MH Ballasts Magnetic vs Electronic

[kjdeut]

Hey Everyone,
Im looking at upgrading my current fixture from 2x150 HQI to 2x250 HQI and not sure whcih way to go with the ballast.
Hellolights.com has 2 ballasts that will work (http://www.hellolights.com/elbalmethal1.html), one is an ARO electronic ballast and the other is an Advanced Magnetic M80 ballast. I leaning towards the electronic because I know how much heat my 150 ballasrs give off. But I remmeber reading posts about electroninc ballasts interferring with other electronic devices in the house, is this still the case?
Any feedback on one vs. the other would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

[SaltBlock]

I use the old "bunny ears" on my TV (it gets me 3...almost 4 channels ). I have noticed that my IceCap 250 watt ballast makes the TV picture a little "snowy." However, I'm not sure if it interferes with the signal or something in the TV.

AEB

[yardboy]

I don't have the info here, but a recent (within the last year) study of bulb intensities showed that PFO magnetics had higher intensity with DE bulbs, which is the way I went. In my 3 bulb setup, I have two bulbs fired by a PFO double magnetic ballast and one fired by an Icecap Electronic balllast (18 months old). I noticed last night that the bulb fired by the electronic ballast was flickering spradically. Not sure if it was the bulb or ballast but something I will surely watch closely. I also bought a magnetic ballat (Intek industrial bare ballast) firing a Sunburst 12000 mogul bulb, and it seems to work fine (and considerably cheaper than the electronic or PFO magnetic)

Read Sanjay's studies on bulb and ballast combinations to help you decide. Oh and by the way, my PFO double ballasts don't get any warmer than the electronic ballast, which is to say, not much heat at all. (especially compared to the bare ballast, which gets pretty warm.
Here's the link to the studies: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/index/

[wanareef]

Here's some more reading if you have not seen it yet.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=201570

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=254667

[kjdeut]

Thanks for the respones and the links everyone.


Ken