DIY Icecap...its not what you think

[miatawnt2b]

I have a bunch of 48" t12/t8 electronic instant start ballasts laying around that each drive 2 tubes. If I remember correctly, each has 4 yellow wires, 2 blue and 2 red. So I should be able to run 1 t8 with each ballast and get 2x overdriven, Correct?

Now I can't exactly understand how to wire the endcaps. Each tube has 2 pins on each end. Am i just supposed to twist all yellow together, all blues and reds together and use 1 pin on each side of the tube?

-J

 

[H20ENG]

miatawnt2b
Sounds like a 4 lamp ballast. You can drive 2 lamps OD.
2 twisted yellows to each lamp. Then 2 twisted blues on one and 2 twisted reds on the other.

 

[WarDaddy]

I set up my tank based on this design.

I have 4 ballasts each are 4 lamp 32w, for the 4ft tubes.

I have Overdriving 4 6500K bulbs from home depot at 2x
and I am overdriving 2 VHO antanic bulbs at 4x.

The setup is VERY bright, it is on a 55 Gallon, soon to be reef.

here is a gallery of the construction of the hood/lights...

http://gifford-family.smugmug.com/gallery/651634

 

[glenns]

I decided to try to over-drive my 36" 10000K T8's. I purchased a GE -432-MAX-N-IP from Home Depot. This electronic ballast is designed to drive 4 T8 bulbs. My concearn is that it is not for residential use only. Has anyone used this ballast in their unit?

I replaced the ballast in the 2 bulb strip with the GE ballast. Fits perfectly. Wired it up per the instructions to get 2x from each bulb. The light is more intense than before.

 

[glenns]

Do ZooMed bulbs tend to fail when you overdrive them? I have 36" 10000K bulbs, and two have died.

 

[spykes]

for what you guys are doing... you can do T-5s for about the same amount =/

 

[glenns]

I have not been able to locate a T5 retro kit. The light fixtures I've seen start at $300 and go up to $700. In contrast, my two ballasts cost less than $60. I'm only keeping corals that require low to moderate light.

I think the lights may have failed, because they were old, and I did not have the fixture wired properly. I've since corrected the wiring. Hopefully I will not have anymore problem.

 

[glenns]

I give up on over-driving. I've lost about $75 in bulbs. I've decided to go with T5's. Hopefully I can return the ballast. They are still running fine. I guess the 36" bulbs cannot handle the increase.

 

[ronc98]

Has anyone tried driving a 72" VHO Actinic with the standard over drive setup? Not really trying to over drive the VHO just want to drive them close to their max without a VHO ballast.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Been running 2x ODNO on an 80g softie tank for about a year. Haven't changed the tubes yet. 2 HD shop lights, with 2 Phillips daylight tubes and 2 Zoomed actinics.

 

[pangea]

Ugly,
That is great how are your softies liking it (they look good). What ballast are you using?

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Thx, Pangea.

The ballast is one of the instant start ones at Home Depot. Advance something or other. It's the one that can run 4 48" tubes.

I just get the $8 shop light and swap out the ballast for the Advance instant start ballast, and wire it up as 2x ODNO.

 

[spence15610]

this has been a very good post, Could we see more pictures of tanks with this lighting set up

 

[Roland Jacques]

So how do you guys think the light output of these ODx2 32 setup compares to T-5 HO 54 watts bulb???

 

[Roland Jacques]

Am i thinking right? when it stated that 1.7 power factor when overdriving 2xs.

So the wattage should be 32watts x 1.7 = 54 watts.

 

[BeanAnimal]

PF 1.7? No such thing.

PF is a non dimensional number with 1 being a purely resistive load that returns NO energy back to the source (unity). 0 is a purely reactive load that returns all of the energy back to the source (does not work). PF of most ballasts is .4 to .6 HPF (high power factor ballasts) come in at .9.

Have no idea what or where the 1.7 came from or what it refers to unless you are confusing "Crest Factor" with "Power Factor".

The crest factor states the peak amount of current that the ballast will draw at the peak of the sinewave (remember RMS measurements?)

The "CF" is the peak value of the sine wave divided by the RMS value... confused yet?

Well anyway most ballasts come in around a 1.7 CF It is just a way of showing the ripple that the ballasts create (or depending on persective, smooth) with regard to the sine wave they are being fed with. It is "tied" to the PF but not the same thing.

Without getting real confusing... lets say the Crest Factor is 1.7 that means even though the RMS current through the bulb is 1A, at points in the sine wave, that current can hit 1.7A where the RMS current (what you are billed for ... as calcuted with the Power Factor and Voltage) is still 1A


Does that help?

 

[Roland Jacques]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8829453#post8829453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal


Does that help?

:hmm4: NO!!!

But thanks for trying Bean. Its me Roland here, you need to talk down to me a little.

im just trying see find out how close in comparison to the T-5 this 2xs overdrive would be.

Im setting up a prop system of six 12x12 x48" tanks (old Mars systems) im looking at doing lighting on the cheep.
18 lights total. The math tells me this way is cheaper.

Overdrive set up $250
9 ballast for $110 (bulk price). 12 sunshine bulbs $42 Six zoomed actintics $84
(lowes has a a GE 'sunshine bulb that looks good cri and lumme wise $3.50 ). price wise looks like the way to go.

T-5 setup $560
18 bulbs $20 ea = $360, 6 workhorse8 ballast $33ea = $198

(without the good parabolic refletors) do you think they would be close PAR/ lummen wise?

 

[Roland Jacques]

this is wher i got the 1.7 factor. The power i through in myself, my bad.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=3220187#post3220187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by a1
well i just found this info on overdriving bulbs.I have been doing this for about 11 months.Im using 1 t8 bulb 5500k and 1 t12 antic.
As stated the lamp life on the t12 in 6 month is burned about 6 inch down both ends of the tube. I think you should do T8 antic instead of t12 for reasons stated in the articles first page or two.
Also the t8 bulb i replaced in 6 to 7 month becaused it had blacken about 2 inches down on both side,and bulb was only 3 dollars.Also from my test with watt meter and others i found that a 4x32 ballast with 2 of the outputs on one bulb overdrove the bulb to a factor of 1.7 but with all 4 outputs it was only 2.3 so i just do the 2x over drive thing and use the other 2 outs to overdrive the other tube. So i guess what im saying is that most ballast will not give you a true 4 x over drive when useing all 4 outputs.i got the most light for the bulk driving 2 bulbs from one 4x32 ballast. Also im not telling anyone to do this or try this.!!!!!!! Im just saying this is what i do. Also I would like to know if this is what other people are finding in ther diy :bum:

 

[H20ENG]

Roland,
Thats a good deal on 4x32t8 ballasts. Jump on them.
I have seen 2x32 shoplight fixtures with electronic ballasts for $10 at HD or Lowes. This would require a second 2 x 32 ballast to wire into the fixture, but this would give you the fixture, endcaps, reflector, etc. Or get the shoplights and completely swap for the single 4 lamp ballasts.
I think the consensus is that ODing 2 lamps is the best all around mix of output and longevity. Unfortunately I have never used t5s to compare it to.

 

[H20ENG]

Oh, and Philips makes a 6500K "daylight" lamp for the same cost as the 5000K GE sunshine lamp. I have even seen them at HD or Lowes.