NO's in a VHO setup.... what will go wrong??

[mudshark]

Help
What would happen if you put 2 regular 40watt NO's into
a VHO 110watt 2 bulb setup??
I have done all the wiring and want to test it... but my VHO's
have not arrived yet. :mixed:
What would get dammaged... I don't care if the bulbs burn, they
are old anyway

 

[jlem]

What type of ballast is it. I ran Normal Output 40 watt bulbs on my HelloLights ballast and they worked great. They really looked nice. I recently recieved a bad bulb and until a replacement gets here I am running a combination VHO/NO on the same ballast.

 

[mudshark]

Thanks for the reply.
It is a ADVANCE ---2S102-TP
Magnetic ballast.
I just don't want to damage the ballast

 

[shanev]

I would do research on that paticular ballast and see, most electronic ballast can run either or. My IceCap will run NO at near VHO levels.

 

[mudshark]

Well, I've hooked them up...... Damn!!! thats bright!!!
They naturally are getting twice as hot, but the fans should help
them keep cool enough not to cook
I can't wait for the VHO's to get here Thursday, It's going to
be great.

 

[shanev]

Quick look at the advance site gives the answer :
Can HO and VHO lamps be used interchangeably with HO or VHO ballasts?
No. An HO lamp requires 0.8 A. lamp current and a VHO lamp requires 1.5 A lamp current. The ballast for each lamp has been designed to provide the proper operating current for the lamp. Lamp life will be adversely affected.

Just out of curiosity why did you choose a magnatic ballast over an electronic?

 

[mudshark]

Thanks Shane,
It started to "burn" the lamps at the ends after about
30min. Well at least It's tested and everything seems to
working fine.
The reason I chose this ballast is because it was given to
me by a fellow reefer "Lennie" ... Free is good!
Besides it's a pretty good ballast as far as magnetics go.
The only "bad" thing about Magnetic ballasts is the heat
they put out, but since I have it installed remotely it's not
realy an issue.

 

[shanev]

Free is great! Especially in this hobby
Sounds great let us know when you get the VHO lamps in how it turns out!

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by Mudshark
Free is good!
Besides it's a pretty
I disagree. Most of the electronic ballasts extend the life of VHO bulbs tremendously. Those bulbs are not cheap so your free ballast will quickly cost you more in bulbs than if you had splurged on a top of the line electronic.
Just food for thought.

 

[mudshark]

Bang guy, Most bulbs last only 8 to 10 months ... with good
colour and output and these days there is very little difference
in the cost of NO vs VHO.... I know that EB's run at 20000hz and
push out about 10% more light and they tend to run a bit cooler
but "very quickly" spending about $160.00 extra on bulbs
because of a magnetic ballast is a bit of a stretch??

 

[bang guy]

Depends on the bulbs I guess. It has worked that way for me. The VHO's on Magnetic lasted about 6 months for me. With the IceCap the Actinics have been good for about a year and the Aquasuns for about 2 years. The bulbs I use are $40 apiece so, it didn't take long to recoup the money.

 

[mudshark]

I get URI's from a LFS called Aquatic Design for $34.50
and the NO's are about $30/33.00 depending on what
light temp they are. So it's pretty much the same.....
Tri-phosphor (daylight - 6700k) bulbs last pretty much as
long as they keep burning.... the light temp I mean.
But the best I've ever gotten from my 10000k's is about
8 months..... must be the Magnetic ballast
About half of my friends use Icecap ballasts but seem to
only get about 10% more life from their tubes..... maybe
they are just used to replacing them too often hehe!
I have had to use the money I have
to rather get a good Skimmer / pump / sump setup.
My primary concern was good water quality.
Anyway... one day when I'm rich and famous I'll spring
for a Electronic Ballast.... right now the free one is great!
and like I said, as far as Magnetics go, a pretty good one

 

[suver569]

Magnetic=HOT
I tried one of the advance High Output ballasts to run 2 40 watt bulbs and it I couldnt touch the thing 4 hours after it shut down. In other words, it melted down trying to push 80 watts. You said yours was rated for 120 so it MIGHT be ok. I'd definately invest in an electronic ballast. Workhorse or an Icecap.
Just got my workhorse 7 up and running with 120 watts of bulbs and that thing hasnt even warmed up after 6 hours of running. Gonna push it more tomorrow with more bulbs.

 

[mudshark]

It's a ADVANCE ---2S102-TP... max rated wattage is 238.
So it should deal with two 110's
Mine also doesnt get too hot, though..... It has a pretty good
heat sink so maybe that helps.

 

[mudshark]

Originally posted by suver569
Magnetic=HOT
Just got my workhorse 7 up and running with 120 watts of bulbs.
I'm confused by the wiring diagram on the WKHS7 website.
It shows only one red wire and one yellow wire going to the
bulb ends.......... the bulbs have 4 pins, 2 on each end.
do you just join them together??