I need the help of an electrician :)

Ok, here's my conundrum. I want to set up a 3-light canopy for my tank
(10 gal). Sounds like overkill, I know, but I have my reasons (long
story ).

Here's what I HAVE ...
2 - 28 watt Power Compact "Daylight" bulbs
1 - 28 watt Power Compact "460nm Blue" bulb
All are square, four-pin configuration.

I have three endcaps for the 4-pin configuration.

The ballasts I have (I have 3 of them) are the following printed on
them:
Cat. LC-25, F25T12 Lamp; 120V, 60HZ, 36amp; 704G Listed; AN130

Here are my questions. First are these ballasts compatable with CPFs,
second if they are how can I wire them so as to get them to work
correctly? If they are NOT what do you recommend I get?

I REALLY appreciate your assitance in this endeavor.


....PinkReefer...

Nope dey definitely not de right ballast :-)

F25 means for one 25 watt bulb
T12 means standard diameter bulb.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets




PinkReefer wrote on 4/8/2006 5:35 PM:
Ok, here's my conundrum. I want to set up a 3-light canopy for my tank
(10 gal). Sounds like overkill, I know, but I have my reasons (long
story ).

Here's what I HAVE ...
2 - 28 watt Power Compact "Daylight" bulbs
1 - 28 watt Power Compact "460nm Blue" bulb
All are square, four-pin configuration.

I have three endcaps for the 4-pin configuration.

The ballasts I have (I have 3 of them) are the following printed on
them:
Cat. LC-25, F25T12 Lamp; 120V, 60HZ, 36amp; 704G Listed; AN130

Here are my questions. First are these ballasts compatable with CPFs,
second if they are how can I wire them so as to get them to work
correctly? If they are NOT what do you recommend I get?

I REALLY appreciate your assitance in this endeavor.


....PinkReefer...

Thanks Wayne, Another Q: do you think that I might be able to find the
correct ballast at someplace like Radioshack?

Thanks!

PinkReefer

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message ...
Nope dey definitely not de right ballast :-)

F25 means for one 25 watt bulb
T12 means standard diameter bulb.

His lamp is very close, 28W... you think it will not work ?
I would be tempted to try :-)))

www.grainger.com is more like something you will need for a proper
ballast. In fact something local to you would be even more help. Home
Depot may have it but doubtful. www.fulham.com I know they make the
ballast that will work but I have always been partial to Advance.

Keep in mind that this particular ballast should be a UL Type 2
Ballast. I realize it is being used indoors but you also using it
hovering over something that is considered to be corrosive. Also a
ballast should be able to handle equal or more than the wattage of the
bulb being plugged into it. Preferably closer the better! The ballast
you have their may work or it may go BZZT. You never really know when
plugging in something not rated properly. Now if it does work it will
run way above its normal temp and its lifespan will decrease insanely

On the label of the ballast their should be a wiring diagram. If their
is not a wiring diagram try to find it on the manufacturer website
etc. They all tend to be fairly standard on their wiring and ussually
the same however their is always an oddball. Point being talk with
someone in person concerning this and have them show you the proper
method of wiring. I will not go any further on explanation here simply
because electricity is not your friend, it will not take you out for a
beer after it kicks your butt. An exploding ballast is not fun and
will send molten tar or shards of metal etc into whatever is around.
Very clear and present safety hazard here!

Yea that is close. I was thinking he had 96 watt bulbs.
Whether it would work or not, I don't know. One way to
find out. hehehe

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Pszemol wrote on 4/8/2006 11:59 PM:
"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
...
Nope dey definitely not de right ballast :-)

F25 means for one 25 watt bulb
T12 means standard diameter bulb.

His lamp is very close, 28W... you think it will not work ?
I would be tempted to try :-)))

AverageSchmuck wrote on 4/9/2006 12:55 AM:
An exploding ballast is not fun and
will send molten tar or shards of metal etc into whatever is around.
Very clear and present safety hazard here!


Yea that sounds like fun :-)

I once shot an 8 inch wide missile into the end of one of
my aquariums.

I once tested an electrical experiment that ended up
making plastic explosive that in a flash of light took off
a half inch of coper wire, where then end had the
insulation taken off. So much for the plan to put it
inside a switch :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets

Oh trust me I understand ... I once was not paying attention to
overhead light ballast voltage rating. Why not I do it like 25 a day
at the time so you start not paying attention to the fact that the
ballast I took out had a RED label. Red signifing it is not 120 volts
it is instead 277. Well me put my trusty yellow label on in light and
POW. 2 inches from my face this ballast explodes.. I was about the
luckiest man on earth at the moment cause all that had happened to me
was insane white dot in my field of vision for about 6 hours and a
ringing in my ears for close to a week.

But here is a somewhat of more humorous story from the eltrical
nightmare. Ok to all you desk people out their when an electrician
says sir please I need you to move so I can fix a problem. Just gladly
move! I was working in this guys office and it was an emergency call
in cause someone smelled electrical burning. They were right I
smelled it also. I walk into this guys office and after a while you
get a proverbial nose for it so I fairly positive it was the light
above this guys desk. I ask him to please move but he decides to
continue to sit their and say come back later. Before he can finish
the sentence a blob of molten tar pours out of this light on the man's
head. Of course he jumps up screaming in pain and runs off so I open
the light. Get an extinguisher to put out the flames in it. I have no
idea how the guy did medically cause I did my work and left and never
heard from it again.

On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 06:00:36 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

AverageSchmuck wrote on 4/9/2006 12:55 AM:
An exploding ballast is not fun and
will send molten tar or shards of metal etc into whatever is around.
Very clear and present safety hazard here!


Yea that sounds like fun :-)

I once shot an 8 inch wide missile into the end of one of
my aquariums.

I once tested an electrical experiment that ended up
making plastic explosive that in a flash of light took off
a half inch of coper wire, where then end had the
insulation taken off. So much for the plan to put it
inside a switch :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message ...
Yea that is close. I was thinking he had 96 watt bulbs.
Whether it would work or not, I don't know. One way to find out.
hehehe

I bet it would work just fine... Maybe not optimal, but it would shine ;-)

I have heard many stories about aquarists replacing magnetic
ballasts from old fluorescent lamp fixtures buzzing with the annoying
50/60Hz noise with the electronic ballasts removed from broken
compact fluoroscent bulbs (the one with a decent wattage of 20-25W)
If the wattage of the bulb is similar, the electronics should work fine.
Running fluorescent bulb will adjust its own voltage nicely...
Then they just need to close this electronic board in some water tight
project box and secure in a dry place protected from water splash.

Of course it is always BEST AND SAFE to use only proper
ballast and proper bulbs, but if somebody has DIY bug in his
body and likes to experiment than do, on your own risk of course ... :-)
As it was said here - if electricity is not your friend, and you are
not sure what are you doing, than just hire an electrician to do the job.

It will work, however it may not provide optimol results that would
have been provided by a matched bulb / ballast combo. I know that I
tried to drive a bulb with a lesser ballast, and while it did light up
the bulb, it was a far cry from what it should have been. I
evenetually got a replacement ballast and hooked it up and it was a
vast difference, and were only talking about 3 or 4 watts in the
difference in regards to output rating.

On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 10:00:24 -0500, "Pszemol"
wrote:
"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message ...
Yea that is close. I was thinking he had 96 watt bulbs.
Whether it would work or not, I don't know. One way to find out.
hehehe

I bet it would work just fine... Maybe not optimal, but it would shine ;-)

I have heard many stories about aquarists replacing magnetic
ballasts from old fluorescent lamp fixtures buzzing with the annoying
50/60Hz noise with the electronic ballasts removed from broken
compact fluoroscent bulbs (the one with a decent wattage of 20-25W)
If the wattage of the bulb is similar, the electronics should work fine.
Running fluorescent bulb will adjust its own voltage nicely...
Then they just need to close this electronic board in some water tight
project box and secure in a dry place protected from water splash.

Of course it is always BEST AND SAFE to use only proper
ballast and proper bulbs, but if somebody has DIY bug in his
body and likes to experiment than do, on your own risk of course ... :-)
As it was said here - if electricity is not your friend, and you are
not sure what are you doing, than just hire an electrician to do the job.

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