Icecap 660 Question

[waterbury guy]

With a 660 can you independently controll the actinic and daylight bulbs? What I'm gettng at is do all 4 bulbs have to be on at the same time or can you set up a timer to have just your actinics on in the morning and evening and have the actinics and daylights running during the day. Thanks for the help!!

 

[slothy]

in reef (right now its on page 2) there is a thread called "icecap 660 owners" they are talking about making one (brainstorming ideas) onhow to make one in that thread

 

[bang guy]

I'm not as smart as the guys making the relays in the other thread. I had to use two ballasts.

 

[p_apac]

the icecap 660 has a plug on the side for a timer/dimmer mabye it would also do what you are wanting to do.

 

[krishj39]

yeah sammy, i agree, they'd make some sales on a model that does that. probably they are thinking of the higher costs for that model. the fact that we can't figure out a way to DIY would seem to indicate it isn't the easiest thing for them to do either (at least not without significant increase in cost). probably the easiest thing for them to do would be to sell a ballast that was really 2-4 small ballasts, then you can run each bulb separately, but if this is the case, then we can already do that, we would just need to buy more smaller ballasts.

 

[jcsurfn]

What is the difference between VHO and PC? Is it just more watts?

 

[krishj39]

VHO is a "regular" sized bulb that can have tons more power going through it, so the result is it puts out more light as well.
You don't mention them, but there are also HO (High Output), these are basically the product between NO and VHO, more power than NO, less than VHO. They aren't used much however since it doesn't cost much more to just get the more effective VHO.
PC is a really really long bulb that has been wrapped around and around so that it fits in a smaller space. So that way, you can have the power of, say, a 72" bulb in the space of 30."
VHO and PC are very comparable in effectiveness.
Oh, if you are a DIY, don't fall for buying screw in house bulbs that are little PC's. These are not appropriate for aquarium use.

 

[jcsurfn]

So at what watts does it go from a NO to a VHO bulb? I was looking at your signature whree it says
2-110w VHO, 4-40w NO
So are this bubls just the round tube bulbs?
Alsi if I were to get some VHO I would basically just buy a ballast with some end caps right? The ballast also putting out good wats right?
Thank You

 

[gregzbobo]

a 4 foot long normal output flourescent tube is 40 watts, a 4 foot VHO tube is 110 watts.

 

[jcsurfn]

If I was looking to add mor watts to my tank would it make any sence to put a couple of NO flourescent tube? I currently have a retro kit of 2 65 watt PC. I have a 55 gal. tank so I am not getting 3 watts per gal. yet and would like to get at least 3 watts per gal. going. So if I even added one No that would get me to 3 watts per gal. would that work? Or does the NO not really work well?

 

[jagermeister]

Someone was telling me you can use the icecap setup to overdrive no tubes. Is this correct? So instead of a 48" tube producing 40 watts you can run it with the icecap ballast and it will almost double in wattage.

 

[krishj39]

jagermeister, you are partly right. you can use NO bulbs with Icecaps. However, you will not over drive them. They will run on the Icecap just as they would on an NO ballast. This is a good thing because if they did over drive the bubls you would have a fire hazard, and also wear out your bulbs and ballast very very quickly.

 

[jcsurfn]

As I said in a post above would it be a good idea to run NO bulbs not on a icecap 660 but onn another ballast to get up to the watts I ned for my tank. I have a retro kit with 2 65 watt PC which is not up to 3 watts per gal. So if I added one 40 watt NO or probably 2 this would get me up to the 3 wats per gal. or more. Will this work? or do you not usually want to run NO for your reef?

 

[jcsurfn]

Well I had just read that it is good to have at leat 3 to 5 watts per gal. for you tank. I currently have 2 retro kits of 65 watts PC each. So that is not very much light. So I was looking into adding something like 40 or 60 or 65 watt NO or VHO to what I already have which is 2 65 watt each PC.

 

[dindi]

jagermeister, hmmm seems like a good drink to me, one for you and one for me..
now seriously, can I retrofit a 48 in standard hood type light strip with 2 bulbs into VHO type lighting. And also, why use the VHO? couldn't you use say halogen lights? Is the intensity more important or what. Help, this is the only part od swf keeping that confuses me

 

[reefsoe]

Ive got a question i hope someone can help me with...
My 660 ( I think its a 660 ) its a blue ballast. Anyway, i have your standard sockets... one that leads to all the colored wires and out to the bulbs. My problem is the 4 pin socket, im assuming that is for power. :: <---- 4 pin in a square not side by side, now ive seen these connectors for computer motherboards as additional power.
How do i get the power to my ballast?
ReefSOE

 

[slothy]

Harness

 

[reefsoe]

I have the 16 pin Molex i need the 4 pin molex

 

[slothy]

"This six-foot wiring harness has a 16 pin Molex connector and replaces the original harness supplied with each IceCap Model 660 VHO electronic ballast. All lamp and power wires are present on the same harness. All wires are 18 gauge solid copper"
i dont own one so i dont know

 

[reefsoe]

See the ballast has no way of plugging into the wall... except this 4pin molex... im guessing i have to splice a cable an make one