VHO or PC?
- Thread starter asbury030
- Start date
jlem
Active Member
I have had both and Pc's run hotter but last alot longer. VHO actinics look alot better than PC's but Daylight PC's look alot better than VHO's.. I don't have any hard data, but I have had both systems for both daylight and Actinic and chose PC's for daylight and VHO's for actinic because that was the best looking combination to me.
I do know that after 6 months I could see a noticable loss of intensity from my Daylight VHO's and after a year my PC daylight looked as bright as day one. Actinics seem to look the same untill they just quit working. I have always found that PC's are alot stronger than VHO's because they are thicker glass. I had a PC drop 14 inches and worked just fine where as a VHO bulb will quit working if you tighten the end caps to much and crack it.
2 PC bulbs are alot more expensive than 1 VHO bulb but PC's will last twice as long at least so it evens out.
Most VHO ballast will overdrive normal output bulbs which is nice if you ever need to overdrive a normal bulb ifyour VHO's quit working and all you have is a normal output bulb.
I do know that after 6 months I could see a noticable loss of intensity from my Daylight VHO's and after a year my PC daylight looked as bright as day one. Actinics seem to look the same untill they just quit working. I have always found that PC's are alot stronger than VHO's because they are thicker glass. I had a PC drop 14 inches and worked just fine where as a VHO bulb will quit working if you tighten the end caps to much and crack it.
2 PC bulbs are alot more expensive than 1 VHO bulb but PC's will last twice as long at least so it evens out.
Most VHO ballast will overdrive normal output bulbs which is nice if you ever need to overdrive a normal bulb ifyour VHO's quit working and all you have is a normal output bulb.
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