I did it! OVERDRIVE!

Aug 13, 2010
870
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Sicklerville, NJ
#1
Well I did it, I put the light on my 55 in OVERDRIVE! I bought a new electronic ballast for a 4 bulb light, and wired it to just 2 lights adding 50% more power to my bulbs! So I went from 64 watts to 96 watts and a little more then 1 WPG to almost 2 WPG! It was very easy for me (I was an Auto Tech for 10 years) If you are not comfortable working with electricity, DO NOT TRY THIS! This can kill you if done wrong! I am not an electrician. nor do I play one on TV. I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, I just was careful!

The ballast has 2 red, 2 blue and 2 yellow wires along with a black and a white wire. The black and white go exactly were they old ones where. Then I took the 2 blue and attached them to one holder of one bulb, same with the red (same side if the fixture, other holder), then one yellow went to one holder and the other yellow went to the other holder on the other side of the fixture. Then I used a jumper wire to go from one pole on the holder to the other. I also replaced the holders because 2 of them looked corroded. The whole project cost me less then $30. I am sure you can find the ballast ($19.99 and HD) cheaper online if you tried. Here is a diagram since my directions suck! It is from this site Overdriving Fluorescent Lights
 

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Large Fish
Aug 9, 2010
178
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#4
u'll have the rainforest sprouting from your tank soon with that power!

i will hopefully have my light back in action tonight. managed to get the starter i needed from the electrician in work, rather than having to wait a few days to buy 1.

hopefully it works and we can have some lights back in action.