LIGHT DILEMA!!please help

[Strife]

okay, thanks for taking your time and to read....

i have a 2 24watt PC setup...but my lights are getting old

 

now that its time to buy 24 watt bulbs..nobody makes em anymore...

 

so for you light experienced mofo's....

 

would a 28 watt square pin bulb work on a 24 watt ballast...

i heard different review's...some say yes..but will lower life expectancy to a few months...

 

some say..it will blow up....

 

some say..it light will now work...

 

what do you say?

 

 

 

and question number 2

the 28 watt bulb is square pin..and since i have never messed with square pins before, how would i plug it on?

 

::

 

i have 2 sets of plugs..total of 4

 

so do i set the first plug on the top and bottom pins...or the left and right pins...?

 

thanks for all your help

[flaunt]

i don't know whether it would blow up, but there's atleast some chance of causing a fire by using a bulb with a wattage rating higher than the circuit running it. unless you can inspect the specs on the ballast you're running, it sounds like you'd be shooting craps, and personally i wouldn't want to take the risk. i'd say if anything go with a lower wattage bulb, else get a new ballast setup. a new ballast is a hell of a lot less expensive than an entire nano setup and whatever else the fire took with it.

[Strife]

i wouldnt think that fire will be a problem...at most...if ever it wont work would short out the circuit breaker, or the surge protector..

 

wouldnt using a lower bulb on a higher rating ballast be worst?

i dunno, need more opinions

[flaunt]

well if i had more time i'd find something better about these bulbs online, but here's something on the GE website that suggests that using a CF bulb that has a higher wattage than the ballast could cause problems. doesn't say what kind of problems.

http://www.gelighting.com/na/faq/faq_wattage.html

 

if you take the chance be sure to let us know the results after 6 months or so. you might get lucky, then again you might not!

[Crakeur]

don't mess around with different wattage. My wife gave the wrong bulbs to our super and he installed lower watt bulbs in our kitchen and within a couple of hours two bulbs popped. Electric is not something to screw with.

[mxpro32]

i tried running a 28w bulb on a 22w ballast and it would just flicker. it wasnt enough juice to keep it lit. then i ran the 28w bulb on a 32w ballast and it works just fine.

[MrConclusion]

Running a lower-than-max-rating bulb will not damage a ballast. Ballast ratings are for maximum load capacity.