Generic Brand MH Ballasts?

M

mygreengoldfish

AC Members
Jul 26, 2004
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Berkeley, CA
I have been looking on the web at numerous online stores and am wondering about the differences between the big name, high price electronic MH ballasts like IceCap and Blueline and the much cheaper "generic" brand ballast that sell for $30 to $100 less.

Every ballast has the same features like overload protection, open circuit connection, the big names may have an extra one that is pointless, etc... but the pricing difference is huge. Is there any difference between them all? I am running a cheap electronic MH ballast and don't know how the big names can be any better.

The no name ballasts include ARO, Helios and EVC Tech. Why are they so much cheaper?
 
There is a significant difference between ballasts in terms of how much light you get out of the lamps, how efficiently they drive them, and how long the lamps last. Even the "expensive" ones differ quite a bit. Also, I don't know if the generics have it, but one very nice feature is the "restrike prevention," which keeps the ballast from re-firing the lamp until it has been off for 5 minutes. Adds a lot to lamp life. Extending the life of expensive bulbs and running them with less power will save quite a bit over time.

At his Cnidarian Reef website, Joe Burger compares various lamps and ballasts. Click on "250 Watt Metal Halide Testing" under links.
 
icecap and blueline are electronic ballasts, the generic ones are magnetic. Ballasts like PFO's are also magnetic. But they are already installed in cases and wired up. You can DIY a magnetic ballast for little money.
 
Mogurnda-The cheaper ones do have the restrike prevention along with open circuit protection, etc... and the cheaper ones run at around the same amount of electricity though the bulb as the more expensive one.

slipknottin-No, I am talking about electronic cheap ones. Sorry if I didn't make this clearer in my original post but all the ballasts I am comparing are electronic. Normal tar ballasts are cheaper than the cheap electronic ones but not by much.

The only difference I have found is that the big names use advertising while the cheap ones don't. But this can't justify a $100 dollar price difference for every product.
 
oops. my reading skills are lacking today.

Anyways, their is not much of a difference, icecap and blueline were developed for aquariums, smaller market, hobby market, hence higher price. There are differences bewteen all the ballasts in terms of efficiency, running wattage, and bulb wattage. I personally dont see a significant enough difference to pay much more money for one, but thats just me, many out there gladly pay the greater price for what they determine to be a better product.
 
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