UV Bulbs, Lamps; UVC Bulb Guide

Jebo UV Sterilizer Review

2011-05-05T09:31:00.001-07:00

The Jebo UV Sterilizer is a popular UV in many stores in California (Jebo products are Chinese made and designed and shipped from Monterey Park, California), as well as with many eBay sellers due to their very low price.

However, that said and and based on the experience of many aquarium maintenance professionals; these are UV Sterilizers that should be avoided.

The Jebo UV Sterilizers are prone to premature ballast failure, have poor construction which can result in early leaks.
As well the UV Bulb/Lamps used are often non industry standard cheap Chinese knock offs. For example both the 11 and 13 Watt UV bulbs are not the standard size of other 11 or 13 watt bulbs, with the result of forcing the consumer to purchase another Jebo UV lamps instead of the higher quality UV bulbs (such as those linked to here).

Finally, and probably most important; Jebo has a "All Sales are Final" policy. I know this based on a few honest sellers of their products that have tested brand new Jebo UVs (& other products) and had them fail right out of the box. When attempted to return to Jebo, the answer was "Sorry, all sales are final"

Is saving $10 -$20 with one of these eBay sellers or similar for an important piece of Aquarium or pond equipment worth it?

Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer; Review, Ballast & Dwell Time Problems

2010-05-02T15:46:00.001-07:00

Updated 10/30/11

Coralife (by Oceanic) Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizers are considered by many to be the among the two most efficient compact UV Sterilizers for ultraviolet sterilization on the market today.
However this is really NOT the case as their design has Poor UVC dwell time and worse (as per extensive use by a large aquarium/pond maintenance company), the ballasts in the Turbo Twist have a 100% failure rate within the first 2-3 years, resulting in new UV-C Bulbs not being able to properly light.

The Turbo Twist feature a quartz glass sleeve with a PL compact fluorescent UV lamp surrounded by a unique "Turbo-Twist" flow design to increase contact time, which in turn increases efficiency.
Continuous ultraviolet sterilization of your aquarium or pond water eliminates single-cell algae for crystal-clear aquariums/ponds and also eradicates many harmful microorganisms on the initial pass through the chamber (depending upon flow rate).

The Coralife Turbo Twist is available in 3 models:
*Turbo-Twist 3X which requires a 9 Watt UV Bulb/Lamp

*Turbo-Twist 6X which requires a 18 Watt UV Bulb/Lamp

*Turbo-Twist 12X which requires a 36 Watt UV Bulb/Lamp

From mine and others in the professional Aquarium/Pond maintenance business use of the Coralife Turbo Twist UV Sterilizers, I have found this UV to be among the best of the Compact Design style (which utilize PLL/G11 & PLS/G23 UV Bulbs/Lamps).

Beside the very serious ballast issue, my other complaint is the "Twist"/Baffle design (this is more of a gimmick) does not provide any more dwell/exposure time (this based on controlled tests I might add) as the other top Compact UV Sterilizer; the Terminator by Via Aqua, and the cost of the Turbo Twist is generally about 25% more for slightly lower results due to lower UV-C penetration due to the baffles moving water from optimum UV-C exposure distance.
However as compared to the Tetra and especially the Jebo (as well as others), the results for the Oceanic Coralife Turbo Twist are better.

This said, your best choice for a UV Sterilizer if you are serious about performance and quality is the TMC Advantage/ Vecton UV Sterilizer line.

Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizers have been designed for use in all freshwater and saltwater aquatic systems.

For your Aquarium Lighting, please visit this in-depth web site:
Aquarium Lighting; Facts & Information

Air Purifier; Biozone

2010-04-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

What can a Air Purifier do for your home?

The Biozone Pure Home 1000 Air Purifier/Air Cleaner (Designed for Coverage of 500 to 1000 square feet) and other BioZone products can help provide a safe, clean healthy home environment free from contamination such as bacteria, viruses, mold, allergens, smoke, odors, dust, and much more!
Useful for persons (or even pets) with allergies, hay fever or sensitivity to airborne allergens.

The BioZone Model 1000 Air Purifier/Air Cleaner is the perfect solution for your large apartment or the first floor of your home. Place a Biozone Pure Home 1000 Air Purifier / Air Cleaner on each floor of your two story home or put one in your finished basement and enjoy fresh pure clean air everywhere!

How it works
Biozone family of air purifiers use two purifying technologies to purify the air and surfaces; photochemistry and photoplasma. By combining these two technologies with the Biozone PureWave™ process, Biozone air purifiers offer a unique method of cleaning the air in your home or office.

Ultraviolet light breaks down the electron bonds of organic molecules in contaminates such as toxic volatile organic compounds, dust particles (such as hair, dander, dust mite feces, etc.) and biological contaminants (such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi). This Photochemistry process destroys these organic molecules in the Biozone air purification process.

The energy from the UV lamp also forms a cold gas plasma in the photoplasma process. Gases are excited inside the Biozone chamber, creating this highly energized gaseous state. This gas can destroy virtually all organic contaminants. After leaving the Biozone air purifier, these gases sanitize surfaces 100 to 2000 times faster than other decontamination processes.

Where to purchase replacement lamps/bulbs for your BioZone Purifier?

*10 Watt T5 UV Bulb; PUVLF210

UV Replacement Bulb Maintenance, Resources

2010-03-04T14:35:00.001-08:00

What makes a quality UVC Bulb for replacement in an Ultraviolet Sterilizer, Clarifier, Purifier or similar device?

To start with often it is not the bulb itself but proper cleaning/maintenance of the Sterilizer, clarifier unit at the time of bulb change.
For instance if your Sterilizer/clarifier uses a quartz sleeve, this should be cleaned at ever bulb change, otherwise residue such as hard water deposits that accumulate on Sterilizers used for ponds or aquarium applications can block much of the useful UVC energy, rendering your bulb change basically useless. Even air purifiers can accumulate debris or residue that can also block useful UVC energy, so this too should be removed when servicing the bulb.

Of coarse many UVC Bulbs are not the same; some only produce 80% or more of the initial UVC irradiation energy for a couple of months versus properly designed low pressure mercury lamps that produce 250-260 NM of UVC light energy necessary for effective Sterilization.
Many rejects (that often find there way to eBay) are NOT pure low pressure mercury lamps and range into the 350 NM range which is not effective for Sterilization.
See this article for more: UV (UVC) lamps (Bulbs) used in Aquariums and Ponds and how they work.

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