# my adventures with odno



## John P. (Apr 10, 2004)

Thanks for the link in your post. I hadn't seen that page yet, and it should be helpful.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Every bulb is different, so find out what the standard lux output of the bulb is and increase it by 50% to get an idea of how much they are not producing at 2x ODNO. For Hygro and Swords, I think you've got just enough light with this setup on that 29g.

Oh, and welcome to plantedtank dot net!


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

GulfCoastAquarian said:


> how much they are not producing at 2x ODNO.


i'm not quite sure how this sentence is intended, but i'm taking it you're saying that although they're wired for 2x, they're really only producing 1.5x due to the losses inherent in overdriving NO tubes... right?



GulfCoastAquarian said:


> Oh, and welcome to plantedtank dot net!


Thanks! Your posts on ODNO were the reason I decided to try it in the first place. Very informative and enjoyable. I do have one question regarding wiring that has popped up since I put the fixture together... I've read some places that wiring 2 blues to one bulb and 2 reds to the other is the same as one of each to each bulb, and I've read the opposite. I'm pretty sure I put one of each color to each bulb on the "HOT" side and put a yellow return on each cap on the opposite side of the tubes. Is there indeed a difference in performance with the wiring option one chooses when using the 4 bulb ballast with 2-24" tubes?

Thanks again!

Oqsy

P.S. Male blue and female gold ramirezi spawned in the 29 today! My first ram spawning (pH 6.6, very soft water, peat filtering, nitrates ~ 5, temp 82F.)
I'm so proud... this tank is really working out great.


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## ninoboy (Jan 26, 2004)

Oqsy,

Did you overdrive each bulb one by one or connect them in series? I may be wrong but I tried wiring one by one (bulbs shorter than 48") and the output increment was not really noticeable. But when I overdrive them in series, I could tell easily. Even the fixture gets a lot hotter.

Maybe GF can clear it up but I think it's something like OD 2x = 1.5x output increment and 4x = 2.7x increment.


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

Owsy, do you have a goldfish 55 gallon? I reconize your name and wondered how your goldy's are doing...


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

fishyboy: yes, that's me. my 55 is now a mbuna tank, as i kept having problems with my goldfish. i now have 5 comets and some white clouds that summer outside in a pond and will probably get tupperware tubs for wintering... or a pond heater. still havent decided.

back to odno...

nino: that's exactly what i was getting at with my question i think... i'm not entirely sure what is "in series" or "parallel" with this wiring. is it the colors or is there yet another variable that i'm missing? this stuff is confusing. 

rams have eaten their eggs... they're still guarding they're nest, so i'm expecting another spawn in the next few weeks. 

Oqsy


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## ninoboy (Jan 26, 2004)

Oqsy,

That's what I thought your question was but it wasn't clear and didn't want to insult you. If you look at the diagram in ODNO article, the second one is 2 bulbs connected in series and overdriven 4x. The bulbs don't have to be placed one after another. They can be placed side by side as long as connected in series. This method, you don't overdrive the bulb one by one. Instead, you splice the 2 blues and reds all together and connect it to one side and the yellow to the other side. Imagine like you're overdriving a very long bulb 4x. Some how this way gives more obvious result than doing it one by one for bulbs less than 48".

I'm not that good in explaining, maybe gulf can further explain it in more detail.


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

GCA, I just sent you an email with an image attached to clarify the wiring of each socket. If I knew how I would post it here for all to see. Does the image have to have a URL to post it? no way it can be uploaded to the site and saved? 

Oqsy


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Here's the image with the correct wiring.


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

thanks so much! i'll give that a shot

Oqsy


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## ninoboy (Jan 26, 2004)

Aaah, GCA, that's much clearer. You should have included that in the ODNO article and saved me time from experimentingroud:


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

We'll see what we can do about adding a new diagram to the ODNO article since quite a few people have asked for clarification on endcap wiring.


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

GCA: should i be able to tell a big difference between that and the way i had it wired (according to the original diagram i sent you) ? I now have it wired like the diagram, and while it is quite bright, i don't feel that it's too much, if any brighter than the 2 or 3 other ways I've tried so far. the bulbs and ballast also don't seem to be getting any hotter than the previous wirings... (still much hotter than NO).

Oqsy


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

I don't know if it will be brighter, but it will be a lot safer. Just stick with the diagram.


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## ninoboy (Jan 26, 2004)

IME, my ballast only gets warm not that hot. The bulbs however, get very hot. I realized because the fixtures get very hot also and I couldn't even touch the glass top where I lay the fixtures on.


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

I notice here the bulb-to-bulb connections are daisy-chained. When I connected my ODNO I spliced all 4 of those electrical points together in one splice, rather than the way it is shown here. Any electrical difference in doing it that way? I know there are differences in the way to use the two connections when using rapid start rather than instant start, and my workhorse ballasts are instant start.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

So long as you connected all four of those pots together, you're achieving the same effect.


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

Thanks from here also, GCA for posting that image! I, too, was a bit unsure about wiring the endcaps. 

The huge living room project is almost done (the husband figure picked out the color ... can you say "gold?"  ) ... then I get to work on stuff for me !


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## Oqsy (Jul 3, 2004)

well, it's been quite some time since I've visited this thread. Things in my tank(s) have changed considerably... the change that brings this thread back to life is my new ice cap 430. Right now I have 3 24" NO bulbs wired to the ballast like this:










does anyone know if this is actually overdriving my bulbs, or is the ballast adjusting and running them at NO? They look pretty bright, but with the significant change in color temps from my previous setup, I'm not sure that it's a huge difference. Is there a way to wire this ballast in series with multiple driving leads going to one end of one bulb, connect the bulbs in one end to another, and then and all the returns(yellows from other ballast) at the far end of my virtual 72" bulb like I've done with the 4-32w electronic ballasts? will this just destroy the ballast or bulbs? I know they're designed with T12 VHO bulbs in mind, but are used commonly with T5, PC, and occasionally with NO T8 or NO T12. 

Right now the ballast runs cool to the touch. the last ballast was warm enough to warp plastic bottles (prime, flourish, etc) if they were left up against it, so in that respect I already know the ice cap has a lot more power to give  just wondering if I can coax it out with NO bulbs, or if it's time to order some VHO, T5, or PC tubes.

Oqsy


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