufacture is going to come out and tell you that bulbs will last half the expected amount. That will turn off a lot of people IMO.

That sucks. I was looking to replace my PM with a dimmable unit, but reading this has turned me off of that idea.

[raynist]

Originally Posted by JG1

How do you go about doing that without frying your tank? I mean if your running the bulbs at 75%, then you have new bulbs that need to be ran at 100% for 100 hours, that's gonna cause a lot of stress. 100 hours...thats like 16-17 days at full intensity before being able to dim them down

Raise the fixture higher until breaking is done.

[davocean]

Or use eggcrate or screen.

[Oliver P.]

Hello evryone,

Just wanted to jump in here.

Today, dimming T5-lamps with modern ballasts (like you will find it in our new dimmable Sunpower) will not have any negative effect on lamp life because of the intelligent addressing of the filament preheating mechanism of the fluorescent lamp in dependence on the dim setting.

So, a key characteristic of the dimmable ballasts we use in our Sunpower is their optimized addressing of the filament preheating mechanism. This allows for safe and reliable lamp ignition and stable dimming of fluorescent lamps.

Also, it is helpful to "break in" the bulbs for about 100 hours before dimming. But from our experience you do not need to do this 100 hours. Our ATI-Bulbs in combination with our Sunpower just need a "break in" time of 40-50 hours.

In practise this means that you can start to dimm at the end of the first week. And in the case you miss the "break-in", this is no big mistake at all.

From our experience (and we made many tests here) it has no influence on the lumen maintenance (PAR Output).

This is the reason why dimming is getting more and more popular. The leaders in the industry here in Europe (like Osram or Philips) are producing much more dimmable ballasts today. Dimming fluorescent lamps is no difficult thing anymore and the problems to dimm T5-lamps we had at the beginning are under control now. Thanks modern and intelligent ballasts.

Thanks,
Oliver

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Oliver P.

Hello evryone,

Just wanted to jump in here.

Today, dimming T5-lamps with modern ballasts (like you will find it in our new dimmable Sunpower) will not have any negative effect on lamp life because of the intelligent addressing of the filament preheating mechanism of the fluorescent lamp in dependence on the dim setting.

So, a key characteristic of the dimmable ballasts we use in our Sunpower is their optimized addressing of the filament preheating mechanism. This allows for safe and reliable lamp ignition and stable dimming of fluorescent lamps.

Also, it is helpful to "break in" the bulbs for about 100 hours before dimming. But from our experience you do not need to do this 100 hours. Our ATI-Bulbs in combination with our Sunpower just need a "break in" time of 40-50 hours.

In practise this means that you can start to dimm at the end of the first week. And in the case you miss the "break-in", this is no big mistake at all.

From our experience (and we made many tests here) it has no influence on the lumen maintenance (PAR Output).

This is the reason why dimming is getting more and more popular. The leaders in the industry here in Europe (like Osram or Philips) are producing much more dimmable ballasts today. Dimming fluorescent lamps is no difficult thing anymore and the problems to dimm T5-lamps we had at the beginning are under control now. Thanks modern and intelligent ballasts.

Thanks,
Oliver

It is great to hear all of that from the source. I am glad you participate in some of these threads Oliver!

[E.intheC]

Originally Posted by rtparty

It is great to hear all of that from the source. I am glad you participate in some of these threads Oliver!

I agree.

Does anyone else have more experience with dimmable T5 units?
This thread is almost 1.5 years old, so I would imagine some users have first hand experience.

[Chris155hp]

Shameless bump

[Mark426]

Originally Posted by JG1

How do you go about doing that without frying your tank? I mean if your running the bulbs at 75%, then you have new bulbs that need to be ran at 100% for 100 hours, that's gonna cause a lot of stress. 100 hours...thats like 16-17 days at full intensity before being able to dim them down

You don't run them at 75%. You run them at 100%. The dimming is for sunrise/sunset type of things, not continuously dimmed.

[Kyle918]

Originally Posted by Mark426

You don't run them at 75%. You run them at 100%. The dimming is for sunrise/sunset type of things, not continuously dimmed.

Is this correct? I was planning on buying the dimmable fixture and do not need full power with the coral I currently have. Over time, I would need more power as I add various coral. Still, I was never planning on running either channel at 100%, at least not very long. The majority of the day the ballast would be ramping either up or down slowly.