Over driving PC bulbs

[Michael_Lambert]

Anyone do it.. i know most will not becouse the bulbs are more..

BUt i got this PC DIY kit from another reefer and the bulbs are going to need to be replaced soo they are 6 months old.. But wondering if i could overdrive the Actinic as the other bulb that came with it is a 64k and looking too yellowish?

Anyone do it?

the balast is good for upto 110Watts.. Should i run all the power wires to it and run it at 110watts? or should i just run the 3 and it would run at what? 80 watts?

or can i do it at all?


thanks
Mike

[Greg Moore]

I did a whole whack of testing on T8's which are the closest to PC's of any of the tube based bulbs.

Running all 4 feeds into a T8 did not produce 4X the power, about 2.8X (the bulb assumably couldn't draw that much power from the ballast). When I did the same with VHO's, I got much closer to max output but not 100%.

Experimentation is the only way!! However, if the ballast is not totally electronic and uses any transformer based technology, BOOOM!

Always test this crap on a concrete floor, at least 15' from anything flamable and always wear heavy rubber soled shoes and have a way to cut power from several feet away. Not trying to scare you but just in case, always have an out!

Greg Moore

[afss]

Have you got in touch with stir crazy yet?

[Michael_Lambert]

i did , He said the same thing, he has not tried it.. due to the cost fo pc bulbs, its not somthing he would do..

Im thinking im just going to go and grab some 24 inch No actinics and overdrive them!

[Michael_Lambert]

24" - 20W Fluorescent Bulb (Actinic)

Anyone, know how many of these i could run ( overdriven) on my electronic ballast ( 110Watts Total power )

i mean could i run 4 at like 27 watts each? or maybe run say 2 at 50 watts? how could i do it and how would it work?

[afss]

If the ballast is meant to drive 4 footers then i think that by putting a 2 footer on you would overdrive 2*. This is not going to give the bulb 2* output. I think only about 1.3 times. If you were to overdrive 2 , 2 footers then it should be the overdriving each one about 4 * which should about double your light output.

Again I am not overly knowledgeable in this area and i would run it past Steve.

Scott

[ryan_lalande]

generally speaking what the ballast was made for is what should be run on it....anyhitng else has the potential to burn out burst or who knows.,...either way the life of the bulbs and ballast will be significatly cut short with that idea

jsut my opinion which is the safe way is the best way

[afss]

actually overdriving has been proven to be OK as long as you follow the directions and have half a clue of what you are doing.
The lifes of the bulbs are not cut short
they are more efficient than VHO (however the light down't tend to be as pleasing to the eye)
It is cheaper than VHO or other alternatives especially when you are talking about smaller tanks.

Scott

[Michael_Lambert]

Ryan,

its an electronic ballast! .. designed to run upto 110 watts. does not say what configs you can use.. just upto 110 watts!

[Michael_Lambert]

opps!

[ryan_lalande]

sorry i though it was a regualr ballast sorta liek the type used to run florecents..in that case then i dunno

[afss]

As a DISCLAIMER

you definitely can't do this sort of thing with a tar type ballast, but there are certain things you can play with with electronic ones. If you aren't comfortable and competent working with electricity and wiering then don't attempt anything like this

Scott

[Red-Sea]

Knowing Toooloud will probably burn down the house, or worst get a nice shocking heart massage...LOL:roflmao: :laugh:

[Mckitrick]

Scott - Are you certain that overdriving doesn't shorten the bulb life?

[Michael_Lambert]

Hey my heart could use a good Jumpstart once in a while!

[afss]

well I have actinics over my tank that have been burning fine. One for almost a year now the other for 8 months. I figure they will be good for a while yet. I will probably change them out for color etc before they burn out.

Scott

[Chrismo]

My electronic ballast says it can run a variety of setups, but how does it sense what bulb is attatched? or doe it? does it just put all it's juice down the wires and expect the sorter bubs to handle it?

example:
it says it can power 2x 32's or 2x 24's or 2x 17's

Howz that work?

[Mckitrick]

There should be a number of output "hot" wires. To get lower power you just don't connect them all.