PC ballast for T5?

[Wasga]

I have two of the JBJ Model#TSS-196PBX ballast. The ballast are in a dual 96w pc ballast housing. I want to know if I can use them for a retro T5 setup, or should I just run PC for my actinic suppliment. Any info is welcome.

 

Pic of the ballast.

[jason the filter freak]

I'm thinking this is not a good plan, won't be compatible. Fire hazzard comes to mind.

[Wasga]

Im not sure... I know you can use an icecap ballast to power almost anything. I know that PC's are just T5's folded in half. Bulb diameter and 2 pins on either side are the same. Maybe I should just get an endcap and try it. The UL spec for that ballast show it as a T8 ballast. Most of the t5 ballast have the same ratings and voltage. I guess there's no harm in trying. I would like to run 4 x 39w T5HO actinic along with my 250w 10k XM. If I cant get these to work I'll just go get another retro.

[dandy7200]

That is a 432 ballast. That should give you plenty of google pages to start your research.

[Wasga]

I emailed JBJ to see what they have to say. Hopefully they can give me a straight forward answer. The 432 bit is giving me the same info I already found. 4 bulb by 32 watts, hence the name 432. This is for T8 bulbs.

All I want to run is a measley 78W of T5 which shouldnt be any different than the 96w PC that it was running. I'll just have to wait for JBJ to get back to me.

[dhoch]

The T5 bulbs while lower wattage have greater startup requirement than other bulbs.

 

That being said I'm not 100% sure if this will work or not.

 

For example the IC 430 can only fire 2 T5 bulbs regardless of wattage....

 

Dave

[Guest steveo]

Were you ever able to get the JBJ's to work with the T-5's? i have the same setup PC and want to change to T-5. it would be awsome if you share what you learned.

[Wasga]

I finally had some time to expiriment with those ballasts. I got 2 pairs of endcaps and 2 different T5 bulbs. I tried a 24" first to see if it would even fire. All looked good. To my surprise, the 24" T5 produced a brighter light than a single 96w PC. The bulb seemed hotter than normal though.

The next bulb was a single 36" T5HO. Again, it fired right away and was super bright. It was definatly better than the one of the PC bulbs and possibly as bright as two. After doing some rewiring, I decided to try 2 x 39W T5HO. Again, both fired and the light was brilliant. The bulbs were still a little hotter than I thought they should be.

The 24" bulb surprised me the most. It seemed brighter with this setup than it did in the old T5 setup I am currently using. There was only one way to confirm this. I pulled my old retro setup out of my tank and checked the bulb with my old ballast. It was noticably dimmer. The bulb was just as hot as it was in the new setup when I was done, so I didnt worry about how warm the bulbs were anymore. I guess that was normal.

I let the ballast run for a while to heat up. The ballast never got too hot to touch. The enclosure that it is in also has a fan on the end and airvents along the top. I dont see heat becoming a problem.

As far as I'm concerned, the "engineer" that I emailed about this is an idiot. He told me that it wouldnt work at all. I sent him a picture of the "Dual 96W PC Ballast" firing 4 x 36w T5HO bulbs.... no reply.

 

Now I have new lights and all I have to worry about is burning down the house.

[bouzouki]

Nice work on the this. I am trying to do the same only 2 t5 ho on a 65 watt pc ballast.

 

How would you wire up the two bulbs on the 4 wires? Series or paralell ?

[Coral Hind]

More info is needed. What wattage T5 are you trying to use? Is it a single or dual lamp PC ballast?

 

The PC bulb is basically just a bulb bent in half. With the PC, just understand that two pins go to one side's cathode and the other two go for the other side's cathode. Now transfer that over to a straight lamp.

 

You may want to update your location.