Euroquatics E5 Teardown

[gus6464]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2575976

 

On a Kill-a-watt they use the same exact power as regular T5 bulbs. This is a such a bullshit overpriced product.

[Sunar357]

Womp Womp!

[gus6464]

Marine Depot has dropped this product and will no longer carry it. Seems kind of odd when they were the first ones to get it and were promoting it heavily for months. Dropping a supposed hot product like this while it hasn't even been out a year is quite suspect.

[evilc66]

Ok, I actually had a little time last night to get some very preliminary measurements done. I compared the 10K Cool Daylight E5 to a used UVL Actinic White with an improvised reflector (not the best, but it's what I had available at the time).

 

Equipment Used:

• Fluke 87 V Industrial Multimeter
• Kill-a-Watt power meter
• Apogee Quantum Meter (old style, but same sensor as the MQ-200)
• Seek Thermal smartphone thermal imager

 

UVL Actinic White (24W):

• 29W draw measured at the wall
• 40 PAR @ 12"
• 84C measured about 1" from endcap
• 57.5VAC @ 106kHz

 

 

E5 Cool Daylight

• 19W draw measured at the wall
• 73 PAR @ 12" (corrected)
• 46C measured on heatsink
• 33.13VAC @ 105kHz

Lamp Top Side

 

Lamp Bottom Side (Heatsink)

 

Next steps will be getting one of the newer Giessmann bulbs to test with a better reflector setups so that the T5 performance will look more real world. The UVL bulb was a little tired, and with it being one of their T5HO-R bulbs (internal reflector), the performance isn't that great. I will also bet PAR figures from the Blue Pop E5, as well as start to poke around inside the bulb itself to see what's going on.

 

In regards to the link posted above about the E5s drawing the same power as the T5's, I'm wondering if that's a factor of the ballast used. That guy used an HEP ballast, which may have a fixed output. The Workhorse5 is more of a universal ballast, and as a result, adjusts itself to match the load placed upon it, which is why I did actually see a drop in power consumption. I'll try and wire up the HEP ballast to two bulbs to see if things still hold true.

 

Observations so far:

 

Well, it did draw less power, at least on the ballast I used. The difference isn't as great as they initially claimed, but they just put "Much lower power consumption!" now on the website, which I guess holds true.

 

PAR was good, even though it was compared to an old UVL bulb. The light was also very uniform. I couldn't see the individual diodes behind the diffuser, so at least it will look like T5 light once it's installed.

 

The heatsink was pretty warm to the touch. 46C isn't all that hot, but considering the terrible thermal path from the LEDs to the outside world, it's not the best indicator as to what the LED temperature actually is. This will be one of the next things I will be trying to measure. I have a feeling that the LEDs are going to be a little toasty.

[Rory282]

evilc66,

 

If someone with a red sea max c250 would swap all his t5's with e5's, do you think it would make a big difference in heat and power?

[evilc66]

Well, some of that is up in the air. I'll be able to better answer that once I can get things running on the HEP ballast. It will also depend on what ballast is used in the c250 also. If it's more like the Workhorse5, then there will be a decent savings in heat and energy.

 

I have a feeling that the RSM ballast used (a Jamicon unit) will behave the same way that the Workhorse5 does in that it will adjust its output based on the load. It's intended for 39W and 24W bulbs, so there is some universality to it. The HEP ballast is designed to only operate one type of bulb, so it may not be as flexible, and as a result, drive the E5 harder. We shall see.

[markalot]

Marine Depot has dropped this product and will no longer carry it. Seems kind of odd when they were the first ones to get it and were promoting it heavily for months. Dropping a supposed hot product like this while it hasn't even been out a year is quite suspect.

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idProduct=5U05947&child=5U05935

 

Where did you get the information that it was dropped?

[evilc66]

Euroquatics mentioned it in the RC post that is linked above (posts dated April 27th)

[markalot]

Ouch, going different directions in the industry?

[jamescstein]

Sounds like..

 

Marine Depot: We don't want to sell your chit anymore.

Euroaquatics: Well then we don't want you to sell our chit anymore... nya!

[Horerczy]

Neat.

 

I like Evil's testing more than that RC testing. The results are better presented.

[fessoclown]

So glad I found this thread. I am/was considering replacing at least 2 of my 6 T5 slots on my ATI 6x80W fixture with the Blue Pop bulbs. I was really keen on the idea before reading this thread and now I am thinking otherwise. I thought that maybe it would save me some power usage but it looks as if it's not really significant....

Thanks for the review so far....

[markalot]

So glad I found this thread. I am/was considering replacing at least 2 of my 6 T5 slots on my ATI 6x80W fixture with the Blue Pop bulbs. I was really keen on the idea before reading this thread and now I am thinking otherwise. I thought that maybe it would save me some power usage but it looks as if it's not really significant....

Thanks for the review so far....

 

Look at you since 2012 with 2 posts and talking 6x80 which is what I have. You care to start as tank thread in the Large Reefs forum?

[fessoclown]

 

Look at you since 2012 with 2 posts and talking 6x80 which is what I have. You care to start as tank thread in the Large Reefs forum?

Look at me... busted for lurking....

 

I didn't realize there was a large tank section here.... I may start a thread, I have a few going on various other forums, I suppose I could just cut and paste. I like this forum, maybe I'll do that...

[purduephotog]

OP: I found your chip in another t5 light. Unfortunately this one and another caught fire in the fixture. Doing a teardown analysis right now... more to come.

[evilc66]

That's not good news. Was it a lamp from Transcend Lighting (they make the E5 for Euroquatics)?