Question for the Electrical engineers out there regarding t5's

diablomaster9045 · Jun 28, 2016

Hey everyone!

So I have an Icecap 660 ballast laying arround and was wondering if it would be possible to run 8x 24" t5hos on this ballast?

My thoughts are on 2 channels run 4x 24" t5's in series. Am I correct in assuming this would run the bulbs in the ballpark of 29 watts each. Or do you think it would not fire?

Thanks in advance for the input.

Diesel · Jun 28, 2016

Try to hit up Coralvue them self as they will have the best answer for you,
https://www.reef2reef.com/categories/coralvue-aquarium-products.682/

diablomaster9045 · Jun 28, 2016

Diesel said:
Try to hit up Coralvue them self as they will have the best answer for you,
https://www.reef2reef.com/categories/coralvue-aquarium-products.682/

Yup I already opened a ticket with them this morning. Figured I would post here to see if anyone has tried it before.

diablomaster9045 · Jun 29, 2016

Well Coralvue was no help. the support only knows what's on the basic manual. If you go based on that it would drive a 24 watt 24" bulb at 80 watts. I have a feeling that would burn the bulb out real fast.

Diesel · Jun 29, 2016

Weird but oh we'll.
Lets tag some knowledgable friends in here, [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

redfishbluefish · Jun 29, 2016

Icecap wiring diagrams don't "allow" this, but @twilliard rebuilds these things and maybe he can add in his two cents.

Lionfish Lair · Jun 29, 2016

If no one answers you, I can get my husband to answer that when he gets home from work.

twilliard · Jun 29, 2016

The thing about the 660 or any icecap is they drive t5 lamps HARD
you will find yourself replacing lamps within every 6 months.
Now the 660 will drive 16' of lamps with a maximum of 4 lamps
You would not be able to run 8 lamps as there will be a lack of starting voltage for 1 660 to fire all 8 ends.
You would need 2 660's

erk · Jun 29, 2016

Looks like the wiring is for 4 lamps only. You'd want to wire them in series, but this has it's own set of issues compared to wiring in parallel. Series would ensure consistent lighting as current would be forced down a set path. But if one of the two bulbs on that line goes out, then both go out. Would only need to replace the bad bulb, just like old style xmas lights. The 24inch bulbs are 24 watts(48 watts for 2 bulbs), and that is well within the 110 watt max per bulb.

If you went parallel wiring, then you wouldn't get the issue where one bulb goes out then they both go out. But you would get inconsistent lighting. Current takes path of least resistance and I highly doubt the resistive value of these bulbs is the same. Wouldn't do this method. If the resistance of one bulb is much higher than the other, then the high resistance bulb might never come on.

The datasheet doesn't give a wiring scheme, so I can't help with how you would wire the bulbs in series. I'd recommend using old bulbs to test your wiring and the series configuration to ensure there are no issues. You don't want to burn out your good bulbs.

erk · Jun 29, 2016

twilliard said:
The thing about the 660 or any icecap is they drive t5 lamps HARD
you will find yourself replacing lamps within every 6 months.
Now the 660 will drive 16' of lamps with a maximum of 4 lamps
You would not be able to run 8 lamps as there will be a lack of starting voltage for 1 660 to fire all 8 ends.
You would need 2 660's

OP may be alright since the bulbs being used are 24inch bulbs and require less voltage to get the bulbs started.

twilliard · Jun 29, 2016

erk said:
Looks like the wiring is for 4 lamps only. You'd want to wire them in series, but this has it's own set of issues compared to wiring in parallel. Series would ensure consistent lighting as current would be forced down a set path. But if one of the two bulbs on that line goes out, then both go out. Would only need to replace the bad bulb, just like old style xmas lights. The 24inch bulbs are 24 watts(48 watts for 2 bulbs), and that is well within the 110 watt max per bulb.

If you went parallel wiring, then you wouldn't get the issue where one bulb goes out then they both go out. But you would get inconsistent lighting. Current takes path of least resistance and I highly doubt the resistive value of these bulbs is the same. Wouldn't do this method. If the resistance of one bulb is much higher than the other, then the high resistance bulb might never come on.

The datasheet doesn't give a wiring scheme, so I can't help with how you would wire the bulbs in series. I'd recommend using old bulbs to test your wiring and the series configuration to ensure there are no issues. You don't want to burn out your good bulbs.

More likely it will kill the capacitors and make the 2 transformers cry!

reefwiser · Jun 29, 2016

erk · Jun 29, 2016

twilliard said:
More likely it will kill the capacitors and make the 2 transformers cry!

That is a possibility. I'd think Icecap ballasts would be high enough quality and designed with enough factor of safety to ensure they could handle this load. Granted, since this is out of the scope of what it was originally designed for, I can see the ballast wearing down a lot faster and most likely not lasting thru its full life cycle.

Just as an FYI, OP. I'm not recommending you do this. My previous post is just explaining how you can do it. If you do it, understand you are taking a risk.

erk · Jun 29, 2016

As an option, you could always run a test with a cheaper fluorescent fixture from Walmart. Get a T5 24inch fixture and just wire in another bulb. If it doesn't start, use a larger capacitor. Please make sure to discharge the original capacitor first before you touch it. It doesn't feel good to be shocked by a starter capacitor. Then run thru some tests to see how well it holds up. Maybe leave it on for a couple days straight. Then try power cycling to see how well the cap holds up. If it all goes well, then consider using the Icecap ballast.

twilliard · Jun 29, 2016

erk said:
That is a possibility. I'd think Icecap ballasts would be high enough quality and designed with enough factor of safety to ensure they could handle this load. Granted, since this is out of the scope of what it was originally designed for, I can see the ballast wearing down a lot faster and most likely not lasting thru its full life cycle.

Just as an FYI, OP. I'm not recommending you do this. My previous post is just explaining how you can do it. If you do it, understand you are taking a risk.

It's amazing how easily damaged the timing and output circuit is. Not fun to repair lol
They are great at over driving lamps though

diablomaster9045 · Jun 29, 2016

Thanks all for the input!

Yah I have dug through all the documentation and figured it would be feasible to run 4 in series and have 2 groups as this would run them at roughly 29 watts each. But yah was struggling on figuring out if they would have the voltage/current to initially fire them. But you guys are probably right in going with something cheap like some workhorse 2 ballasts or something in the ballpark of that. I was just speculating because I already have the icecap 660 laying arround and VHO's seem to be almost non existent these days. If I still had a 4ft tank I would defenetly use it to overdrive some 4 footers.

Battlecorals · Jun 29, 2016

From experience I learned that the old ice caps run t5s too hot.

I burned through a set before I contacted a friend at CoralVue and he confirmed the same. They a great for vhos but will run t5s harder than they like. I'll dig up the pic I took of the blackened tubes. I ran 24" bulbs on a 440