Difference between PC's and T-5's?

[bizzmoneyb]

Im still learning about this whole lighting thing.. but what exactly makes T-5's superior to PC's? Im saying wattage for wattage here. What would make a 250 watt T5 setup superior to a 250 watt PC setup? I dont understand why?
I understand the physical differences, T-5s are smaller, cheaper, and consume less energy.. im talking about what is the difference in providing light to the tank. Ive been reading that some corals wont make it with PC's but will with T-5s. Why?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by BizzMoneyB
http:///forum/post/2731038
Im still learning about this whole lighting thing.. but what exactly makes T-5's superior to PC's? Im saying wattage for wattage here. What would make a 250 watt T5 setup superior to a 250 watt PC setup? I dont understand why?
I understand the physical differences, T-5s are smaller, cheaper, and consume less energy.. im talking about what is the difference in providing light to the tank. Ive been reading that some corals wont make it with PC's but will with T-5s. Why?
Nothing at all, unless you add a couple of things. One being make the T5's High out put, this increases their lumens per watt to more than what PC's or std flourescent are. And the other thing is to add individual reflectors over each bulb (something you cannot do with PC's). Parabolic reflectors are best, this redirects any wasted light down into the tank where it will benefit the most. Now you have a light fixture far superior to PC's or Std Flourescent.

 

[bang guy]

Restrike is when light from a bulb strikes the bulb. This situation is incredibly inefficient.
PC bulbs have a huge amount of restrike because the bulb is U shaped and light from one side directly strikes the other side. All of that light is wasted energy . Also because of the shape a significant amount of light bounces off the reflector restrikes the bulb.
T-5 and other linear bulbs have much less restrike because the reflector can reflect the light away from the bulb and down into the water. The skinnier the bulb the less restrike it will have.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
http:///forum/post/2731042
One being make the T5's High out put, this increases their lumens per watt to more than what PC's or std flourescent are.

I respectfully disagree. I believe that HO and VHO provide less light per watt that NO. You get much more light per inch but at a small cost in efficiency.
Running T-5 HO using an IceCap ballast provides even more light but again, it's slightly less efficient.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2731069
I respectfully disagree. I believe that HO and VHO provide less light per watt that NO. You get much more light per inch but at a small cost in efficiency.
Running T-5 HO using an IceCap ballast provides even more light but again, it's slightly less efficient.
Hmmmm...I need to locate the source of my info, as I make it a point to never repeat anything that I havent read in somewhere from published work or from my experience. I am by far not disagreeing with you, I just want to know if I mis-understood or they were completely wrong...

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2731059
Restrike is when light from a bulb strikes the bulb. This situation is incredibly inefficient.
PC bulbs have a huge amount of restrike because the bulb is U shaped and light from one side directly strikes the other side. All of that light is wasted energy . Also because of the shape a significant amount of light bounces off the reflector restrikes the bulb
IMO, all bulbs require a reflector to direct light a certain direccion in order for a light sprectrum to be more efficient.. In U shaped pc bulbs or SE mhs bulbs you must have a parabolic reflector of at least 3times bigger in diameter to the bulb..So that the parabolic reflector in a sense is acting as a reflective canopy to the bulb...
The reason why pcs have huge amount of restrike is mainly due to the inadequade diameter of reflector thus not forming a canopy (parabolic)to brace the bulb. And of course the bigger the diameter of bulb the more room you need to build an effective parabola..
You can make your own parabolic reflector with mirror,mylar,aluminium foil and even white glossy paint..
As i remenber back in the days when i started with SE mhs that came with no reflectors, At that time i used to have a canopy too.. So my solution was to paint the inside of the canopy a glossy white , thus giving me a very efficient parabolic reflector..
Back to original question:
Difference between PC's and T-5's?
T5's are just a compact/consolidated more bang for ur buck, version of pcs.. Kind of like DE mhs bulbs are a compact version of SE bulbs..