So, this week I had to make a serious decision. A crossroad was upon me. I have been running three 250 watt halides still. Two on 400-watt ballast set to 250 super lumens, and one 250 set to “hqi”. Well, it took me way too long to notice, but the 250 had really dimmed out. Finally got my par meter out and was only seeing a dismal 100-ish at the surface. So the thinking process began…
Do I try to get another 400 watt selectable, and keep things the way they were? Or maybe I should bump up to all 400-watt bulbs, as I wasn’t seeing the best par on the other two anyway. I think that the electronic ballast in luminarc reflectors was not really delivering like I was wanting anyway.
You see, I had always run the Iwasaki's on m-80 250 watt ballasts, which would overdrive them to around 350 and they were super bright and had a ton of “punch”. I still accredit some of my best coloration ever to this “punch” curly anecdotal of course.
Anyway.
Ultimately I was faced with the decision on whether or not I actually want to invest more money in equipment that I will inevitably be forced to abandon, as the equipment itself is fast becoming even harder to get or altogether nonexistent. I had Carlos and company digging deep in their warehouses for a 400-watt ballast and a few Reeflux 10ks for me to no avail. And even begged the guys at BRS to blow out for me their last bunch of 400 watt Iwasaki's, before settling down and realizing what I had to do. After a long day of pondering exactly that, just what was I going to do here? I came up with this unceremoniously nostalgic but pragmatic solution.
I dusted off my REALLY rusty (seriously, I should have done a before and after) old M-80s, and 3 Lumenbrite reflectors (a par powerhouse combination) and spent a couple of days "back in time." Rewiring mogul sockets, and "conaptors" and big clunky hardware timers. Attaching bulb brackets to freshly shined but forever smeared reflectors. Loving every bittersweet second as I re-set up the halide system that had always worked so well for me. The only reason I didn’t run the M-80s was purely out of efficiency. While they drive the Iwasaki's really good and "hot", was not the most efficient option. You see, there are two approaches with regard to gear, to running a prop system. One, is just use as many pumps, lights etc, as possible with little or no concern for efficiency to maximize yield. This will lead to higher costs but certainly works. Or, one can take a bit more efficient approach and weigh out all combinations of consumption, light spread, par, etc, to best balance effectiveness and efficiency. With the new set up I took the efficiency route mostly while still trying to maximize whenever I can. For example. Running 250 watt Iwasaki 65k in Lumenbrite reflectors to achieve roughly the same par as I did with 400 watt 10K in Luminarcs. Sacrificing spread with the 250s only a little and shaving daily consumption just barely enough to make me feel better about it. Splitting hairs perhaps but I applied this line of thinking to the entire setup. And for the most part, it has been excellent. I mean a 600.00 electric bill could easily be double that if taking the first approach. The only place I really compromised was on my ballast selection going with electronic and putting the m-80s in the closet. Till now.
So I know this is kind of a scattered and a bit boring of a read. Really more just me putting my thought process, "stream of conscious" style on-screen. But, in case you are wondering where am I at with all of this at this point? Just where did I land after my introspective week? I'll tell you. Simply put, I have 9 more 65k bulbs. When the time comes that I have burned up my last bulb, roughly 3 years from now. I will absolutely be turning off the halides for good, maybe...
Lumenbrite magic. Back to 750 par at the surface dry, at over 30 inches above the waterline!
Do I try to get another 400 watt selectable, and keep things the way they were? Or maybe I should bump up to all 400-watt bulbs, as I wasn’t seeing the best par on the other two anyway. I think that the electronic ballast in luminarc reflectors was not really delivering like I was wanting anyway.
You see, I had always run the Iwasaki's on m-80 250 watt ballasts, which would overdrive them to around 350 and they were super bright and had a ton of “punch”. I still accredit some of my best coloration ever to this “punch” curly anecdotal of course.
Anyway.
Ultimately I was faced with the decision on whether or not I actually want to invest more money in equipment that I will inevitably be forced to abandon, as the equipment itself is fast becoming even harder to get or altogether nonexistent. I had Carlos and company digging deep in their warehouses for a 400-watt ballast and a few Reeflux 10ks for me to no avail. And even begged the guys at BRS to blow out for me their last bunch of 400 watt Iwasaki's, before settling down and realizing what I had to do. After a long day of pondering exactly that, just what was I going to do here? I came up with this unceremoniously nostalgic but pragmatic solution.
I dusted off my REALLY rusty (seriously, I should have done a before and after) old M-80s, and 3 Lumenbrite reflectors (a par powerhouse combination) and spent a couple of days "back in time." Rewiring mogul sockets, and "conaptors" and big clunky hardware timers. Attaching bulb brackets to freshly shined but forever smeared reflectors. Loving every bittersweet second as I re-set up the halide system that had always worked so well for me. The only reason I didn’t run the M-80s was purely out of efficiency. While they drive the Iwasaki's really good and "hot", was not the most efficient option. You see, there are two approaches with regard to gear, to running a prop system. One, is just use as many pumps, lights etc, as possible with little or no concern for efficiency to maximize yield. This will lead to higher costs but certainly works. Or, one can take a bit more efficient approach and weigh out all combinations of consumption, light spread, par, etc, to best balance effectiveness and efficiency. With the new set up I took the efficiency route mostly while still trying to maximize whenever I can. For example. Running 250 watt Iwasaki 65k in Lumenbrite reflectors to achieve roughly the same par as I did with 400 watt 10K in Luminarcs. Sacrificing spread with the 250s only a little and shaving daily consumption just barely enough to make me feel better about it. Splitting hairs perhaps but I applied this line of thinking to the entire setup. And for the most part, it has been excellent. I mean a 600.00 electric bill could easily be double that if taking the first approach. The only place I really compromised was on my ballast selection going with electronic and putting the m-80s in the closet. Till now.
So I know this is kind of a scattered and a bit boring of a read. Really more just me putting my thought process, "stream of conscious" style on-screen. But, in case you are wondering where am I at with all of this at this point? Just where did I land after my introspective week? I'll tell you. Simply put, I have 9 more 65k bulbs. When the time comes that I have burned up my last bulb, roughly 3 years from now. I will absolutely be turning off the halides for good, maybe...
Lumenbrite magic. Back to 750 par at the surface dry, at over 30 inches above the waterline!
