Will a PFO MH ballast fire an iwisaki?

[cheletnjared]

I was looking through premium aquatics site and saw the PFO MH ballast. 250w MH ballast (http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code =PFO250D&Category_Code=PFOballast) Does anyone out there know if it will fire a Iwisaki bulb or not? If not, what bulb would you recommend for this ballast. Also, if the Iwisaki will not fire on this ballast, then which component ballast would you recommend for the Iwisaki? - Jared.

[David Grigor]

I would go with that ballast. It will fire a Iwasaki plus most of the other major single ended MH bulbs.

There is a MV ballast PFO makes specifically for the Iwasaki. Only problem is that with that ballast your stuck with that bulb. Some say it burns the bulb a little whiter but IMO I can't really tell a difference. I personally would rather have the options that the ballast you mention would give you if you ever wanted to try different bulbs.

[Desert Fish]

I have had several discussions with PFO teks on this. The problem is that a standard tar&coil ballast includes an ignitor. Since Iwasaki bulbs have an internal ignitor, this causes a "hard" start which will shorten the bulb life. MV or EYE ballast does not have an ignitor

[Chuck S]

Well I can tell you that many a person runs the Iwasaki with tar ballasts. Alot of them with the PFO tar ballast. There is not shortage of bulb life or none that is worth meantioning. Bulbs last 12-18 months. MV or EYE ballasts sell very little in this industry because of the ability to only run one type of bulb.

[SueT]

The PFO ballast is all I have ever used with my iwasaki lamps. I have used the iwasaki as the only MH since I started years ago. I have run my PFO ballast and iwasaki's for right at 12 months and change the bulbs out. The leftover bulbs then go on to my 29g frag tank til I throw the bulbs away.