Overdriving NO tubes

[Mort]

Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?

I met a DIYer today that does this to his lamps.

Apparently you replace the balast with a higher output Electronic ballast
(About $10 from home depot) and it can double even triple the output of the
bulb. It operates at a higher frequency and does not shorten the life of
the bulb much at all. He's had a setup with a twin 30w 36" fixture that
with this balast is doing130watts after 1 year.

Anyone have experience with this?

~Mort

[Ron Nelson]

I recently setup a single 48" 40 watt tube with a 2x32watt ballast. It is
brighter, and maybe a little warmer but not much. I'm not sure about bulb
life yet... If you want to read more about overdriving go look at this
thread http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194

Ron

"Mort" > wrote in message
y.com...
> Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?
>
> I met a DIYer today that does this to his lamps.
>
> Apparently you replace the balast with a higher output Electronic ballast
> (About $10 from home depot) and it can double even triple the output of
the
> bulb. It operates at a higher frequency and does not shorten the life of
> the bulb much at all. He's had a setup with a twin 30w 36" fixture that
> with this balast is doing130watts after 1 year.
>
> Anyone have experience with this?
>
> ~Mort
>
>
>
>
>

[Jim Seidman]

"Mort" > wrote in message >...
> Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?

This is really an interesting idea - I hadn't heard of this before. I
have a 35 gallon hex, which I bought before I was into plants. With
the design of the hood, all I can put on it is a wimpy F15T8. But
maybe if I could overdrive that to 32W or 40W, I would at least be
able to grow some low light plants in there...

- Jim

[Mort]

"Jim Seidman" > wrote in message
om...
> "Mort" > wrote in message
>...
> > Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?
>
> This is really an interesting idea - I hadn't heard of this before. I
> have a 35 gallon hex, which I bought before I was into plants. With
> the design of the hood, all I can put on it is a wimpy F15T8. But
> maybe if I could overdrive that to 32W or 40W, I would at least be
> able to grow some low light plants in there...
>
> - Jim

Thats exactly right Jim! I am in the same boat as you. Heres something to
consider though. If that light you have now is using a T12 you should be
able to squeeze TWO T8s in there. Home Depot sells all the parts you would
need.

I am really anxious to try this out. I'll keep you posted.

~Mort

[Mort]

"Ron Nelson" > wrote in message
...
> I recently setup a single 48" 40 watt tube with a 2x32watt ballast. It is
> brighter, and maybe a little warmer but not much. I'm not sure about bulb
> life yet... If you want to read more about overdriving go look at this
> thread http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194
>
> Ron

Thanks Ron, that is a very helpful post!

~Mort

[Ron Nelson]

Glad I could help.

Ron

> Thanks Ron, that is a very helpful post!
>
> ~Mort
>
>
>

[Jim Seidman]

I took the plunge and decided to try an overdriven hood. I have
35-gallon tall hex, and the All-Glass light fixture contains a single
puny F15T8. Given the depth of the tank, this is hardly sufficient for
plants.

By gutting the original fixture, I was able to fit in two F15T8s. This
is largely because the original design needed a fair amount of room
for the internally-mounted ballast. I switched to an external ballast,
which was necessary anyway because of the larger size of electronic
ballasts.

I mistakenly thought that I could overdrive the F15T8s by just hooking
them to a ballast designed for two F32T8s. Wrong! At least with the GE
ballast available at Home Depot, the ballast somehow compensates for
the tube type. This ballast is actually rated to run anything from
F32T8s down to F17T8s, all at a ballast factor less than 1, and when
hooked to F15T8s provided only normal light output.

So I returned the 2xF32T8 ballast in favor of a 4xF32T8 ballast, and
tied a pair of outputs to each bulb. Wow! This really produces a
noticeably brighter light. I wish I had some way to quantify the
difference, but I don't have any of the appropriate tools to do so.

I ran it for several hours yesterday with no signs of overheating. In
fact, the fixture doesn't seem noticeably warmer than it was back when
it contained the internal magnetic ballast.

I pretty excited now to see how well plants will actually do with this
setup. I'm planning on using a combination of tall plants (like
Limnophila sessiliflora) that can get closer to the lights, and
shade-tolerant foreground plants like Anubias. I can't set up the
aquarium until next month due to the hallway being painted, but I'll
keep you all posted.

- Jim

[Ron Nelson]

I'm glad to hear it's looks like it might do the trick for you. Don't you
love it when you pull off a good diy?

Ron

"Jim Seidman" > wrote in message
om...
> I took the plunge and decided to try an overdriven hood. I have
> 35-gallon tall hex, and the All-Glass light fixture contains a single
> puny F15T8. Given the depth of the tank, this is hardly sufficient for
> plants.
>
> By gutting the original fixture, I was able to fit in two F15T8s. This
> is largely because the original design needed a fair amount of room
> for the internally-mounted ballast. I switched to an external ballast,
> which was necessary anyway because of the larger size of electronic
> ballasts.
>
> I mistakenly thought that I could overdrive the F15T8s by just hooking
> them to a ballast designed for two F32T8s. Wrong! At least with the GE
> ballast available at Home Depot, the ballast somehow compensates for
> the tube type. This ballast is actually rated to run anything from
> F32T8s down to F17T8s, all at a ballast factor less than 1, and when
> hooked to F15T8s provided only normal light output.
>
> So I returned the 2xF32T8 ballast in favor of a 4xF32T8 ballast, and
> tied a pair of outputs to each bulb. Wow! This really produces a
> noticeably brighter light. I wish I had some way to quantify the
> difference, but I don't have any of the appropriate tools to do so.
>
> I ran it for several hours yesterday with no signs of overheating. In
> fact, the fixture doesn't seem noticeably warmer than it was back when
> it contained the internal magnetic ballast.
>
> I pretty excited now to see how well plants will actually do with this
> setup. I'm planning on using a combination of tall plants (like
> Limnophila sessiliflora) that can get closer to the lights, and
> shade-tolerant foreground plants like Anubias. I can't set up the
> aquarium until next month due to the hallway being painted, but I'll
> keep you all posted.
>
> - Jim

[Mort]

"Mort" > wrote in message
y.com...
> Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?
>
> I met a DIYer today that does this to his lamps.
>
> Apparently you replace the balast with a higher output Electronic ballast
> (About $10 from home depot) and it can double even triple the output of
the
> bulb. It operates at a higher frequency and does not shorten the life of
> the bulb much at all. He's had a setup with a twin 30w 36" fixture that
> with this balast is doing130watts after 1 year.
>
> Anyone have experience with this?
>
> ~Mort
>
>
>
>
>


Just a little FYI... I tried doing this tonight, I had everything set up.
The stupid lamp holders take 18GA wire. I was so ticked! I went with 14GA
which was too big. >=|

Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow if I get time...

~Mort

[Jim Seidman]

"Mort" > wrote in message >...
> Just a little FYI... I tried doing this tonight, I had everything set up.
> The stupid lamp holders take 18GA wire. I was so ticked! I went with 14GA
> which was too big. >=|

And you want to get 18GA solid wire. If you get stranded, then you'd
have to use solder to tin the ends to actually get them into the
endcaps.

Oh, but if your ballast is going to be external to the fixture, you
want stranded wire between the ballast and the fixture, or else it'll
eventually break from being moved. So then you'd want to use wirenuts
to connect the stranded wire to the solid inside the fixture.

Of course, none of these details were discussed on any of the sites I
researched. :-)

- Jim

[Mort]

"Jim Seidman" > wrote in message
om...
> "Mort" > wrote in message
>...
> > Just a little FYI... I tried doing this tonight, I had everything set
up.
> > The stupid lamp holders take 18GA wire. I was so ticked! I went with
14GA
> > which was too big. >=|
>
> And you want to get 18GA solid wire. If you get stranded, then you'd
> have to use solder to tin the ends to actually get them into the
> endcaps.
>
> Oh, but if your ballast is going to be external to the fixture, you
> want stranded wire between the ballast and the fixture, or else it'll
> eventually break from being moved. So then you'd want to use wirenuts
> to connect the stranded wire to the solid inside the fixture.
>
> Of course, none of these details were discussed on any of the sites I
> researched. :-)
>
> - Jim

Well, I just finished the project, without reading your post of course. I
went 18GA solid all the way. Oh well. It wont be moved very often and if I
have to replace it, so be it.

Anyway, I am absolutely THRILLED with the results! I will post some pics
soon.

~Mort

[Ron Nelson]

Mort,
I just saw your pictures in alt.binaries.aquaria and it looks like ODNO did
the trick for you. All I can say now is have fun trimming your plants. :-)

Ron

"Mort" > wrote in message
. com...
>
> "Jim Seidman" > wrote in message
> om...
> > "Mort" > wrote in message
> >...
> > > Just a little FYI... I tried doing this tonight, I had everything set
> up.
> > > The stupid lamp holders take 18GA wire. I was so ticked! I went with
> 14GA
> > > which was too big. >=|
> >
> > And you want to get 18GA solid wire. If you get stranded, then you'd
> > have to use solder to tin the ends to actually get them into the
> > endcaps.
> >
> > Oh, but if your ballast is going to be external to the fixture, you
> > want stranded wire between the ballast and the fixture, or else it'll
> > eventually break from being moved. So then you'd want to use wirenuts
> > to connect the stranded wire to the solid inside the fixture.
> >
> > Of course, none of these details were discussed on any of the sites I
> > researched. :-)
> >
> > - Jim
>
> Well, I just finished the project, without reading your post of course. I
> went 18GA solid all the way. Oh well. It wont be moved very often and if
I
> have to replace it, so be it.
>
> Anyway, I am absolutely THRILLED with the results! I will post some pics
> soon.
>
> ~Mort
>
>
>

[Mort]

"Ron Nelson" > wrote in message
...
> Mort,
> I just saw your pictures in alt.binaries.aquaria and it looks like ODNO
did
> the trick for you. All I can say now is have fun trimming your plants. :-)
>
> Ron

Thanks Ron! I hope they will do that well without CO2. That will be my
next project. In the meantime, I am concerned about these plants as they
have some algae on them. I guess I should do a seperate post for that
though huh?

~Mort

[Ron Nelson]

What ballast did you use and what bulb or bulbs? How many gallons is the
tank?

Ron

"Mort" > wrote in message
.com...
>
> "Ron Nelson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Mort,
> > I just saw your pictures in alt.binaries.aquaria and it looks like ODNO
> did
> > the trick for you. All I can say now is have fun trimming your plants.
:-)
> >
> > Ron
>
> Thanks Ron! I hope they will do that well without CO2. That will be my
> next project. In the meantime, I am concerned about these plants as they
> have some algae on them. I guess I should do a seperate post for that
> though huh?
>
> ~Mort
>
>
>