ODNO lighting

[mr funktastic]

i would say between 3-5 months. they wear out based on heat. the hotter u run them the faster they loose the effect gasses in the tube. so the arnt running 4 times hotter so they wont wear 4 times faster but also they arnt running all that cool so they wont last 6 months. i would say every 4 months to be safe if u are doing 4X

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

For ODNO lights, I would say 3-6 months (3 for ODNO4x and 6 for ODNO 2x) This is ofcourse if you don't cool them down.. With proper ventilation you can preserve your bulbs for 12 Months.. Possibly longer but I wouldn't take a chance on that one..

As stated above. The endurance of any fluorescent bulb is dependant on the temperature the bulbs are operating at.

 

[greenmaji]

Sorry for digging this thread up out of nowere 8O

greenmaji, I haven't heard of people using a T8 ballast to drive T5 bulbs. I know it would require a replacement of the tombstones and the package would not be able to be used since t5 bulbs are shorter.

I checked RC a long time ago and a few people were playing with the idea, and tried it, but didn't use powerfull enough T-8 ballasts (to compensate for the extra wattage of the bulbs) and were getting poor results concuding that overdiving them was a waste of time

 

[rkilling1]

i just went to Home Depot and picked up two shoplights and rewired my twin 48" light for my 75 gal tank. 1 ballast per light.

the light seems to be just as bright before i rewired it. is there a way to tell if i am getting more light then before? heat?

edit:

i guess i will just have to see if my plants grow faster. duh.

ps the shoplights had SL-16 written on the back. these had SL-15 ballasts in them.

i also converted my 36" magnetic lamp to an SL-15 ballast at 2X.

thanks for the info everybody.

 

[rkilling1]

one more question:

if i were to change out the t-10's to t-8's, what would be my outcome? is it better to run 2 t-8's or 2 t-10's on my 48" strip?