PC to T5 mod on Odyysea/Jebo fixture?

[Chichas01]

I have this Odyysea/Jebo fixture w/ 2 250 MH and 4 65w PC bulbs. The MH have some heat to them and the PC bulbs add more. Has anyone ever modified a similar fixture to remove the PC bulbs and install a T5 retro fit kit? I think I'm going to give it a shot. Anyone have a retro fit kit laying around that they are not using?

 

[dhnguyen]

FYI... T5's put out just as much heat anyway so if you are looking to lower the heat with it, you might be disappointed.

 

[Chichas01]

Thanks for the reply. Everything I've read seems to say that the heat from T5 is less than the PC bulbs. Since I would be replacing 260 watts of PC lighting (4X65) with 108 watts of T5 (2X54), the heat should be considerably less. The bulbs I'm replacing are actinic so they are mostly for aesthetics so I'm thinking I can maybe get away with 2 bulbs as opposed to 4 T5's @ 216 watts which would lessen the heat.
Any other T5 users out there that can comment further?

 

[dhnguyen]

Thanks for the reply. Everything I've read seems to say that the heat from T5 is less than the PC bulbs. Since I would be replacing 260 watts of PC lighting (4X65) with 108 watts of T5 (2X54), the heat should be considerably less. The bulbs I'm replacing are actinic so they are mostly for aesthetics so I'm thinking I can maybe get away with 2 bulbs as opposed to 4 T5's @ 216 watts which would lessen the heat.
Any other T5 users out there that can comment further?

Don't believe the hype

PC is basically the same as a T5 bulb except that it is 2 bulbs connected together. Technically speaking they are both just florescent bulbs and both produce heat equally. If you stick in a lower wattage PC bulb it will of course produce less heat as expected.

Really the only advantage in using T5 would be so that you can install the individual reflector to maximize the light output.

 

[dhnguyen]

basically what im trying to say is that it would be cheaper and easier for you to just downgrade the PC bulbs and ballast to use less wattage.

216 watts is still just 216 watts whether it's PC or T5. Same wattage, same heat.

 

[luke33]

Yep, 216w of t5, mh, pc, vho are putting out the same amt of heat. The heat is controlled differently with the mh's than the others, being point source instead of spread out so much. Chicas have you ever hooked up a killawatt to your mh fixture before. If you are running the 250w odyssea mh's it may only be pushing 150w. That is a common problem with that fixture.

 

[dhnguyen]

And the easy fix for the MH issue stated by Luke would be to replace the MH ballasts with better ones.


http://www.ballastwise.com has some very good ones and they are quite cheap.

Here you go

http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID=128&FID=17&level=1

 

[Chichas01]

Yep, 216w of t5, mh, pc, vho are putting out the same amt of heat. The heat is controlled differently with the mh's than the others, being point source instead of spread out so much. Chicas have you ever hooked up a killawatt to your mh fixture before. If you are running the 250w odyssea mh's it may only be pushing 150w. That is a common problem with that fixture.

I'd agree that equal wattage of pc and vho are going to produce the same heat.
Yep, replaced the ballasts right away. I'm running Lumatek ballasts and the output difference is undeniable. I bought this fixture used for about 200 and the output on the old ballasts was half of what is now. Lumatek rocks!

I guess my goal here is reduce some heat and electricity and have a little more flexibility in using T5 bulbs in different combos to get a good range of options color wise. With the PC's it's either actinic, or 6500k and 1000k daylights. I see more options with the T5's; actinics and 6500k-14000k daylight bulbs. The halides will do most of the 'heavy' work so this only being considered for supplemental lighting.
My other option is just leave it alone I guess
But what fun would that be?

 

[luke33]

yes, i do agree you'll get better colors with t5's especially if you use IR's. But is it worth the headache of setting it up.......pry not to me : ) I would probably just get different mh bulb's that fit my liking. Would pry be cheaper after all the modding and bulbs and what not.

 

[Skimmy]

and look, they now make exactly what you want...
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-Metal-Halide-System-with-T5-HO-p/54231.htm

and check this out:
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-4x54W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-Pro-Series-p/52211.htm

the chinese are getting smarter by the minute...lol

 

[Chichas01]

Yeah, I saw those, which is where I got the idea. I got my fixture used for almost half that so it was a better deal for me to get one used and upgrade the ballasts.