Rewiring my Workhorse 5 ballast?

[Kristen]

Hi, I've got a Workhorse 5 ballast driving a single 96 watt PC bulb.
It's turned out to be too much light for the tank, so I'd like to
drive the bulb at a little lower wattage. Unfortunately, I lost the
documentation that came with it, and I couldn't find the info I needed
on the Fulham website, so does anybody know how to rewire this ballast
to do this?

I'm assuming that I somehow would take only three of the wires and run
the bulb off those, but I'm unsure how to arrange this exactly. That
would be about 72 watts?

Also, if it's possible, this wouldn't damage the bulb, right? Might
it even increase its lifespan?

Thanks for any info!

Kristen

[Kristen]

(Kristen) wrote:

>96 watt bulb...
>I'm assuming that I somehow would take only three of the wires and run
>the bulb off those, but I'm unsure how to arrange this exactly. That
>would be about 72 watts?

D'oh! Sorry to reply to myself, but I started out with the wrong "max
voltage" for my calculation. The max volts for this ballast is 128
volts. So that would be 2 wires for 64 volts. I would cap off two
wires, connect the remaining two together and run that into the bulb,
right?

And that wouldn't hurt the bulb, to run at 64 volts? Would it even
make it last longer?

Thanks,

Kristen

[Buzzard Face]

"Kristen" > wrote in message
...
> (Kristen) wrote:
>
> >96 watt bulb...
> >I'm assuming that I somehow would take only three of the wires and run
> >the bulb off those, but I'm unsure how to arrange this exactly. That
> >would be about 72 watts?
>
> D'oh! Sorry to reply to myself, but I started out with the wrong "max
> voltage" for my calculation. The max volts for this ballast is 128
> volts. So that would be 2 wires for 64 volts. I would cap off two
> wires, connect the remaining two together and run that into the bulb,
> right?
>
> And that wouldn't hurt the bulb, to run at 64 volts? Would it even
> make it last longer?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kristen


Why don't you just replace the 96watt bulb with a 55watt. Re wire the way
fulham says. Your making assumptions about the wiring that are a little
dangerous. Also, dropping the voltage will burn the bulb out faster, that's
assuming it works at all.

Play it safe.

Buzz

[Kristen]

"Buzzard Face" > wrote:

>Why don't you just replace the 96watt bulb with a 55watt. Re wire the way
>fulham says. Your making assumptions about the wiring that are a little
>dangerous. Also, dropping the voltage will burn the bulb out faster, that's
>assuming it works at all.

I don't have the money to replace the bulb... :(

Why will it damage the bulb to run it at lower wattage, I'm wondering?
Won't it just burn dimmer to have less electricity flowing through it?

And why are the assumptions about wiring "dangerous?" That's how a 55
watt bulb is supposed to be wired, according to the diagram I
eventually found on their site...

Thx,

Kristen

[RedForeman ©®]

> Why will it damage the bulb to run it at lower wattage, I'm wondering?
> Won't it just burn dimmer to have less electricity flowing through it?
>
> And why are the assumptions about wiring "dangerous?" That's how a 55
> watt bulb is supposed to be wired, according to the diagram I
> eventually found on their site...

Yes, if you setup a 96w fixture and put a 55w bulb in it, you will burn your
bulb, quickly. Second, wiring isn't something to be played with,
seriously... I can reference several citations from my fathers journal from
when he was an asst. cheif of the covington, ky fire dept, where home wiring
was suspect... several deaths, all preventable.... FWIW



--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike streetfighter!!!

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