have you ever though about building your own t5 fixture?

[orionduck]

http://www.icecapinc.com/t5-ho-2-electronic-ballast


tell me what I am mising $40 for a icecap T5 HO ballast?

$40

 

[orionduck]

http://www.icecapinc.com/t5-ho-2-electronic-ballast


tell me what I am mising $40 for a icecap T5 HO ballast?

$40

and this what

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5.../430_Electronic_Fluorescent_Ballast_by_IceCap

is selling $134 dollar

 

[JohnK]

it is still tooo high

I agree.

If you figure out how to save some solid $ on this build, please tell me how to do the same

I would love to be wrong on this one

Edit, adding;
FWIW I was never considering using the ice cap ballasts and "overdriving". My plans are limited to HO T5, no VHO here.

 

[orionduck]

The only difference between icecap T5 HO ballast and 430 VHO Ballast is

T5 HO ballast

T5 HO Electronic Ballast
Powers 1 or 2 lamps up to 54w each
End of life Protection
Auto Restart
UL Listed

V430
Rated to run multiple combinations of up to 2 T5 fluorescent bulbs with a total wattage not exceeding 160 Watts.

is that you can run a higher watt... the v430 can run higher watt.. but you can have only 2 T5

108 watt vs 160 watts -- now if look at the watt on the bulb that will give you a good idea -

 

[orionduck]

The wire, they have to be a high temperate rating that you can buy from the electrical supply house, need to find the wire rating for high temperate. Icecap also buy from the same source like us but they get a volume discount-

 

[orionduck]

you can daisy chain 2 of the icecap T5 HO ballast from 1 outlet or homerun from power source. that would give you a total of 4 lamps bringing the total watt up to 54x4= 216 watt ....

having 2 icecap will give you a total amp of 216 watt / 120 volt = 1.8 amp ....
so far the total would be $80 dollar,.. now if I can find the wiring and end cap cheap--

the wire I will need to get it from the supply house.. I can buy 250 feet you can buy the rest from me. under $30 dollar for it.

the hard part is end cap rate for damp location... end cap for fish tank are consider damp location ,. again supply house will have the answer to that.

the rest is spare wood,,,-- and finding 93% reflective --

 

[Joel A]

you can probably use a cheaper ballast, such as a workhorse, and save a little bit of money, without much if any loss in output... where you wont be able to save money however is the reflectors, bulbs, and endcaps. You might be able to find cheaper reflectors and bulbs, but if you use the cheaper reflectors and bulbs you might as well throw normal florescent light bulbs over the tank.

Remember with t5's that it's not just the bulb that makes it work for reef tanks. It's everything.. you need the good reflectors otherwise you're basically running normal output florescent bulbs, you need the fans otherwise the bulbs life and light output drops off dramatically after a few weeks.. etc.

Where you can save money on a retro/DIY over an already made fixture is that the company making the fixture has to encase it and wire it all up.. so you're not paying for their work time, and the casing probably wont be as expensive.. but all of the internal components will be more or less the same price. If their not the same price, theirs a reason for it.. you're not getting the same quality.

Wiring should come with the ballasts i think?

 

[orionduck]

as far as heating is concern, if you don't put the ballast near the lamb that will solve the issue of heating,.-- need to put the ballast 3' to 6' from the lamb that will solve the heat from the ballast,. the lamb should be cool by itself it doesn't draw much heat and if you wire it 3" away from the fixture itself, that again will solve it. again 1/2" emt would do the trick.. sorry about 3/4" emt.

 

[Joel A]

you can daisy chain 2 of the icecap T5 HO ballast from 1 outlet or homerun from power source. that would give you a total of 4 lamps bringing the total watt up to 54x4= 216 watt ....

having 2 icecap will give you a total amp of 216 watt / 120 volt = 1.8 amp ....
so far the total would be $80 dollar,.. now if I can find the wiring and end cap cheap--

the wire I will need to get it from the supply house.. I can buy 250 feet you can buy the rest from me. under $30 dollar for it.

the hard part is end cap rate for damp location... end cap for fish tank are consider damp location ,. again supply house will have the answer to that.

the rest is spare wood,,,-- and finding 93% reflective --

where are you finding 2 icecap ballasts for 80 dollars?

 

[Joel A]

as far as heating is concern, if you don't put the ballast near the lamb that will solve the issue of heating,.-- need to put the ballast 3' to 6' from the lamb that will solve the heat from the ballast,. the lamb should be cool by itself it doesn't draw much heat and if you wire it 3" away from the fixture itself, that again will solve it. again 1/2" emt would do the trick.. sorry about 3/4" emt.

Have you ever touched the bulbs? They're still quite hot...


heh.. that's funny on the icecap ballast.. i've never seen that one. You might have trouble finding that at a dealer... i've never seen or heard of it.

 

[orionduck]

you can probably use a cheaper ballast, such as a workhorse, and save a little bit of money, without much if any loss in output... where you wont be able to save money however is the reflectors, bulbs, and endcaps. You might be able to find cheaper reflectors and bulbs, but if you use the cheaper reflectors and bulbs you might as well throw normal florescent light bulbs over the tank.

Remember with t5's that it's not just the bulb that makes it work for reef tanks. It's everything.. you need the good reflectors otherwise you're basically running normal output florescent bulbs, you need the fans otherwise the bulbs life and light output drops off dramatically after a few weeks.. etc.

Where you can save money on a retro/DIY over an already made fixture is that the company making the fixture has to encase it and wire it all up.. so you're not paying for their work time, and the casing probably wont be as expensive.. but all of the internal components will be more or less the same price. If their not the same price, theirs a reason for it.. you're not getting the same quality.

Wiring should come with the ballasts i think?

The end cap are the same-- the end cap are electrical connecting device-- Period----

OK the bulb, that is 120% true I can't used home depot 500K .... need a real one ----

Reflector ..--- if the company that make a reflector that cost them $100 ... it must be gold---

the reason they are charging high is because,. they need a higher mark up on the item. They are NICHE-------- they sell directly to us reefer.. well to you guy I am still green .. new-

Whatever we are doig it is the same -- the only difference is they mold their casing whereas we make our own casing-----

 

[orionduck]

Originally Posted by orionduck
http://www.icecapinc.com/t5-ho-2-electronic-ballast


tell me what I am mising $40 for a icecap T5 HO ballast?

 

[Joel A]

The end cap are the same-- the end cap are electrical connecting device-- Period----

OK the bulb, that is 120% true I can't used home depot 500K .... need a real one ----

Reflector ..--- if the company that make a reflector that cost them $100 ... it must be gold---

the reason they are charging high is because,. they need a higher mark up on the item. They are NICHE-------- they sell directly to us reefer.. well to you guy I am still green .. new-

Whatever we are doig it is the same -- the only difference is they mold their casing whereas we make our own casing-----

I'm not saying the endcaps are fancy, i'm saying you probably wont be able to save much there... a few dollars if you are lucky.

As far as the reflectors.. t5 reflectors don't cost 100 dollars... or anywhere close to that. Ice cap reflectors which are top of the line (maybe not quite the best, but up there) are 25 dollars a piece. That's 100 dollars for all 4 of them.. is that what you meant when you said 100 dollars?

You're not paying 100 dollars for the pure material to make them (although that is a good deal of the cost) you're also paying for the high quality machining to shape them to the optimal shape to be as reflective and efficient as possible.

 

[SteveDola]

missing nothing. aquatinics fixtures dont use icecap and theres are very nice units. its all in the bulb and reflectors.a ballast is a ballast. use good reflectors + bulbs and your fine. id prolly wire a 4 bulb ballast and a 2 bulb ballast for actinic bulbs.

 

[SteveDola]

i think thar miro reflectors are 2 each

 

[orionduck]

I am going to start this DIY --- well I wanted to spend up $100 dollar for 1 fish tank.. BUT since I got 2 other so I will replace them all. so the 3 fish tank combine under or around $150---- is my goal I will post all detail how much I spend and how much I will resell to recoup my cost.




http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=88641

 

[67belvedere]

I just looked on ebay and found 10 advance electronic ballast that run 2 x 54 watt T5 for $50.00 thats for all 10 of them

 

[orionduck]

can't wait that long plus shipping will kill you--- and return is a bad in the butt...

 

[medic1175]

i am not sure if you are going to be able to do this for the price you want, i dont want to sound like im discouraging you from trying but i notice one of the tanks is a 120. thats 48" iirc the cheapest 48" reflector i found was on ebay from hellolights for 18.95. how many bulbs are you planning on putting over the tanks?

 

[Cjtabares]

My t5 fixture cost me about 700 I think but it is 72" 12x36 watts. If I was to do it again I would have gone with a better retro kit and ithink it would be the same price maybe more.