workhorse ballast ??

[fishman122]

i was wondering if anyone uses workhorse ballasts? they seem to be in the "budget" price range so, was wondering if anyone had had any success with them?

 

[fishman122]

??

 

[Tiki G.]

I have two Workhorse 5 ballast running a 96 watt actinic PC bulb each for a total of 192 watts. Use this to supplement my MH 10k bulb on my 45 gallon. Been using this set-up for about 6 months now and no problems with mine. Good inexpensive way to go if you ask me. There are more expensive routes to take, but not necessary unless you have the money to do so.

 

[rstark33]

I run a WH7 on two 48" VHO's for actinics with the halides. It does the job well.

 

[gabe3d]

I had two set of WorkHorse 7 running a 60'' VHO bulb with no problem for two years. I think it's a good buy at 35 each.

 

[horkn]

i have a w5 running 3x39 of t5ho on my tank.

after over 2 years of use on the original bulbs, i can honestly say that the instant satrt of the workhorse will not kill a t5ho bulb prematurely like many have told me would happen.

i can say that i see the output of the original bulbs has diminished.

new bulbs are coming shortly...

 

[poppin_fresh]

I think there are several major light manufacturers who use the WH ballasts. I have a couple that have yet to fail me.

 

[annewayne]

Does anyone have a link to them?

 

[sds]

dont mean to hijack but i was looking at their website fulham.com and i dont see anything saying a wh7 will light 2 48"vho can you help me with this? I have one and would like to use it for vhos

 

[rstark33]

I run it like wiring diagram 13 on their website. Except I make my 2 48 VHO's look like one long 8' by connecting the far ends.
Here is a very rough drawing of how I wire it.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q232/rstark33/vhowiringdiagram.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

I am not an electrician and do not guarantee or make any claims that this wiring will not shock you and burn your house down or make everything die in your tank, I take no liabilty in presenting this drwaing. IN FACT, I make no guaranties about any of my opinions and this picture is in fact only some scribbles that my 3 year old made last night with crayons of two snakes being attacked by an octopus. (But it does make my vho's work!)

 

[Catharsis70]

wouldnt two bulbs end to end still create teh same amp draw on the ballast? If so then I think you are asking for trouble. Fulham suggests one vho bulb (all are 1500mah) per WH7 ballast.

 

[goreefer]

I use WH5's to fire my 24 watt T5's.
I have one that is firing two bulbs at thier normal output and another one that is overdriveing two other bulbs.
They are a good ballast for the money.

 

[prugs]

http://www.fulham.com/
Use their site info to get the correct ballast for your application & wiring diagram.
I use a workhorse 7 to drive (2) 80watt T5 HO lamps. Very good product IMO.

 

[Fishbulb2]

How can I determine how many t5's I can run off of my WH5 ballast. Right now I am running 2 65W PC actinics off of it and I would like to switch over to t5's. Will this be worth it and more light? How many bulbs and of what lenght can I run? I was hoping for 2-4 24" bulbs but I don't know how to total up the wattage and such to make sure I can safely run X number of bulbs.
Thanks guys,
FB

 

[goreefer]

You can fire 4 24 watt T5 HO bulbs with a WH5 at their normal wattage. You can also overdrive 2 24watt bulbs by connecting two of the red wires togather for each bulb.
Check out their website for the wiring diagrams.

 

[iamquockie]

how many vho's and what wattage could a WH5 push? I am currently pushing 4x54 T5HO on (2) WH5's and kind of unsatisfied by the "look" of the actinic.

 

[goreefer]

A WH5 has 128watts of output. So any combination up to 128 watts should work.

 

[Roland Jacques]

from what ive been reading WH tend to underdrive HO t-5s and VHO lamps compared to standard HO& VHO ballasts. im not sure by how much with vhos,

I cant seem to find good Datta on ballast comparision

 

[Catharsis70]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9022811#post9022811 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goreefer
A WH5 has 128watts of output. So any combination up to 128 watts should work.

This is not accurate. You cant just go by the wattage as different bulb types require different amperage to fire and run. T5 HO and PC bulbs are very similar and can often run off the same ballasts but VHO is a different animal.