# Overdriving 18" F15T8 bulbs...



## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Once again, image tags are giving me grief... here's the diagram for two 18" bulbs in series...


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

OK, I'll give this a try. Not being clever at these things, is there any trick that I need to be aware of, so I don't ruin anything? 

I'll be using this on a 10 gallon hood with a single 15 watt tube.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Electronic ballasts are VERY easy to hook up. Much easier than magnetic ballasts, with their starters and all. You just pull your magnetic ballast and starter out of your 10g hood and mount the electronic ballast in it's place. The ballast has a black and white wire feed - just connect this to the power cord in place of the magnetic ballast. There should also be a green wire in the hood, which is ground. Just run that under one of the screws you use to mount the electronic ballast to the housing. The metal case of the housing needs to contact ground.

Then the hook up to the bulb is simple. There are two similar colors (for a two bulb ballast, four for a four bulb ballast), twist these together and then twist two wires coming out of one side of the end connectors and connect the two. Then there is another wire that's the common (usually yellow) connect that to the two wires at the other endcap. 

Plug it in and enjoy!

Although you shouldn't see any problems, it's always a good idea to wear eye protection when testing electronic devices in unconventional configurations. Also, after firing the bulb up, monitor temperature for about 15 mins before placing the strip back on the tank. The bulb will definitely get warm, but it shouldn't be hot enough to where you want to pull your hand away. If everything looks good, mount the strip and you're done. 

In any case - it's a good idea to provide some sort of additional cooling to help extend bulb life. Even a few additional holes drilled in the ends of the strip can provide much needed air to keep the housing from melting. :fire:


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

That ballast is twice as big as the space in my fixture -- gues that makes sense as it powers two lights not one. I toyed with cutting out this and that and, well, I chickened out. Decided to get two of those spiral flourescents for the incandescent hood instead of messing with the flourescent hood. 

But, I'm keeping the info, just the same. Thanks for your help.


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## ridns (Aug 9, 2002)

do you think its safe to apply this to a 15" 15w strip light? if so it would solve a lighting problem for me.:bounce:


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

The ballast are probably to big to fit in a standard Perfecto or AGA strip hood, I guess. You could mount the ballast remotely, though and run the wires into the hood, or mount it to the rear of the strip. Definitely a few ways you can get creative.

ridns, I'm actually using this for an 18" 15w strip light right now over my 20g H reef. Most people that have used this setup have had more success with just the 2x OD not the 4x (too much heat, lot much additional light). I always buy the 4-F32T8 ballast anyway, though, just so you have room to expand if you desire.


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## ridns (Aug 9, 2002)

I completely forgot about putting the ballast in the cord outside the strip. Thanks for jarring my brain. I've bought strips factory built this way in years past. I'm off to buy a couple more ballasts, lighting problem solved! :bounce::angel::hehe:


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

The plants are thanking you! But this is an addiction! I want MORE light now! My planted tank has enough light. I'm going to double the light going into my 20gal reef, hehe. SPS corals here I come!


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## ridns (Aug 9, 2002)

After I wire the ballast inline on the power cord, I can go into the fixture/strip and bypass the starter and of coarse the old ballast .... right?????:bounce::angel::hehe:


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Right, use the two wires in the power cord as "feed and return" wires. One goes to one side of the bulb, the other to the opposite side. Bypass the starter and old ballast altogether. Maybe even take them out, making more room for air movement.


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## mik3yy (Nov 3, 2002)

GulfCoastAquarian , can you post some of the images from your tank with the overdriven bulbs. I'm curious to see what the tank looks like. A before and after image would be cool if you have it...


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

I don't have a digital camera, so I'll have to borrow one, but I'll post them when I get them. Right now the reef tank with the OD 18" bulbs is in its 7th week of cycle and experiencing a nice lush growth of brown algae. A few more weeks and red, then the tank should be seasoned and ready for corals!


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## mik3yy (Nov 3, 2002)

I'm going to give this a try tonight. I am going to be building this from scratch. I'm kinda clueless but what connectors should I buy? Am I looking at the standard flourescent sockets at home depot. Will this work for the t8 bulbs ? I checked on homedepot.com and I'm think about getting the 1.70 ones. Also what is the difference between the face mount and snap in ? I plan on mounting it in the white plastic gutter material until I can get a hood built. Does this sound do-able for a novice like me ?


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## mik3yy (Nov 3, 2002)

One more thing, my tank is a ~30 gallon bow tank and the length of the tank is 24" . Is it possible to install the 24" bulbs on there instead of 18" without it sticking off the end. Are the bulbs exactly 24" or is it 24" with the connectors. Sorry for asking so many questions.


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Never apologize for asking questions. The dumbest questions are the ones you kept to yourself.

I'd suggest sticking with the 18" bulbs. My 20g High tank is 24" long and a set of 24" bulbs would definitely hang off the edge of the tank. The bulbs themselves are 24" long, and the sockets and hood material would quickly make them 26"+.

The standard fluorescent sockets will work fine. They are the same size for T8 and T12 bulbs, so don't worry. Face Mount have screw tabs so you can mount them to a board or your gutter material. Snap in have ribs to slide onto a slot cut out of reflector material. I'd suggest the face mount, and screw them together.

This is definitely doable. All you'll need is some wire caps to hold your wire connections together. Or you could use bullet connectors, solder/heatshrink, whichever method you feel most comfortable with.


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## mik3yy (Nov 3, 2002)

Cool.. I'm gonna go for it. Wire caps are the little things used to twist 2 electrical wires together right ? Would it be safe to use at 2x using 2 of the 4 pair of wires ?


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Yep, those are wire caps. I am actually currently using the 2x since I couldn't find a 4x ballast at Home Depot. I eventually found a 4x ballast at Lowes (It wasn't Advance or GE, but an OSRAM ballast, which is still really good). So I have been thinking of trying the two 18" bulbs in series driven 4x. You should go ahead and try it! At 2x, it is only pulling less than 0.4 amps, so there is plenty of room for more current. Try hooking all four wires and if the bulbs get too warm for you, go back to two.


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## NFish (Nov 5, 2002)

I don't total understand all this OD, but it sure sounds good! I have a 20 long (30" long) than would take 24 inch bulbs. I was thinking 2 bulbs ODNO.(how many watts would that be?) I would be doing this from scratch (no reftrofitting). I would get a glass top and buy which ballast? (could you be specific--where to buy, website would be nice) What endcaps/fixture to buy; any extra wires I need? I have had some very limited experience with some elctrical re-wiring of aquarium lights, but still don't really know what I'm doing. Then, how could I apply this to a 55 gallon tank (currently 2 24in bulbs)

Thanks


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

I'll be doing a complete step-by-step writeup on how to do this in a few weeks, along with pictures and everything. 

It's really simple, but fairly risky if you don't wire it up right.


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