Dizzyswimmer
In Memoriam
Alright , Question I have T10 lights 48 " What Ballast do I need to OD them. The t8 ballast or what ?
Thanks, Dizzy
Thanks, Dizzy
DIY Icecap...its not what you think
- Thread starter reefburnaby
- Start date
El negrito
New member
A little of topic but ... I'ts so interesting to see this post keep going and going and going ....
El negrito
New member
But it'll be even more ineresting to read about reefburnabys reflections and coments about his experiance in this DIY project after all this time.
martinezdarius
New member
I just ran out today and purchased a Sylvania QT4X32 T8. Added a phillips 32w and 4x'd it. No problems, and the lighting was so amazing I went out and purchased another ballast ($18) and added yet another Phillps bulb! Great idea here, and now on to the 135g. 
....Thanks for the post reefburnaby!!
....Thanks for the post reefburnaby!!
I've been doing it for a couple of years now and I haven't had any problems. No bulbs exploding, no fire, nothing. I've ran them 2x, 3x and 4x, with no issues. Just as long as you have some basic understanding and respect for electricity you won't have any problems.
I've used the bulbs from HD, but found them to be too yellow, so I have only one on now. The best bulbs (cheapest) I have found are from Drsfostersmith, Zoo-med. You can get them for ~ $10 to $14 a piece.
AL ur Pal wrote
"im thinking of overdriving 2 24" NO bulbs on a 4 48" ballast. Would this work? too much power? not enough?"
I would think this is a little too far, I wouldn't try to drive them anymore than 4 times.
I've used the bulbs from HD, but found them to be too yellow, so I have only one on now. The best bulbs (cheapest) I have found are from Drsfostersmith, Zoo-med. You can get them for ~ $10 to $14 a piece.
AL ur Pal wrote
"im thinking of overdriving 2 24" NO bulbs on a 4 48" ballast. Would this work? too much power? not enough?"
I would think this is a little too far, I wouldn't try to drive them anymore than 4 times.
highestbid
New member
I dont quite get this I guess. A NO 24" T-8 is only 18 watts even if I OD it 3X it seems I will only get me 32 watts. And even at this the only 10K bulbs I can find are $11 each. Four of these over my 29G would only give me 128 watts. 128 watts over 29G still limits you to softies and polyps. I get that from cheap PC without any OD at all. With 24" VHO I can get 300W. Am I missing some magic point that makes this such a great deal?
You will be driving that 18 watt lamp with 32 watts with only one lead. With 2, you'd be pushing 60- but it would cook the lamp in short order. The general consensus is to only run 2x the normal wattage for NO lamps. 3X, you dont get much more light for the shortness of lamp life it causes.
If running VHO lamps, use all 4 leads, or simply buy a workhorse ballast
If running VHO lamps, use all 4 leads, or simply buy a workhorse ballast
highestbid
New member
I appreciate the correction So it's not possible to 3X an 18Watt bulb with that ballast -- it will either be 2X (one lead) or 4X (2 leads)? I assume that I could get an 18W ballast somewhere and use it to 3X. I guess my real question was -- where exactly is the savings is if the T-8 bulbs (10,000K) are 1/2 or more the cost of VHO bulbs (at least in this length -- might be a different story in larger bulbs)?
So it's not possible to 3X an 18Watt bulb with that ballast -- it will either be 2X (one lead) or 4X (2 leads)? I assume that I could get an 18W ballast somewhere and use it to 3X. I guess my real question was -- where exactly is the savings is if the T-8 bulbs (10,000K) are 1/2 or more the cost of VHO bulbs (at least in this length -- might be a different story in larger bulbs)?I've NEVER known N.O. T8 lamps to cost more than any VHO lamps. (???) I have noticed that shorter lamps are actually more $ than 4' lamps because they make less of them.
You could run 4-18 watt lamps from a 4x f32T8 ballast and have a good amount of light- almost double the wattage as normal.
HTH
You could run 4-18 watt lamps from a 4x f32T8 ballast and have a good amount of light- almost double the wattage as normal.
HTH
highestbid
New member
Can you give me a link to some cheaper T-8's?
Look at the Zoomed T8s. Maybe www.drsfostersmith.com
Agu said:
Yeah thats kind of what I did for my refugium I used two 24" 20w lamps, I dint wire them in series though I wired them straight using a ballst made for two 48" 40 watt lamps, there a lot brighter this way, but it does shorten the life of the lamps, its just as easy to get the proper ballast, and run either HO or VHO, but it works if you dont have the cash.
highestbid
New member
H20ENG said:
Even at almost double the power that is still just barely better than the 130 watts I get from my current PC lighting. Buying 4 of the bulbs you give the link to would cost $54
replacing my current PC bulbs is about $56
two URI VHO of 75 watts each are only $58
and a workhorse ballast to drive them is very nearly
the same as the f32t8 ballast to OD the t-8's
I didn't do this for the same reason tho, not enough improvment
over my current setup to justify buying a new ballast
Not trying to be pig headed here but I still fail to see the big advantage of overdriving. Again maybe the math works out diffferent with larger bulbs
255 255 255 0
New member
i am definitely gonna try this....i will setup 4 f32t8s, each overdriving a 48" 40w.. hope this works.
