Workhorse 5 question

[ngericke]

How many 13w pc's can you put on a WH5?

[Von digity]

As much wood as a wood chuck could chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.

 

 

I'd assume 120 watts or so worth of 13 watters. But I'm not sure if they can fire 2 pin bulbs. Your better off using bigger bulbs anyways.

[Rikko]

1, 2, 3, or 4.

You're on your own as far as wiring goes (well, their wiring diagrams are pretty clear), but they only have 4 output wires and a common ground. Can't have any more than that.

[Von digity]

I think you can splice the wires. 128/4=32. So, if I have this right, you could run 2 13 watters off each wire (32/13=2.4)

[adinsxq]

zero.

 

2 pin biax cfls should not be run on electronic ballasts.

 

the information is in fulham's FAQs section.

[Rikko]

adin is technically right - much like the WH5 shouldn't really be running T5 tubes either as it is instant start rather than programmed start. Still, it could probably be made to work at a cost to the bulb life. I haven't done a lot of research in that area so I'll happily defer to what is said in that thread, especially foo's comments.

 

And no, you can't splice the wires - 4 wires means 4 bulbs. The only possible way you could have more than one bulb per wire is if you got two bulbs with an identical internal resistance that would allow both to fire at the same time. Modern technology makes it impossible to have an identical internal resistance. Maybe in a hundred years.

[Von digity]

2 wires 2 bulbs

 

2 wires 4 bulbs

 

Unless I'm reading this totally wrong.

[ngericke]

http://www.fulham.com/faq.html

It wont even fire a 2 pin bulb

Guess I should of check there first

[adinsxq]

yeah von, the fulham calculator is somewhat misleading in that sense. when we think of "13w pc lights" we automatically think of these

... a 2 pin biax tube (g23 base). this has an internal starter that makes it incompatable with electronic ballasts

 

however, what the fulham website is trying to show you is the 13w version that has four pins (implying no internal starter

 

but don't get me wrong, you can do it... only you probably shouldn't. i've used a wh5 to fire a pair of 2 pin 13w bulbs because i wanted to visually compare a 6500k to a 10000k running under identical conditions, but was plagued with multiple starts and i was a bit uneasy about pumping the wh5's 1.15A through the tubes when a standard magnetic ballast only supplies 0.35A.

 

i did it again in my 1.5's hood, a wh22 firing 2x9w. again, multiple starts and shortened bulb life.

 

conclusion? people sell (psl) and buy workhorsies with the intention on using them with 13w bulbs. it works... sort of, but just isn't advised, nor the safest option. hth

[Von digity]

Oh adin, you got me all wrong. I was refering to rikko's statement about not being able to run 2 bulbs per wire.

 

Just curious though. About how long did the 2x13 last on your WH2?

[adinsxq]

ooooh wire-bulb thing. a wh5 actually has 4 red wires and 1 yellow. rikko's suggestion that one of each red is given to each of four bulbs (the yellow wire would have to be split)

 

i didn't run the 13ws on the wh5 for very long. they blackened prematurely (to what i was used to seeing on a normal, magnetic ballast setup) so i terminated the project and used the ballast elsewhere

[Von digity]

Ooooh Adin. A tad slow today aren't ye? I'm saying that you could follow diagram 5, and wire 2 bulbs to each red wire per their instructions. So, you "could" run 8x13 watt bulbs off the 4 red leads of a wh5. Unless I'm mistaken.

[ngericke]

I bought this from psl

Now nothing will fire

Both bulbs just flicker

I keep calling PSL but no one is answering the phone

Everytime I e-mail them they tell me to call

I will pass my final judgement on PSL after I get ahold of them and see what they are going to do about this

[ngericke]

Got a hold of PSL

said it was the right ballast and that is what it calls for--?????

Said he would give me a deal next time cause I didnt want to return it

I just got done redoing it w 2 magnetic ballasts and it works

Went to wally-world and bought 2 rite lights and gutted them

I only wanted the ballast out of them but as a bonus the bulbs are 6500k

[adinsxq]

von, come down the street and beat it into my head. 520 kelton

[Von digity]

Alright. I'll be over with a WH5 and wiring diagrams shortly. You supply the 13 watters. Damn, you live really close to UCLA.

[adinsxq]

i have a brand new hellolights 13w 03 and a new bayco 6500k i can lend you if you want to play.

[Rikko]

Damn Von, you've bested me.

That's a crazy wiring diagram and I haven't the faintest notion how that even works. I would expect the voltage recessary to start them would be doubled, but maybe the startup voltage for an electronic ballast is so high that it is able to manage it?

[Von digity]

I wasn't trying to best anyone. I was just curious and learning in the process. I really don't know shiz about electronics, but I knew that Ive seen PCs wired up that way though. But as the diagram shows, it's not really "splicing" the wires, more like somehow daisy chaining the bulbs.

 

 

ngericke, too bad that PSL kinda ####ed you out on that one.