What is a PFO ballast?

[roland jacques]

I need some clarification.
I no theirs a ballast Brand called PFO. and they make a few different ballast.
I was under the impression that PFO ballast are a Pulse start ballast.

Is their a ballast number associated with PFO ballast?
What dose PFO stand for?

any help is appreciated

 

[victor626nj]

this might help

 

[skriz]

PFO is a brand name like Icecap

 

[glxtrix]

PFOs are core and coil..pretty much a magnetic ballast. Not sure if PFO stands for anything.

 

[flyingarmy]

I think it's Pretty F****** Obvious!!!

 

[harleyguy]

PFO does have a Pulse start Ballast. And Flyingarmy I think your close but the real name is Pretty F****** Overpriced!!!

 

[glxtrix]

They may be over priced, tho I've seen them pretty reasonable some places, but they kick some of the highest PAR out of bulbs than any other ballasts.

 

[harleyguy]

I agree, they are great ballasts, but I think that both PFO and Icecap inflate their prices based on there name... But they are great ballasts non the less.

 

[flyingarmy]

glxtrix;153505 wrote: They may be over priced, tho I've seen them pretty reasonable some places, but they kick some of the highest PAR out of bulbs than any other ballasts.

Hence why I picked up a Dual 400W to drive the lights on my 160 Cube!

 

[roland jacques]

glxtrix;153505 wrote: They may be over priced, tho I've seen them pretty reasonable some places, but they kick some of the highest PAR out of bulbs than any other ballasts.

This is why i ask, dosen't PFO (the brand) sell and or make i bunch of different ballasts. So when we say PFO gets better performance than a E ballast which kind are we talking about?

 

[glxtrix]

I wasn't aware they sold a variety of ballasts for aquarium use other than wattage.

 

[roland jacques]

It seems they do but im not positive. Just looking at their site they have a number of models... they even sugest EYE-Mercury ballast designed to operate the Iwasaki lamps optimally. Maybe these are ones that max out the Iwasaki lamps?

 

[humptrax]

H37 ballasts will operation iwasaki 250W optimally. i can't remember what the 400W version was.

the PFO ballasts will give you the same flexibility as electronic ballasts (at least with the 250W version). it will overdrive SE bulbs and although it might compensate longevity, i've read the performance difference between the bluewave and other bulbs (especially when testing 10k bulbs) are staggering.

i'd get the PFO ballast just so that i could switch to HQI if i wanted to. really, i think the flexibility of the ballast warrants the price.

i'm not quite sure if the 175W 15k iwasakis are MV bulbs. you can squeeze better performance out of those bulbs using electronic ballasts (bleedingthought on this board knows which is best).

 

[saltwater junky]

i have 4 of those 400 watt pfo ballast and they do kick out some awsome par

 

[skriz]

humptrax;153571 wrote: H37 ballasts will operation iwasaki 250W optimally. i can't remember what the 400W version was.

the PFO ballasts will give you the same flexibility as electronic ballasts (at least with the 250W version). it will overdrive SE bulbs and although it might compensate longevity, i've read the performance difference between the bluewave and other bulbs (especially when testing 10k bulbs) are staggering.

i'd get the PFO ballast just so that i could switch to HQI if i wanted to. really, i think the flexibility of the ballast warrants the price.

i'm not quite sure if the 175W 15k iwasakis are MV bulbs. you can squeeze better performance out of those bulbs using electronic ballasts (bleedingthought on this board knows which is best).

You don't need pfo ballasts to be able to use both SE and DE bulbs. What you need is an HQI ballast, period.

PFO is a brand name and nothing else. They do not manufacture the guts, they simply assemble them and put them into their enclosure.

 

[humptrax]

Skriz;153655 wrote: PFO is a brand name and nothing else. They do not manufacture the guts, they simply assemble them and put them into their enclosure.

i was trying to merely point out that the specific brand will fire both.

as we've discussed before, M80 and electronic ballasts will fire both SE and DE MH bulbs.

 

[roland jacques]

Aquaticco;153882 wrote: PFO is a manufacturer of their own brand of lighting equipment, ballasts fixtures etc...

PFO purchases their ballasts and puts them into their own housings and labels them as PFO

PFO manufactures a wide range of ballasts for both double ended and single ended bulbs.

PFO also make different types of ballasts. Normal core and coil, pulse start (european bulbs or if your overdriving), HQI and electronic.

Ballasts run from 70 watt to 400 watt.

Hope this helps

Doug

So from what i gather a PFO Ballast is basiclly just about any ballast made put in a thier own nice shinny box.