最近的阳光供应公开了Tek Wave Vho T5, its new line of VHO T5 hoods designed to run the next generation of VHO T5 bulbs. On first inspection, it looks like a regular T5 set up — same length, same width bulbs, and overall same styling of the hood. It’s not until you actually get to play with the system that the differences become apparent (unless of course you have already turned it on but more on that later). The unit we had to check out is a four bulb system, each bulb is 95W for a total of 380W.
As we intimated above, the new阳光供应Tek Wave Vho T5引擎盖与旧的T5引擎盖非常相似。总体而言，该设计具有相似的轮廓，包括黑色粉末涂层的铝制结构，沿着上侧带开槽的通风孔，以使热量逸出。安装挂钩再次用“ V”形悬挂杆拧紧眼睛 - 这很好，因为它可以轻松用这个新单元更换早期型号。乍一看，唯一的可见差异是一个改善，外观更大，电源开关和稍长较长的绳索。
It is not really until the hood is turned over that you begin to realize that this is a new breed of lighting unit. The first key feature we noticed was the fluted holes along the top of each reflector. Kept thin, but long, above each bulb are a series of heat escapes. This really sold us on the Tek Wave. Having run older Tek hoods we can attest to the heat buildup under them. The inclusion of these vents should really assist in the passive convection cooling by allowing upwards airflow across the bulb, and through the reflector.
让您知道这是新事物的第二个功能是，Ho T5灯泡将不合适。添加灯泡的插槽在TEK波上要薄得多，这对应于仅在VHO T5S上发现的扁平连接器引脚，这是一种巧妙的安全功能，可防止意外安装错误的灯泡。
引擎盖底部的嘴唇周围是一系列裸露的螺钉，这些螺钉用于锚定延伸柱，这些延伸柱将聚碳酸酯屏幕固定在设备前的前面。除了看起来不错，屏幕还可以防止高度抛光的反射器和灯泡被溅出。这使前者处于良好状态，延长了其功能性寿命，并防止后者在热玻璃上的冷水中可能破裂。安装螺栓和屏幕的组装仅需几分钟即可进行。
因此，在设置并准备好使用的情况下，您可能会问Tek Wave如何表现？像你们大多数人一样，我们只需要将其添加到任何水箱之前就必须进行启动 - 纯粹是为了测试灯泡是否已经到位并在安装所有水箱之前工作。对于我们来说，这可能是一个错误的错误，因为说这很明亮是一种轻描淡写的说法。几乎不可能看一下它的何时和关闭后，您将不得不等待几分钟，然后再看到“幽灵”的光线。
在坦克上同样令人印象深刻。通常，我在水位以上约6英寸的T5灯泡运行。我对这个单元做了同样的事情，并将其与现有的六块Tek ho t5以及改造四圆形T5进行了比较。在每种情况下，Tek Wave都很容易胜过比赛。While I didn’t have a good match of bulbs to that which I normally run (I used one each of Ocean Blue, Ocean White, Ocean Day and Ocean Actinic — which gave it a slight yellow cast) it was clear the Tek Wave was much brighter.
Preliminary testing, using the Apogee quantum meter, indicated directly under the unit at 12 in. water depth we were getting average readings of 300 umols of PAR while under the six-bulb hood and the four-bulb retro, values of 230 and 195 were observed respectively. Figuring a rough estimate of light output per watt total gives 0.77 umols/W for the Tek Wave, 0.66 for the six-bulb unit and 0.84 umols for the four-bulb retro. This makes the Tek Wave slightly less efficient than the earlier generation of HO T5s but far more efficient in terms of output per surface area.
In all honesty, the lower efficiency is not likely to be an issue for anyone looking for output. Out of curiosity, we also tested under a 250W metal halide reading 243 units for approx 1 umols/watt — however two MH units are required to cover the same surface as one Tek Wave making the Tek Wave a sure winner.
After running the unit for a week or so, the only true downside we can find is that heat seemed to be trapped under the inside of the unit’s top. After an hour of operation the top gets very hot to the touch across its entire length. In the past this has been a problem with the older Teks, since I would have to move them to get into my tanks and waiting for them to cool was a pain. By touch, the Tek Wave feels hotter.
This could possibly be relieved with the inclusion of heat vents in the top panel in addition to the sides. Having said that — when I examined this unit at MACNA, the top did not feel as hot, and my observation may be a reflection of using the unit in a real life set up as opposed to an open and well ventilated booth. It may be that providing more airflow over and through the unit would alleviate this issue.
这些单位的四灯泡单元的零售价为399美元，并为灯光提供了廉价且非常有力的选择，需要光线。
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