Hamilton metal halide bulbs junk

[greekspec2]

 

[Chibils]

What kelvin do you want and DE or SE?

All Giesemann,AB,Ushio,Aquaconnect are BLV mfg bulbs they all use BLV 's arc tubes and outer jacket. Giesemann tends to rate the kelvin higher than it really is, for instance a Giesemann Crystal 17,5k is really a BLV 16k if you look close at the arc tube it's stamped 16k.
All of the above brands 20k bulbs the arc tubes are stamped BL for blue and so on so when one guy say's my bulb is this or that it is laughable because there misinformed.

Thanks for the info. I prefer SE, since I have a pair of Lumenbright Minis gathering dust, but I also have an even older pair of Hamilton Cayman Suns (I think) that are DE. The dream is to run a Giesemann Infiniti. So I'm more concerned with getting bulbs I'm happy with than the socket type. I've been tankless for a long time, but I'm planning out a build and I'm set on halides. I really like the 10-12k look. I used to run Aqualine Buschke 13k and was pretty happy with them. I think the Ushio 14k is also beautiful. I want a clean white look that I can dial in the blue level of with T5s. Anything past a 14k looks like Windex to me. The goal is a neutral white with full color representation reminiscent of about 3-5m depth. I want to see every single color fully, not a blue backdrop with fluorescent stuff shining out. Ya dig?

P.S. @Mike&Terry old Ushio 14k photos are the look I hope to emulate. Picture taken from that user's thread:

 

[greekspec2]

the Ushio 14k is the same as the Giesemann Coral and BLV 14k....if you get an Infiniti let me know and you can have my Giesemann Crystal its new just pay shipping.

 

[Chibils]

the Ushio 14k is the same as the Giesemann Coral and BLV 14k....if you get an Infiniti let me know and you can have my Giesemann Crystal its new just pay shipping.

Thanks for the help! So this is the same bulb as an Ushio 14k? I have a good choice on DE bulbs it seems, between the Ushio and Giesemann 14k and the AB 10k.

That is a very generous offer btw. I'm not sure I can take you up on that, since I'm not sure when I'll be able to start my build. It's entirely dependent on whether or not this home renovation drains my wallet.

 

[A. grandis]

I tried the bulb because I wanted to see if it had more blue then a BLV,Ushio,Aqua Medic,Giesemann which are all the same bulb....Hamilton mentioned to me on a conversation awhile ago that there bulbs use to come from a company from Holland, so I figured they were produced by Phillips,Osram or Narva.

I have a Giesemann ballast now which is the same as Aqua Medic 'Vossloh Schwabe components' no need to worry about ANSI codes because these are the correct ballast for EU bulbs.

Just waiting on Philips Coral Care to release another fine EU product....

This thread actually can become a nice one, with great info nevertheless.
Where did you get your Giesemann ballast from?
Thanks.

 

[Chibils]

It really did. I'm learning a lot here.

 

[greekspec2]

This thread actually can become a nice one, with great info nevertheless.
Where did you get your Giesemann ballast from?
Thanks.

you can order them direct from Giesemann or Aqua Medic but they are 230v 50hz so you need a step down converter to run ballast from Europe.

No ansi code because there are only one type of magnetic ballast in Europe which are nice and compact with small encapsulated transformers and a igniter thats it.

 

[greekspec2]

another one so you can see there really is only four different kelvins available from BLV arc tubes 10k 14k 16k BL-20k regardless of what the private label companies Giesemann,AB,Ushio,Aquaconnect ect....put on the box, BLV invented the first 10k bulb btw.

 

[Chibils]

This has turned out to be a very informative thread. Thanks for all this info @greekspec2 ! How does one go about ordering from Giesemann directly, e.g. say I decided to run my SE pendants and need a ballast? I figure I could email them, but you seem very knowledgeable.

 

[greekspec2]

parts you order from Giesemann direct or theres a few aquatic shops that ship to the states as for bulbs you can get anywhere

 

[A. grandis]

you can order them direct from Giesemann or Aqua Medic but they are 230v 50hz so you need a step down converter to run ballast from Europe.

No ansi code because there are only one type of magnetic ballast in Europe which are nice and compact with small encapsulated transformers and a igniter thats it.

What converter are you using/recommend?
Thanks!

 

[A. grandis]

I tried many times to see this attachment without any success.

 

[A. grandis]

For the sake of the searching engine... more about the subject here:

Metal Halides are the bomb

Ushio 14k definitely not = to AC 14k.... if you say so those are not the mfg charts call them there 10hrs ahead German Central Time

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