Compact fluorescent connectors?

pagoona

pagoona

Member
I bought a new tank/stand and the guy I bought it from threw in a compact fluorescent fixture for free. It's about 48" long, the manufacturer is JBJ. I'm not really familiar with compact fluorescent lighting but I know that there are square pin and straight pin bulbs. Take a look at the picture below. What type of bulb do I have to buy to fit this connector? There are 2 pairs of wires and one of the pairs has a black mark on them. I would hate to go buy a couple bulbs only to find out I bought the wrong kind.
 
heartben

heartben

Member
generally for everylight fixture ive seen they come with an actual socket peice.
its kind of cool that yours is like that because that means you can use straight or square im sure...
you just have to slide the little metal peices over the pins that stick out of the light. if the fixture is 48 inches long im guessing 65 watt lights would work best...just a guess (im new too, so if im wrong dont get too upset, haha) if there is only ONE set of FOUR wires then id say its.. for a 96? watt bulb. - just check the ballast and itll say how many watts you should be looking for.
it looks like he may of broken the real socket and just replaced it with that. which i think is super cool... my lfs usually doesnt have straight pin and our *****/petsmart doesnt have square. itd work out nicely not having to pick which type.
idk, i hope someone gives you a second anwser soon! how many
 
pagoona

pagoona

Member
I went to my LFS and bought a 65-watt straight-pin bulb to try and it works! It only works on one side though... maybe I need both bulbs for both sides to work?
 
heartben

heartben

Member
one side as in half the bulb or one side as in there are 2 bulbs and one isnt working?
if its just one bulb- this is what id try, if one side doesnt work, then take the 2 wires from that side and switch them around. im not sure if itll work, but thats what i would do. otherwise maybe the bulb is bad?
 
pagoona

pagoona

Member
I only bought one bulb to test out because that's all my LFS had. When I plug the bulb into the left side it works, but if I plug it in the right side it doesn't. I was just wondering that if the way the circuits work I need a bulb plugged into the left side already for the right side to work. I'm going to take the bulb back anyway because it is 10,000K and I want 50/50 lighting.
 
heartben

heartben

Member
i dont think you need the other bulb. ive tested my stuff with one bulb and both sides worked.
maybe a wire isnt making contact, if you take a look at each end of the wires that arent working you might be able to see something pretty easy.
good luck.
 
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