I'm gonna head to my shop and play with the 8-footers today or tomorrow, I'll keep ya posted with results
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I'm gonna head to my shop and play with the 8-footers today or tomorrow, I'll keep ya posted with results
Well, I ended up ordering four Sunpark s15 ballasts. They should be here next weekend. In the meantime I've got a huge flourescent light fixture scattered throughout out my livingroom. Projects always end up that way at my house.lol Now trying to decide if I'm gonna run one 4lamp fixture at 4x or 2-4lampfixtures at 2x.
Holy crap! I can't believe how bright these bulbs are. 4' 4 lamp fixture at 4x output. When I first turned it on I wasn't impressed, brighter than normal but not blinding. After a few minutes the bulbs warmed up and it was blinding. I don't know the actual lumens but it's pretty good. The bulbs I'm using are cheap used Ace Hardware 40w 6500k that were in the fixture when I got it. After I burn them up I'll get some GE 6400k. I can't wait to see how bright it is with new bulbs.
I highly recomend these for veg. I have the light about 8" away because I don't mind a little stretch in early veg. I think it's easier to take clones that way.
So you are running , basically one bulb per ballast? What was the cost on the ballasts?
When I shortened my 8' fixture and put some 4-footers in it, they wouldn't ignite - it acted like the bulb was blown, you know the strobing type effect. a ripple of light kind randomly jumps around? When I plugged the bulbs back in a 4-footer they worked fine, so I need to do some research and see if I can use em
I think with shipping it was around $50 all together direct from Sunpark. One of these old bulbs is starting to strobe a little bit. Gonna have to get new one's sooner than expected. Gonna top again this week for more clones. They really shot up under the new light compared to 3 160w mecury vapors and a few 26w cfls for 6 snowwhites and a crazy looking sativa that keeps tangling its branches up. Oddly the sativa isn't any taller than the snw's I'm sure that will change though. Less juice and heat, more light, can't beat it! I'm still gonna use my hps for flower. Need to get 2 more 400 watters after the skunk is cured.
That law has been around for a while, and always wins.
If getting more power worked it would be in factorys all over the world.
Ohms and a few other laws just are what they are, not something a lawer and even work around.
If you drive the bulb more , it puts out more in direct relation to its life.
Damn Ohms law, may be in 20 more years the sodium bulb micro wave bulb, and led will output the 30+ year old Mh and hps bulbs.
Think of this one if cpf worked industry would use them.
If leds worked NASA would use them
Keep hoping for a free piece of tail , once again there is nothing for free.
Hang on O Lord I'm comming
Keep trying even a few thousand Phd in electric would like for it to happen.
OHM's Law 1 Human's 0 O God I feel the power , but she slapped me. zap
Piece on earth , but never in the sand.:(
:) so true Sanclem.. nothing is free..and I SO want to see some results with LED's, but thats the number one rule of LED grows, as you well know.... never post results of a complete grow!
I don't think we were concerned with bulb life, which is what the main end user of flourotubes is looking for - unless, apparently it is only a matter of hours... :)
Lets say a tube lasts 10000 hours - If I could double the light output, even by quartering the lifetime, it would be a win-win since tubes are so cheap (compared to HID bulbs)
Don't get me wrong, I don't think flos will ever take the place of my dual spectrum in the flowering room (unless there are some major breakthroughs).. Just trying to find alternate veg room solutions and cheap alternatives.
Damn Ohms , watts is watts win win but at the possible of fire, flames and the cops. Yea it will work , and heat and voltages amps are changed. If it was worth it lighting companys would due it in a heart beat. OHMS 2 Human -1:thumbsup:
safety first , fire department 2 td, police 3 td is it realy worth it.
Again, you assume we are looking for bulb life - thats the least concern IMHO Bulb manufacturers and lighting companies strive to make stuff last longer , not neccessarily the brightest thay can. As long as the proper gauge of wire is used for the load involved and the setup is done right, the bulb itself is the "fuse" if you will... safety is a non-issue at that point, they can be just as safe as a UL listed piece.
Since we are relatively certain bulb failure will not result in bulb shattering, even being overdriven, then fire can be ruled out. The ballasts aren't doing any more work than they normally would, the output is the same, resistance/load is just 1/2ed. A fan on the ballasts shouldn't even be neccessary, but is something I will install once I get it setup.
So what if I burn out a 1.00 floro tube once a month even??.. in 3 years its still cheaper than 1 metal halide bulb
I've read that overdriving these tubes will definately shorten their lives but 10k hours still is a long time. The main advantage that I see is heat reduction. My room is completely climate controlled but the less the A/C has to run the better. There is less plant damage if they happen to grow into the lights as well but these overdriven bulbs will still burn leaves but not as bad as HID. As for safety these ballasts seem to creat vey little heat, just barely warm to the touch. I'm really happy with the cost advantage for cloning and veg states, much cheaper than the T-5 setup that I was thinking about. I'm thinking about making some more of these for side lighting in the flower room.