Overdriving NO Tubes
 

Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?

I met a DIYer today (Marc, that's the guy I told you about with those5 stage
RO/DI units) 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 wattage 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 putting out 130watts after 1 year.

Will this trickery work for marine aquaria and corals???

~Mort

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

In article m,
says...
Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?

I met a DIYer today (Marc, that's the guy I told you about with those5 stage
RO/DI units) 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 wattage 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 putting out 130watts after 1 year.

Will this trickery work for marine aquaria and corals???


Yep, it works. I've done it. I think the jury is still out over
whether it shortens the life of the bulb. However, even if it does it
is still a lot cheaper than any alternative. The hardest part was
hunting around to find 6500K 3' tubes.

You find lots of info about how to do it on Reefcentral.com. Be careful
with real electricity.

Alex

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

"Alex Kilpatrick"
wrote in message ...
Yep, it works. I've done it.

Have you measured the light output?
What are your results compared to nominal wattage electronic balasts?

I know going up with frequency (from magnetic to electronic) makes
the difference, but I have never heard positive opinions about
overdriving tubes powerwise.

The hardest part was hunting around to find 6500K 3' tubes.

How is overdriving influencing the color rendering/temperature?
Do you have any ways to measure effects of your changes at home?

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

Mort,

VHO bulbs must be replaced every six months. So if you want to save some money,
you can buy Sylvania or Philips 6500K bulbs at Home Depot or Lowes for ~$4.50
each. Great price. IceCap ballasts will overdrive them from 40w to 110w each,
but it will shorten their useable lifespan. In six months, their usefullness is
over. But that is okay!! It's time to replace them anyway.

If you don't change out your bulbs on schedule, you can end up with older bulbs
that shift in color spectrum which fuel algae outbreaks.

VHO - 6 months
MH & PC - 12 months.

Marc


Mort wrote:

Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?

I met a DIYer today (Marc, that's the guy I told you about with those5 stage
RO/DI units) 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 wattage 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 putting out 130watts after 1 year.

Will this trickery work for marine aquaria and corals???

~Mort

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message ...
IceCap ballasts will overdrive them from 40w to 110w each, but it
will shorten their useable lifespan. In six months, their usefullness
is over. But that is okay!! It's time to replace them anyway.

I do not understand the reasoning here... If you have to change bulbs
every 6 months in their nominal working conditions, and overdriving
is shortening their life significantly, then when you overdrive you need to
replace them much more often to prevent color shifting and algae blums.
What am I missing in this picture?

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

What am I missing in this picture?

that MH is the way to go:)

--
Richard Reynolds

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

"Richard Reynolds" wrote in message news:50b1b.6287$Qy4.1954@fed1read05...
What am I missing in this picture?

that MH is the way to go:)

:-))) of course...

The best light output ratio. The best visual effects.
But running extremely hot and initialy expensive :-(

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

"Mort"
wrote in message y.com...
Apparently you replace the balast with a higher output Electronic ballast
(About $10 from home depot) and it can double even triple the wattage
of the bulb.

Sounds good, but this will dramaticaly shorten the life of the bulb.
And be careful talking about "the wattage of the bulb" - it can be misleading.

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 putting out 130watts after 1 year.

What do you mean by "putting out 130 watts"?
You rather say "consumes 130 watts". You do not measure the light
output in watts. This is an electric not light output unit...
The light efficiency of different light sources is different, and
with given tube size and given amount of phosphors coating inside
the tube by increasing twice or triple the amount of current flow
you would rather increase the heat dissipation than ligth output.

Will this trickery work for marine aquaria and corals???

In my personal opinion you should be very sceptical analysing
stories like that. Experimenting with light in home environment,
without sufficient electical and light measuring equipment could
be very misleading and time/money consuming without good results.
Let the professionals do their jobs. If GE or Philips could drive
their bulbs with three times more light output they would do this
to outcompete their rivals but there is reason they do not do this.

And reasons a
- dramatic shortening bulb life
- increased heat production in the fixture
- lowered light efficiency
(much lower amount of light produced from 1Watt of electricity)
- color rendering change due to phosphor emitting color spectrum shifts
- color temperature change due to the same spectrum shifts

You decide. But in my opinion it is not worth it...

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

"Teeb" wrote in message ...
You're only paying $4.50 a bulb instead of more than $30.. (a couple VHO
bulbs I saw recently were over $50) and since the $30+ bulbs have to be
changed out just as often... there's the reasoning.

Just as often? You mean how often?
Who has proven that? Have you measured light spectrum
of that overdriven tube? How do you know when to change it?

You pay $4.50 for a tube which gives really unknown spectrum.
Most likely with cheap phosphors giving only what is needed
to light the office space... Manufacturer of these tubes do
not care about the spectrum and what waves of light does the
tube really emit and how does it change over time...
You will replace it normally when it stops working or starts
flickering with red glow at the end :-) Nobody cares of the
colors spectrum over their desks in the office or shop.

If you were to replace two tubes twice a year, $30 each it would be $120.
Are the savings worth playing over a year? And you do not know what you
really get while saving money this way... You risk producing wrong light
spectrum and promoting algae grow. The spectrum change mostly, not the
intensity decrease is the reason behind the recommendation for changing
tubes every 6 months...

That is one more reason
I haven't upgraded my lighting system.. I could *probably* convince hubby
that the initial outlay of over $400 for my 48" tank would be a good
investment because then it could be a really cool full blown reef tank..

Full blown reef in four-footer for $400 ? You must be kidding me...

but
having to replace expensive bulbs so often would get tiresome really quickly
for the time being.

If you are concerned with long-term savings the MH are the way to go for you.

I might just have to look into this myself.... what kind
of fixtures can you use those ballasts in? And are there any step by step
instructions anywhere? Would it be possible to convert the shoplight fixture
I am already using? Or would I have to build a light hood.. I am very
comfortable working with electricity and MY small workshop in the garage so
I am sure it is something I could handle.. I just gotta see how it's done...
:-)

Go to any Home Depot and take a closer look at the fluorescent balasts shelf.
You will find "replacement balasts" for many different types of tubes...
They mostly come with installation instructions in the box to tell you
wiring or if they require grounded metal reflector to work with the tube
starting or not, etc... But I would rather not do this for a display tank.
Macroalgae refugium? maybe... but not the display tank with corals.

Overdriving NO Tubes
 

Well, I admit I do not know this man very well, but he claims that someone
he knows has a device that measures the light output and he said that
fixture "was clocked at 130watts"

So anyway... Naturally I have questions about this and that is why I am
here ;)

~Mort