[lumpyfunk]

I would love to see results for overdirven x2 as well.

Great thread!! Thanks Shalu

 

[SCMurphy]

I would love to see results for overdirven x2 as well.

Great thread!! Thanks Shalu

Shalu did the measurements for NO, x2, x3, and x4 for most 4 foot bulbs. Did you mean the 15 watt bulbs which were only done NO and 4x?

 

[standoyo]

hi guys,
great info,
now lets see if the lighting manufacturers[for planteds] pounce in on this idea and make some ODNO's with nice luminaires as my diy skills may cause me to d-i-e...:lol:
wish there was some way to hide it all in and keep it neat...

 

[SCMurphy]

I use the two bulb, without a reflector, flourescent strips that you can buy at any big box home supply store. I take out the original ballast, wire in the new ballasts to the existing endcaps, install a good reflector, then hang it all in a canopy. Only wires visible are the power cords going to the timers.

 

[SCMurphy]

Shalu,

You said at one point that at most you could only get 70 watts out of the ballast when the max (with 0.88 ballast factor included) would be 112 watts. Just out of curiousity, if you wired up two T-8's in series and did your test at 3x and 4x OD do you think you could get the full output from the ballast?

 

[shalu]

I have not tried that, but I DON'T think it will supply much more juice. I might try that later. My logic is, I did not get more total output at 4x with a 55w bulb than with a 32w bulb. I have no reason to believe a 64w bulb(2x32w) will make a difference. To get more total juice from a single 4x ballast, I think it is better to do 2 2xOD, then each will get about 50watts, I think that's what lumpyfunk was asking earlier(I will measure later). I did do 2x measurement, 54w, but with the other two leads free. When the other leads support another bulb 2x, then the ballast factor drops slightly.

 

[SCMurphy]

It was just a thought I had after rereading this thread. I asked you since you have the whole measurement technique down and might be interested enough in the idea to give it a go. :icon_idea

I wired up a new set of lights for my new 75, I did the 4 T-8's at 2x each with two 4-bulb ballasts. I'm using two 32 watt T-8's and two 36 watt T-8's. I figure, as is, it comes to just 3 watts a gallon using your numbers for the 32 watt T-8. I was hoping that if I my thinking was right I could rewire it and push a little more out. I'm cheap, I should have purchased another ballast or two. :wink:

 

[Jerm]

:eek5: hmm... after reading this... all i can think of is.. how much did it cost to do all this testing??? Sigh, those of us tight budgeters. It made my brain itch.

 

[shrimpy2]

More field observations on power consumption

Hi All, my first post.

This is a great thread that got me working on my personal OD project, which I just completed.

This weekend, I retrofitted a similar setup and got some results that seem to back up the original findings in this thread.

The set up is:

1 - Advance REL-4P32-SC (4x32W)
3 - Philips T8 48" Daylight 6500K bulbs in the following configuration:
1st bulb - normal output (1 lead)
2nd bulb - normal output (1 lead)
3rd bulb - overdrive 2x (2 leads)

Due to way the hood is set up, the wiring is permanent, so I can only test according to the on/off combinations above by removing or adding bulbs.

Using the kill-a-watt device (which I love), I got the following wattage consumption measurements:

a) No bulbs installed: 5 watts
b) Only 1 NO bulb: 40 watts
c) Only the 2xOD bulb: 54 watts
d) Both NO bulbs: 66 watts
e) One NO and the 2xOD: 80 watts
f) All three bulbs: 102 watts

With all three bulbs on, the 2xOD bulb is noticibly brighter. Unfortuntely, I don't have any light measuring equipment, so that desciption is as scientific as it's gonna get. Thats a shame b/c while the 2xOD is brighter, I don't know if the 2xOD brighter b/c of pure additional lighting, or if it was somehow stealing something from the other bulbs and making them dimmer.

The ballast was plugged into the kill-a-watt device, which in turn was plugged directly into a wall socket.

Any comments, questions or suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Alight]

Really nice testing Shalu. Just to make a point about cheap, I bought a Shoplight (the brand) from Home Depot that has an electronic ballast and burns two 48", T8 bulbs (32 watts each). This cost $7.50. After reading the article, I did a search for electronic ballasts on the internet, and the lowest price I found for a 2 bulb, T-8 32 watt was $5.66. With shipping, not worth it. So I just bought another Shoplight, cannibalized the ballast, and hooked it to the orignal shoplight, overdriving both bulbs 2X. This is one bright aquarium light! It's definitely brighter than my 2x55 watt AH supply bright kit. It was very easy to hook up. Just two small holes drilled in the shop light to bolt in the ballast. No extra wire needed, or even any connectors. All that were needed were already in the Shoplight. Even the holes to plug the two wires in are already on the bulb end caps.

I was worried about heat, but the light is still much cooler than the AH kit, and I can grab the light anywhere without fearing it will be too hot to handle.

 

[Freebird01]

with an ODNO setup can you still use the bulb sleeves or do the bulbs get too hot for them?

 

[shoppinit]

Hi all,

Will ODNO work with this kind of lamp:

As far as I can tell it's the same technology as the regular tubes, just with a 180° bend in it...

Thanks.

Ben.

 

[PAINKILLER1009]

Looks like compact florecent bulb to me. You can over drive them but they run very hot and you cant make them very much brighter. ODing is for t12-t8 really.

 

[SCMurphy]

PC bulbs are basically already on overdrive, it isn't worth the electricity to overdrive them more, the efficiency drops.

 

[milkdud]

What reflectors are you using for the t8's?

 

[shoppinit]

Thanks for that. I was hoping to be able to overdrive them, but I think I'll forget it now. I just needed a little more light output.

THanks.

Ben.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Thanks for the very awesome thread. Most of what I saw so far was the assumption that energy would be wasted. I'm moving forward now with my ODNO project.

I only wish that 2 bulbs were tested @ 2x ODNO to see it the ballast provided the 112watts? or less than 100w

 

[Basilisk]

I haven't overdriven yet. However, reading over and over this article, leaves me wondering what could be achieved ODing using several single bulb ballasts. I have 4 of them. Do you think that could overdrive actual 2x? I mean, actual 64 watts into one bulb with two ballasts?

I fear, without a solid basis, that two ballasts won't work in perfect sync, and cause some serious strike or shock.

 

[epicfish]

No, it's not possible.

 

[Basilisk]

Just as I thought.