Cheap ballast at Home Depot

[Korbin]

I thought it would be a shame if I didn't mention that I found a 32 watt ballast on sale at Home Depot for $3.00. Its just the hot wire, ground wire, and a 4 prong socket connected to a ballast. I have no idea if its actually the right kind for CF lights, but its three frickin dollars.

 

Heres a lame question: Can you use a lower wattage bulb on a higher wattage ballast, or is it the other way around? I'm sure its been asked before, and I'm too lazy to search. Thats why its a lame question.

[Dave ESPI]

What to do........ What to do....... hmmmmm

 

Well at least he admits he is lazy:D

 

The ballast MIGHT work. just compare with an aquarium ballast UL part number as all ballast have a rating code on them (a small sticker).

 

FWIW, NO lower wattage bulbs SHOULDNT be used, but CAN be Overdriven. To a degree, some PC bulbs can do this also, but it really shortens the life of the bulb considerably.

Is it worth risking a fire?

Me thinks not.

[BCOrchidGuy]

I'm with Dave, match your ballast wattage to your bulb wattage, it may work but there is a chance of trouble so I wouldn't risk it.

[Korbin]

Damn, I was going to write something about keeping Dave quiet about me not searching... too late X)

 

Thats a good point about the fire.

 

Cheap lights gooood. Fire baaaaad.:|

[luv2jeep]

The ballast MUST be designed for the bulb! Yes, it *MAY* work, but it will reduce the life of the bulb if not matched. A ballast produces a small current that is determined by the gas used in the bulb. If the ballast provides too much current, or too little, it will drastically reduce bulb life leading to color shift, or downright failure.

 

Also, magnetic ballasts produce more heat, noise, and consume more energy than electronics.

[Glenn]

My question is what kind of ballast is it. A 32w florescent ballast will not drive a PC lamp. Either way $3 dollars is a good deal.

[gobies]

I found a cheap ballast at HD and paid $1.69 for it... turns out it's a $25 item normally. It even drives compact fluorescent bulbs. The catch? It drives those circular bulbs.

 

Took me about half an hour of web-searching to find that out. You can get 6500k bulbs for it, but I'd have to special order the bulbs and all the mounting/connection hardware.

 

I still might set it up, eventually, over the 15g tower tank or maybe over a 'fuge.

[Korbin]

Here's the conclusion to the story...

 

I grabbed the ballast and was wandering around Home Depot, and I happened to see a 27-watt 4-tube PC light with the exact same pin configuration as the socket on the ballast. And it was on sale. So I picked that up along with a cord pigtail. I put it all together in 5 minutes, and VIOLA! $14, 27-watt light. The problem is that I have to tap the bulb to get it to light. The ballast I got IS for the "circline" bulb too.

 

Hey, at the very least, it will be a backup in case my main light poops out at a bad time.

 

I didn't bother to check out if its a magnetic or electronic ballast, but it doesnt make noise or get very hot.

[bdelaney]

If you have to tap the bulb to get it to start, then you most likely need a grounded metal reflector behind the bulb. A piece of sheet metal or roof flashing will do. Attach it to the ground on the ballast with a wire, and your light will start everytime.

[Korbin]

Cool, thanks. Thats the one thing I forgot to include. It even says to do it on the ballast. Is the ground wire really connected to the ballast? because all mine has is a hot and neutral. Can I just connect the ground wire from the pigtail straight to the reflector, bypassing the ballast?

[bdelaney]

Yes, you can ground the reflector directly to the electrical cord ground. When I rigged up the lighting for my NO lights on my old tank, I specifically grounded the metal casing of the ballasts. This gives a little added protection if something should go wrong. I am not an electrician, so I have no idea what the electrical code would specify here.