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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/3/2009 6:05:52 PM
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| I know if you wire two normal output ballasts together to overdrive you must use electronic ballasts because magnetic ballasts are not made the same way and will probably fry everything. Can you use a 40 watt bulb with an unmodified 110 watt magnetic ballast? I know you can use Icecap and other electronic ballasts to overdrive 48" 40 watt T12 or 54 watt T5 with the same ballast for 110 watt VHO. What I need to know is if you can overdrive normal output bulbs with a VHO magnetic ballast. I have a used retrofit with a magnetic ballast made to run 3 72" 160 watt or 3 48" 110 watt VHO lamps and I would like to run 40 watt NO bulbs but I don't want any fires. I buy a box of ten 48" 6500K 40 watt for about $30. 48" VHO are about $23 and 72" run $32 or more each so I am trying to run $3 bulbs. If I can't overdrive with this ballast I can use it to run VHO actinics since the 6500K are pretty yellow by themselves and I haven't found anything higher than 6500K at Home Depot etc. Thanks for the help.
Jim - Freedom is Never Free. Thank a Veteran Today!
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Group: Administrators
Last Login: Yesterday @ 7:02:58 PM
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Sorry for the delay in replying. Who is the manufacturer of the ballast? You may be able to contact them directly to see if it will be safe. I am by no means a lighting expert, but I don't think it will start any fires. More than likely it will simply blow out the bulb very quickly. I wouldn't test it over the tank incase a bulb breaks though.
________________________________________________Keith "Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy." Wayne Dyer
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/17/2009 2:43:00 PM
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| As former IceCap chief, cook and bottle washer I can tell you that the non-electronic ballast will cause the filaments to fry and possibly cause a meltdown or worse of the waterproof endcaps. When over-driving NO T-12, T-8 & T-5 HO lamps, which I've done for 10+ years, proper endcap care is paramount. They must be mounted. They must be properly spaced so that there's no room to slide back and forth when the lamps are inserted. A fan should blow air across the lamps when they're on (increases light output and lamp life). If they get salt spray, wipe them down once a year. I put a mark on the lamps when locked into place so I can always tell if they're aligned correctly. A lamp making a poor connection with the contacts on an endcap can be a fire hazard, over-driven NO lamps or not. I get two or more years from fluorescent lamps following the above advise. Andy
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