Electricians I need HELP!!

flboyinohio

flboyinohio

Member
So in my dorm I stumbled upon 4 ballasts
from what I can assume is normal flourescent bulbs in the halls or rooms. Please explain to me why I can not use these ballasts to build a retrofit light set up for my 20gallon long (only 13" deep).

The ballasts are called Mark III Energy Savers. They say they are Class P Type 1"for 2-f40, 48" 40W 430MA Rapid Start or 2-f40 36" 34W 460MA Rapidstart Lamps.
As i look at the ballasts I see a little picture showing which wires go to the lights but then Idk how i would put a plug and switch on this thing.
PLEASE help ASAP I think I could save myself alottt of money since I have 4 of these (can handle 8 bulbs)
THANK YOU!!!!!
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Well, the key is matching any ballast to the lamp you are using and those ballasts are for your basic 4 ft or 3 ft T12 lamps. I don't know how long your tank is but it has to be at least 3" long to allow the use of any of those ballasts. You then need to get the right size tombstones (the plastic end pieces that the lamps twist into), make sure they are at the correct spacing for the desired lamps, and you need to have a frame/fixture to mount all this stuff onto safely and securely, making sue everything is correctly wired. Then you need a canopy of some type to mount onto your tank and a proper cover for the lamp/fixture to keep water out of it. You should also have a GFCI outlet or power strip for your fixture. Then, if the ballasts are for T12 lamps, you have to consider that T12s are not used in aquarium lighting because they are so bulky and have lower output than T8, T5, PC lamps.
I do this type of work every day and trust me, it will be 1) Cheaper 2) safer and 3) Better for your fish to buy an aquarium fixture designed and sized for your tank. I could not build a light fixture for my tank that would be as cheap and effective as my Nova Extreme Pro, even though I do have the skill set to actually do it.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Not to mention the fact that if they were from lighting in a large building, they may well be 277v ballasts which cannot be run off residential power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top