# T5HO ballast question



## Dalban (Nov 21, 2004)

Left C said:


> Two of the bulbs will be overdriven to ~ 40w using an IceCap 660 ballast.
> 
> I have a spare Fulham Workhorse 3 ballast. Will this ballast run the 24w T5HO bulb good


A search on the ol' Google reveals that yes indeed, the workhorse will run 24w T5s. The workhorse is a do-it-all generic ballast that will run pretty much anything.

BTW, the icecap ballast already overdrives bulbs, even when wired in the conventional manner. That's the not-so-best-kept-secret of the icecap ballasts -- they come out of the box ready to overdrive your bulbs by about 30-40 percent. By effectively double-overdriving them (almost), don't expect your bulbs to last very long.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Oops! 

I was watching TV when I was typing and I left out my real question.

Does the Advance model ICN-2S39 do a better job running one 24w bulb than the Fulham Workhorse 3 ballast can? I have a spare Workhorse 3 and I'm hoping that I don't need to purchase the Advance ballast.

Many places that sell T5HO kits advertise that they use a better ballast with their T5HO retrofit kits than the kits with the Fulham Workhorse ballasts. Some places use the Advance ballast and some places use the Workhorse ballasts. Is this just hype that the Advance ballast is much better when used with T5HO's than the Workhorse?

I know about the 430/660 ballasts being VHO in my case. 

Thanks for your response, Dalban. I'm sorry that I left out my question.


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## Dalban (Nov 21, 2004)

I personally wouldn't bother with the Advanced ballast. From what I can tell, tere are at 2 main differences between the Advanced ballast and the Workhorse: 
end-of-life protection, and
programmed start.
 IMO, neither of these features is particularly critical:

Many folks change their bulbs out long before their end-of-life so any potential "protection" is moot.
Most people turn their bulbs on once, maybe twice, a day. With such low cycle frequency the difference between programmed start and instant start is not going to have an impact on your bulbs.

If you're really keen on the higher-tech ballast, might I suggest you consider a Sylvania ballast instead? They share exactly the same ballast specs. I'm not exactly sure how much you expect to spend on the Advanced ballast, but I suspect that the Sylvania will be cheaper (and you might be able to find it at a local light supplier).


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Hi Dalban

Thanks for the above info. I did not know what the differences between the two ballasts are.

Let me see what I can find out about the Sylvania ballasts. 

Left C


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Dalban said:


> ... If you're really keen on the higher-tech ballast, might I suggest you consider a Sylvania ballast instead? They share exactly the same ballast specs. I'm not exactly sure how much you expect to spend on the Advanced ballast, but I suspect that the Sylvania will be cheaper (and you might be able to find it at a local light supplier).


Is there a particular Sylvania ballast that you have in mind? 



Sylvania QUICKTRONIC® PROStart® T5HO Universal Voltage
24W T5 - PENTRON HO 1-lamp QTP1x39-24T5HO/UNV
http://content.sylvania.com/app/display.aspx?docid=003699252

Sylvania QTP1x39-24T5HO/UNV
http://www.goodmart.com/products/372130.htm

Sylvania QTP1X3924T5HOUNVPSNNL
https://www.lightbulbemporium.com/sylvania_49101_qtp1x3924t5hounvpsnnl.asp


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

This link provides many different Sylvania T5HO ballasts. It is called: QUICKTRONIC Ballasts for T5HO, T5, DL40, T4 Systems:
http://www.sylvania.com/ProductCatalogs/BallastTechnologyandSpecificationGuide/


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## Dalban (Nov 21, 2004)

The quicktronics are what I had in mind, but the prices in the links you provided are all pretty outrageous. For that price, you can buy their 4x54w ballast right now -- which will give you lots of excess capacity.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Thank you for your help.

I believe that I'll try my Workhorse 3 first and see how it preforms.


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