can you fire up t5 with icecap 660-009 ballast

[apollothesun]

was wondering if you can do this
gonna fire up 4 x 48inch t5 bulbs. thanks in advance

 

[Myteemouse]

I am running my two 48" t-5's with a IC 660..
Yes very doable..

 

[luke33]

Yep, it will overdrive your 54w lamps to 85w a piece. You will need a fan to blow end to end. The bulb's won't last as long when you overdrive but the added brightness and par is worth it imo.

 

[apollothesun]

cool, thanks for the info. how long a lifespan when you overdrive?

 

[Myteemouse]

I'll know for sure soon cause I had brand new bulbs started burning on march 20th, And burn for about 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night, two individual reflectors on top of the tank at a 45 degree angel..
two fans in the hood at one end blowing to the other.
So the test is on.. LOL

But yes they are BRIGHT for just actantic..

 

[luke33]

I generally replace mine after 10mths. My sps do fine throughout the period. Its alot of light though at 600w of t5's.

 

[Myteemouse]

I am running dual 250w MH and two 85w T-5.
Thats 670watts over a 125..Wow I guess I got a lot of light too..

 

[luke33]

I had three 250's over my tank before the t5's and the mh's didn't come close to the amt of light the t5's put off. I love them. Jnarrow has ALOT of light or did (over 4k watts)....we aren't even at 1k watts yet! lol

 

[roscoe]

I will be running 4 48'' T-5 on IC 660 ballast. They are alot brighter when OD'ed.