Better T5 Ballast: Workhorse or Advance

[djcerna]

Which is a better ballast for driving 2 HO T5 36 bulbs.

 

Fulham Workhorse 5 ballast

Advance ballast

 

Thanks,

David

[TROLL]

Icecap 430 is best- they overdrive bulbs and save electricity.

 

Fulham workhorse is pretty good, cheaper but doesn't overdrive much. Advance is pretty standard, probably use more electricity.

 

You might want to check out Ballast Wise

[dandy7200]

I think thats a 6 of one, half dozen of the other question. Icecap is better for some applications but for the most part the 2 your looking at are the same although I believe the workhorse is a bit cheaper.

[dchild]

I use Workhorse ballasts. They will overdrive just fine but you need to wire them differently and the ballast needs to be double the wattage rating. (Electronic ballasts are rated with a maximum wattage they can drive, and will accept several bulb configurations under that wattage).

 

The wiring essentially brings two lamps together as one. Each endcap accepts two wires, and (for example) in a 4-bulb configuration, only one wire from the ballast goes to each endcap but is jumpered to both holes. To overdrive, take the singe wire from each of two endcaps, then plug them both into one endcap. This is a 2x overdive since one bulb is wired as two. It is also possible to do 3x and 4x overdrives, but I recommend you stick with 2x since the bulbs run cooler and T5s are pretty bright anyway. Here is a link but this diagram is for a 4x overdrive. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-...hting-odno.html

 

For example, I use a single Workhorse 7 (rated 220W max, $40 from prolighting.com) to 2x overdrive two 4' 54W bulbs (54Wx2x2bulbs = 196w). The same ballast would drive 4 4' bulbs in a non-overdriven configuration.

 

With that said, I don't know that overdriving makes THAT much difference. Your light output increases but does not double since the bulb is no longer in its most efficient mode. There is plenty of evidence that 1x driven T5's grow corals just fine. And you need twice the ballast capacity to do a 2x overdrive.

 

So the upshot is: I recommend workhorse ballasts. They have done great for me for years both with and without overdriving. Overdriving with them is certainly possible but not required.

[djcerna]

All good information. I need to pick one configuration and stick to it. 4 t5 and a VHO is going to be my combination on a 65.